Which city has the cheapest international schools?

The question does not resolve cleanly, because the spread within a single city is wider than the gap between cities. In each market we cover there are schools at several times the fee level of others, and the cheapest option in an expensive city can cost less than a mid-range option in a cheaper one. The practical comparison is between specific schools for a specific year group, not between cities.

Are international school fee increases capped?

It depends on the market. Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh and Hong Kong regulate fee revisions through the education authority, so a school cannot raise published tuition freely. Singapore, Bangkok and London do not cap increases; schools publish their own annual revisions. In every case, moving up a year group also carries its own step in the published rate.

What is usually not included in tuition?

Application and assessment fees, a deposit on accepting a place, transport, uniform, devices, meals, trips and external examination entries. Some markets add their own items: capital levies or debentures are common in Hong Kong, and one-off development fees appear in Bangkok. Ask each school for its full published schedule rather than the tuition line alone.

How should we compare two schools in different cities?

Convert both to the same currency for the year group your child will enter, then add the items you will actually pay: transport for your address, meals, uniform and examination entries. Compare the totals, and note whether the market caps increases, since that affects the next five years rather than the first invoice.

Does an employer education allowance change the comparison?

Usually yes, because allowances commonly cover tuition only. That leaves registration, deposit, transport and examination entries with the family, and those differ markedly between markets. Confirm which components the allowance covers, whether it is paid to the school directly, and what happens if employment ends mid-year.

Compare

International school fees by city

Fees are published per year group by each school, so the useful comparison between cities is structural: who regulates increases, when the year runs, and what sits outside tuition. This page sets that out for every market we cover.

In short

Every city on this page has schools that publish tuition per year group, so a single figure quoted for a school is a range, not an invoice.
Fee increases are regulated in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh and Hong Kong, and set by the school in Singapore, Bangkok and London.
Registration, assessment, deposit, transport, uniform and examination entries are billed separately in every market we cover.
The comparable number is the published rate for the year group your child will enter, plus the separately billed items you will actually use.
Fee amounts change annually, so this page compares how fees work rather than quoting figures that would date within a year.

Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished August 2026Last reviewed August 2026

How fees work in each city

Structural comparison. No figures are quoted, because published tuition changes annually and differs by year group within every school.

DubaiUnited Arab Emirates

Currency: AED
Regulator: KHDA
Fee increases: Regulated. Permitted increases are tied to the Education Cost Index and the school's most recent inspection rating.
School year: Late August to June or July
How tuition is published: Annual tuition per year group, from FS1 or Pre-KG to Year 13 or Grade 12
Billed separately: Application and assessment fees, deposit, transport by zone, uniform, devices, meals, examination entries

International schools in Dubai

Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates

Currency: AED
Regulator: ADEK
Fee increases: Regulated. ADEK governs whether and by how much a school may raise published tuition.
School year: Late August to June or July
How tuition is published: Annual tuition per year group, published by the school
Billed separately: Registration and assessment fees, deposit, transport, uniform, meals, examination entries

International schools in Abu Dhabi

DohaQatar

Currency: QAR
Regulator: Ministry of Education and Higher Education
Fee increases: Regulated. Fee changes at licensed private schools require ministry approval.
School year: Late August or September to June
How tuition is published: Annual tuition per grade or year group
Billed separately: Registration fee, deposit, transport, uniform, books, examination entries

International schools in Doha

RiyadhSaudi Arabia

Currency: SAR
Regulator: Ministry of Education
Fee increases: Regulated. Private and international school fees are filed with the ministry.
School year: August or September to June
How tuition is published: Annual tuition per grade, often quoted with VAT treatment stated separately
Billed separately: Registration fee, transport, uniform, books, activities, examination entries

International schools in Riyadh

SingaporeSingapore

Currency: SGD
Regulator: Ministry of Education (Committee for Private Education for private schools)
Fee increases: Not capped. Schools set and publish their own annual increases.
School year: August to June, or January to December depending on the curriculum
How tuition is published: Annual tuition per grade, usually billed per term or semester
Billed separately: Application and enrolment fees, refundable deposit, building or facility levy, transport, uniform, examination entries

International schools in Singapore

BangkokThailand

Currency: THB
Regulator: Office of the Private Education Commission, Ministry of Education
Fee increases: Not capped in practice. Schools publish their own annual schedules.
School year: August to June, with some schools running May to March
How tuition is published: Annual tuition per grade, commonly billed by term
Billed separately: Application fee, one-off entrance or development fee, deposit, transport, uniform, meals, examination entries

