Jakarta, Indonesia
International schools in Jakarta: what families need to know
Jakarta has a long-established international school market built around embassies, energy and consumer multinationals, and several campuses here have been running for decades. Two local realities shape the search: Indonesian regulation requires foreign-curriculum schools to teach Indonesian language, civics and religion to Indonesian nationals, and Jakarta traffic makes the school run the single biggest factor in where families live. This guide covers admissions, curricula, the school year, fees, areas and how places actually work here.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Your request
- Where you are moving
- Jakarta
- Children
- Sofia (age 8) · Luca (age 5)
- Curriculum
- British preferred
- Start
- August
One request. We ask relevant schools whether they have places for each child. Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Example request. School names in these examples are fictional.
Jakarta in short
- Curricula available in Jakarta: IB, British, American, Australian, and national plus.
- The Jakarta school year runs Mid-July or August to June, with the main intake at the start of it.
- Schools are overseen by Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek).
- Tuition is published per year group by each school. Registration, deposit, transport, uniform, meals and examination entries are normally billed separately.
- Availability is decided per child, per year group and per campus, so two children in one family can get two different answers from the same Jakarta school.
- You can create one request and we ask relevant Jakarta schools whether they have places for your children and what happens next.
Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished September 2026Last reviewed September 2026
Jakarta at a glance
The facts that shape a Jakarta school search
- Oversight
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology (Kemendikbudristek)
- Main curricula
- IB, British, American, Australian, and national plus
- School year
- Mid-July or August to June
- Ages served
- 3 to 18
- Language
- English, with Bahasa Indonesia taught as a subject
How admissions work in Jakarta
Most Jakarta schools follow the same stages, whatever the curriculum.
- 1
Enquire and check the year group
Confirm the year group each child would enter in Jakarta. Age cut-offs differ between systems, so the same child can be placed a year apart in two schools.
- 2
Assessment
Most schools assess before offering a place. This can be a short online task, a classroom visit or a subject test, depending on age.
- 3
Offer, deposit and registration
An offer is usually held only after a registration fee or deposit is paid. Check whether either is refundable before you accept.
Documents to prepare
Some documents can take time to arrange from abroad. Start collecting them before you have chosen a school.
- Passport and, where required, visa or residence documents for each child
- Birth certificate
- School reports for the last two years
- Transfer or leaving certificate from the previous school
- Vaccination and health records
- Any learning support or assessment reports, shared early rather than late
More detail: how international-school admissions work.
Curricula families meet in Jakarta
We explain each system once, in the curricula library, rather than repeating it city by city.
British curriculum
IGCSE and A Level, and how English year groups are set by age.
International Baccalaureate
PYP, MYP and the Diploma, and who the IB suits on a later move.
American curriculum
US grades, high-school credits and AP, with their own placement rules.
Changing curriculum mid-move
What transfers cleanly between systems and where a child may repeat or skip a year.
The Jakarta school year and when to apply
Timing decides how much choice you have. These are the stages most families move through.
Six to nine months ahead
Start looking for the main intake
Popular year groups in Jakarta fill first, and assessment slots become scarce close to the intake.
Three to six months ahead
Assessments and offers
Schools assess, then make offers within days or weeks. Registration fees and deposits usually follow immediately.
One to three months ahead
Places confirmed, waiting lists move
Waiting lists move as leaving families release places, so keep asking rather than assuming a school is closed.
Start of the school year
Term begins
The Jakarta school year runs mid-July or August to June.
Mid-year
In-year entry
Possible, but limited to whichever year groups have room. This is where asking schools directly saves the most time.
What school costs in Jakarta
Published tuition is the starting figure, not the total. These are the charges to budget for.
What the Jakarta market costs, in round numbers
High band- Primary, per year
- IDR 150 – 400 million
- Secondary, per year
- IDR 250 – 600 million
- Roughly, in US dollars
- US$9,000 – 37,000
Indicative annual tuition across mainstream international schools, for the stated academic year. Individual schools publish their own fees per year group, the top of each market runs above these ranges, and registration, deposits, transport, uniform, meals and examination entries are billed separately. Figures refer to the 2025/26 academic year. Compare fees across cities.
