Manila, Philippines
International schools in Manila: what families need to know
Metro Manila is a cluster of cities, and international schools sit mainly in three of them: Taguig, Makati and Parañaque, with older campuses in Quezon City and Alabang. Teaching is in English almost everywhere, which makes the transition easier than in much of Asia, but traffic is severe and the school run drives 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
- Manila
- 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.
Manila in short
- Curricula available in Manila: American, IB, British and Philippine K-12.
- The Manila school year runs August to June at most international schools, with the main intake at the start of it.
- Schools are overseen by Department of Education (DepEd); foreign schools operate under DepEd permits.
- 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 Manila school.
- You can create one request and we ask relevant Manila schools whether they have places for your children and what happens next.
Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished September 2026Last reviewed September 2026
Manila at a glance
The facts that shape a Manila school search
- Oversight
- Department of Education (DepEd); foreign schools operate under DepEd permits
- Main curricula
- American, IB, British and Philippine K-12
- School year
- August to June at most international schools
- Ages served
- Pre-K through Grade 12
- Language
- English, alongside Filipino in the national curriculum
How admissions work in Manila
Most Manila schools follow the same stages, whatever the curriculum.
- 1
Enquire and check the year group
Confirm the year group each child would enter in Manila. 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 Manila
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 Manila 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 Manila 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 Manila school year runs august to June at most international schools.
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 Manila
Published tuition is the starting figure, not the total. These are the charges to budget for.
What the Manila market costs, in round numbers
High band- Primary, per year
- PHP 700,000 – 1,200,000
- Secondary, per year
- PHP 900,000 – 1,500,000
- Roughly, in US dollars
- US$12,000 – 26,000
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 Manila 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 Manila 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 Manila
We do not rank areas. These are the questions that decide whether a school works day to day.
Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig
Planned, walkable and the default choice for newly arriving families, with campuses, offices and housing in the same district.
Makati: Rockwell, Salcedo and Legazpi Villages
The established business district, good restaurants and short trips to several schools; older buildings, higher density.
Alabang and Muntinlupa
Village housing with gardens and space, popular with families wanting a quieter life, at the price of a long trip north.
Quezon City and Parañaque
Long-established campuses and more affordable housing, with traffic that rewards living close to the school.
Moving to Manila 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 Manila.
- 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 Manila 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 Manila
The Department of Education oversees basic education, including schools teaching foreign curricula, which operate under DepEd permits and typically enrol both foreign nationals and Filipino citizens. The national K-12 programme runs from kindergarten to Grade 12; most international schools align to American, British or IB programmes instead.
English teaching lowers the barrier
English is an official language of instruction, so children arriving from English-speaking systems typically settle quickly and have wider school options than in most of the region.
Filipino language and Philippine social studies appear on many timetables, including at international schools. Ask how those are handled for a child who may stay two or three years.
Traffic is the deciding factor
Metro Manila congestion is severe and unpredictable, especially in the rainy season between roughly June and October, when flooding can close roads.
Families almost universally advise choosing the school first and then living within the same city district. Ask for the bus route and typical journey time from a specific address before signing a lease.
Admissions and assessment
Schools review previous reports, run assessments in English and mathematics, and often interview parents. Popular year groups can carry waiting lists.
Enrolment requires passports and visas, previous school records, birth certificate and medical records. Some schools require reports to be authenticated for pupils transferring into the Philippine system.
Fees and what sits outside tuition
Tuition is published in Philippine pesos per grade and typically billed annually or per term, with early-payment discounts common.
Some schools require a one-off capital or facilities contribution alongside tuition, and a few operate transferable share or bond schemes for corporate members. Ask about this at the first conversation — it can be the largest single number.
Bus, meals, uniform, devices, trips and examination entries are billed separately.
Weather, closures and the school calendar
Typhoon season brings class suspensions, announced locally and often at short notice. Schools have established remote-learning arrangements.
Ask how many suspension days the school had last year and how learning continued — the answer tells you a lot about how it is run.
What families get wrong in Manila
The local details that cost families a term, a deposit or a long daily drive.
Living in one city district and schooling in another
Metro Manila traffic makes cross-district school runs long and unpredictable. Match them.
Missing capital or bond contributions
Some schools require a one-off facilities payment or a share purchase. Ask about it before budgeting.
Ignoring typhoon-season disruption
Class suspensions are routine. Ask how many days were lost last year and how remote learning worked.
Assuming any curriculum is available everywhere
American programmes dominate; IB and British provision exists but is concentrated in specific campuses.
Leaving school records unauthenticated
Transfers may require authenticated previous reports. Arrange this before you move.
Official Manila resources
Primary sources for regulation, inspection and enrolment. We link out rather than paraphrase.
How InternationalSchools.org works in Manila
One request. We ask relevant Manila schools whether they have places for your children and what happens next.
- 1
Create one request for Manila
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 Manila schools
We start with schools that serve your children's ages in Manila. 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 Manila
Find out which Manila 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 Manila
How fees compare across cities
What is published, what is billed separately and how Manila 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 3.1. Manila 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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