International schools in Bangkok

LondonUnited Kingdom

Currency: GBP
Regulator: Department for Education; ISI or Ofsted inspection
Fee increases: Not capped. Independent schools set fees and publish annual increases themselves.
School year: September to July
How tuition is published: Fees per term for each year group or school section
Billed separately: Registration and acceptance deposits, lunches, trips, individual music lessons, examination entries

International schools in London

Hong KongHong Kong SAR

Currency: HKD
Regulator: Education Bureau
Fee increases: Regulated. Fee revisions at private and international schools require EDB approval.
School year: August or September to June or July
How tuition is published: Annual tuition per year group, billed monthly or by term at many schools
Billed separately: Application fee, refundable or nominee debentures and capital levies, transport, uniform, meals, examination entries

International schools in Hong Kong

How international school fees are published, regulated and billed in each city InternationalSchools.org covers
City	Currency	Regulator	Fee increases	School year	How tuition is published	Billed separately
DubaiUnited Arab Emirates	AED	KHDA	Regulated. Permitted increases are tied to the Education Cost Index and the school's most recent inspection rating.	Late August to June or July	Annual tuition per year group, from FS1 or Pre-KG to Year 13 or Grade 12	Application and assessment fees, deposit, transport by zone, uniform, devices, meals, examination entries
Abu DhabiUnited Arab Emirates	AED	ADEK	Regulated. ADEK governs whether and by how much a school may raise published tuition.	Late August to June or July	Annual tuition per year group, published by the school	Registration and assessment fees, deposit, transport, uniform, meals, examination entries
DohaQatar	QAR	Ministry of Education and Higher Education	Regulated. Fee changes at licensed private schools require ministry approval.	Late August or September to June	Annual tuition per grade or year group	Registration fee, deposit, transport, uniform, books, examination entries
RiyadhSaudi Arabia	SAR	Ministry of Education	Regulated. Private and international school fees are filed with the ministry.	August or September to June	Annual tuition per grade, often quoted with VAT treatment stated separately	Registration fee, transport, uniform, books, activities, examination entries
SingaporeSingapore	SGD	Ministry of Education (Committee for Private Education for private schools)	Not capped. Schools set and publish their own annual increases.	August to June, or January to December depending on the curriculum	Annual tuition per grade, usually billed per term or semester	Application and enrolment fees, refundable deposit, building or facility levy, transport, uniform, examination entries
BangkokThailand	THB	Office of the Private Education Commission, Ministry of Education	Not capped in practice. Schools publish their own annual schedules.	August to June, with some schools running May to March	Annual tuition per grade, commonly billed by term	Application fee, one-off entrance or development fee, deposit, transport, uniform, meals, examination entries
LondonUnited Kingdom	GBP	Department for Education; ISI or Ofsted inspection	Not capped. Independent schools set fees and publish annual increases themselves.	September to July	Fees per term for each year group or school section	Registration and acceptance deposits, lunches, trips, individual music lessons, examination entries
Hong KongHong Kong SAR	HKD	Education Bureau	Regulated. Fee revisions at private and international schools require EDB approval.	August or September to June or July	Annual tuition per year group, billed monthly or by term at many schools	Application fee, refundable or nominee debentures and capital levies, transport, uniform, meals, examination entries

Reading the table

The regulator column matters more than it looks. Where increases are approved by an education authority, as in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Riyadh and Hong Kong, the first invoice is a reasonable guide to the following years. Where they are not, as in Singapore, Bangkok and London, a school can revise its schedule each year on its own judgement, so ask what it applied in each of the last three years.

The school year column changes what a mid-year move costs. A family arriving in February is entering the second half of a year in every one of these markets except the Bangkok schools that run May to March, and schools differ on whether they pro-rate tuition or charge the full term.

The separately billed column is where budgets are usually broken. Transport in particular is priced by zone or route, so two families at the same school can pay materially different amounts. Get the quote for your actual address before you compare two schools on cost.

Find Schools

Common questions about fees across cities

Continue reading

Understanding school fees

What sits inside tuition, what is billed separately and what to confirm in writing.

Dubai school fees in detail

Year-group tuition, KHDA-regulated increases and the charges billed separately.

All destinations

Every city we cover, and whether matching is instant or guided.

Compare curricula

British, IB and American side by side, including transfer between countries.

Last reviewed: August 2026

Fee rules, regulators and school-year dates change. Confirm the published schedule and the applicable increase with each school before you rely on it.

Sources

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