- Tuition
- Published per year group by each school
- Registration fee
- Charged at application or offer stage, usually non-refundable
- Deposit
- Secures the place and is often deducted from the first term's tuition
- Transport
- School transport is charged separately and varies by distance and route
- Uniform, books, devices
- One-off costs at the start of the year, higher in the first year
- Meals and activities
- Optional at most schools, but a real part of the annual budget
- Examination entries
- IGCSE, A Level, IB and AP entries are billed in the exam years
See also understanding international school fees.
Places and waiting lists
Which Jakarta schools have places for your children?
A place is not something a school has in general. It exists for one year group, at one campus, for one intake. Two children in the same family can get two different answers from the same school on the same day.
School websites cannot tell you this. Availability changes when a family leaves, when a contract ends, or when a new year group opens. That is why we ask schools directly instead of publishing a number that would be out of date by the time you read it.
For each child, a Jakarta school can answer that a place is available, that there is a waiting list, that the intake is full, or that it cannot confirm yet. You see the answer, the fees and the next step, and you decide where to focus.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Answers from schools · 2 children · British curriculum · Starting August
Westbrook International School
Answered in 1 day
North campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Place available for AugustPlace available
- Luca · Year 1Place available for AugustPlace available
Next step: Assessment, then offer
Harbour Ridge Academy
Answered in 2 days
City campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Place available for AugustPlace available
- Luca · Year 1Waiting list, reviewed monthlyWaiting list
Next step: Campus visit, then assessment
Elmfield International College
Answered in 3 days
Main campus · British · Annual fees: Shared with your answer
- Sofia · Year 4Full for the August intakeFull for this intake
- Luca · Year 1Place available for AugustPlace available
Next step: Register interest for January
Your contact details are shared only with the schools you continue with.
Example answers. School names in these examples are fictional.
Choosing where to live in Jakarta
We do not rank areas. These are the questions that decide whether a school works day to day.
South Jakarta: Kemang, Pondok Indah, Cilandak
The traditional expatriate belt, close to several of the oldest campuses and to the international medical and shopping infrastructure families rely on.
BSD City and Bintaro
Planned satellite cities to the south-west with newer, larger campuses, more space and a much easier daily journey if you also work out that way.
Central Jakarta and Menteng
Convenient for embassies and the central business district, with fewer large campuses nearby and heavier reliance on school buses.
The toll road decides the day
A campus twelve kilometres away can be a ninety-minute round trip at peak. Ask the school for realistic bus times on your route before you decide.
Moving to Jakarta with children: a checklist
The school-related steps that decide how smooth the first term is.
- Confirm each child's year group under the curriculum you are moving to in Jakarta.
- Collect and, where required, attest school reports and certificates before you leave.
- Ask schools about places for every child in the same request, not one at a time.
- Check whether registration fees and deposits are refundable if your move date changes.
- Check the visa or residency steps that enrolment can depend on.
- Ask about learning support early, since capacity is decided case by case.
- Line up housing only after you know which school can take all of your children.
See also the moving-abroad timeline.
Moving with more than one child
One school that works for every child, not one child
Most families moving to Jakarta are moving with more than one child, and the hardest part is rarely finding a good school. It is finding one school that can take all of your children in the same year.
Checking each child separately, school by school, is where the search becomes slow. A school that has room in Year 1 may be full in Year 4, and you only learn that after two emails and a wait.
One request covers every child. Each school answers for each child, so you can see immediately where all of your children could start together, and where you would be splitting the family across two schools.
- Ask once for the whole family, not once per child.
- See sibling answers side by side before you contact anyone.
- Ask about sibling priority and start dates while places are still open.
Answers side by side
Westbrook International School
Harbour Ridge Academy
Elmfield International College
Sofia · Year 4
Luca · Year 1
Curriculum
British
British
British
Area
North campus
City campus
Main campus
Annual fees
Shared in answer
Shared in answer
Shared in answer
Next step
Assessment, then offer
Campus visit, then assessment
Register interest for January
Example comparison. School names in these examples are fictional.
How schooling works in Jakarta
Foreign-curriculum schools in Indonesia operate under national regulation as Sekolah Pendidikan Kerja Sama, which sets licensing, teacher and curriculum requirements, including compulsory Indonesian language, civics and religious education for Indonesian nationals. International accreditation — CIS, WASC, the IB or Cambridge — is separate and worth checking alongside the licence.
Nationality changes the requirements
Indonesian nationals attending a foreign-curriculum school must study Bahasa Indonesia, civics and religion under national rules. Foreign nationals normally study Bahasa Indonesia as an additional language only.
Mixed-nationality families should ask exactly how this applies to each child, because it affects the timetable.
Established schools and new campuses
Jakarta has a small number of long-established campuses with deep alumni and university-placement records, and a growing set of newer schools in the satellite cities with modern facilities.
Ask how long the senior school has been running the qualification you care about, and how many cohorts have completed it.
Fees, currency and one-off charges
Some schools publish in US dollars and bill in rupiah, others publish in rupiah. Development or facility fees on joining are common and can be significant.
Ask what is refundable, what is one-off, and how annual increases have run over the last three years.
Air quality and school life
Jakarta air quality varies seasonally, and schools differ in how they respond: indoor sports halls, filtration and published thresholds for outdoor activity.
This is a fair question to ask on a visit, and the answers are genuinely different between campuses.
What families get wrong in Jakarta
The local details that cost families a term, a deposit or a long daily drive.
Renting in the wrong direction
Jakarta traffic is directional. Living north of a school you drive south to every morning costs hours a week.
Missing the SPK requirements
If any child is an Indonesian national, the compulsory subjects apply. Confirm before you assume the timetable.
Budgeting only for tuition
Development fees, deposits, transport and, at some schools, capital contributions sit outside tuition.
Assuming July equals September
Many Jakarta schools start in mid-July. Families planning an August arrival can miss the first weeks.
Leaving the KITAS chain late
Dependent permits follow the sponsoring employer and schools ask for documentation at enrolment. Run both processes in parallel.
Official Jakarta resources
Primary sources for regulation, inspection and enrolment. We link out rather than paraphrase.
How InternationalSchools.org works in Jakarta
One request. We ask relevant Jakarta schools whether they have places for your children and what happens next.
- 1
Create one request for Jakarta
Where you are moving, each child's age, the curriculum you prefer and when you want to start. One request covers the whole family.
- 2
We ask relevant Jakarta schools
We start with schools that serve your children's ages in Jakarta. Curriculum, budget and area help us decide which relevant schools to ask first.
- 3
Schools answer for each child
Availability, fees, timing and what happens next. Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Schools cannot pay to be prioritised, and we do not publish scores or predict availability. How we select schools.
Questions families ask about Jakarta
Find out which Jakarta schools have places for your children
One request, every child, answers from the schools themselves.
Your contact details stay private until you choose to continue with a school.
Go deeper on Jakarta
How fees compare across cities
What is published, what is billed separately and how Jakarta compares with the other markets we cover.
Compare the main curricula
British, IB and American side by side, and what a later move between countries changes.
How admissions work
The stages most international schools use, and where relocating families lose time.
Continue reading
Waiting lists and availability
How waiting lists really work, and what to ask before you join one.
School year and intake timing
When places open, and what a mid-year move changes.
How it works
From one request to answers from the schools themselves.
Other destinations
You can create a request for any destination, published guide or not.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Guide version 3.0. Jakarta information is compiled from official regulators, curriculum authorities and school-published material. Fees, intakes and requirements are set by individual schools and change, so confirm details directly with a school before you rely on them.
Sources
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