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International

  • About
  • Accreditation
    • International schools accreditation and inspections

      Agencies listed in this section are the official accreditation or inspection agencies that are run by the government, or have been given authority to accredit or inspect the schools in that country. These are not just membership organisations, but objective, arms-length and unavoidable for legitimate schools.

  • Australia
  • Bahrain
    • Best schools in Bahrain

      A snapshot of international schools in Bahrain that are considered (although not necessarily chosen) by English-speaking families, with the best visited and reviewed by the Good Schools Guide.

    • Living in Bahrain: an expat guide

      Moving to Bahrain with the scary bits removed (or at least put in proportion) : the most succinct expat overview you'll ever find, from expert expat Kate Carey.

  • Brunei
    • Best schools in Brunei

      A snapshot of international schools in Brunei that are considered (although not necessarily chosen) by English-speaking expat parents, with the best visited and reviewed by The Good Schools Guide International.

    • Living in Brunei: an expat guide

      Brunei's expats love its ideal environment for families: good security, good schooling, clean air, readily available domestic help, really cheap petrol, unspoilt jungle, and its central position for travel.

       

  • Choosing a school
    • Coming into the British school system from abroad

      For many people outside the UK, Britain's private school system is perplexing and impenetrable. An intricate web of gossip, secretive education 'consultants,' public exams with mystifying initials, and sniffy headmasters' secretaries seem to conspire to keep the system a closed book.

    • International schools abroad: how do I even begin?

      Some privileged expatriates may get a “look-see” visit to their new location prior to accepting a posting - depending on a company's, or government's, generosity. If you are one of them, the time you have for your visit will never seem like enough, but a bit of judicious homework and planning can make you feel less like a well-spun hamster by the end of the day.

    • Relocating Overseas: looking for a nursery abroad

      How do I look for an overseas nursery for my child? Will it be safe? An expert from the British Diplomatic Service Families Association gives you all the answers.

  • Curricula and exams
    • The American System in International Schools

      The very name 'American Curriculum' is a misnomer, since technically there is no such thing in the way that there is a National Curriculum of England, or a French national curriculum. All fifty states and most major cities/school districts (often county-wide, not just one city) set their own curriculum frameworks, priorities, funding, standards, tests and scheduling.

    • The European Baccalaureate: the European schools

      One of the lesser-known mysteries of the EU is the existence of the European Schools that lead to the European Baccalaureate. These schools were launched in the 1950s to serve the children who are dependents of employees of the European Institutions that are run under the auspices of the EU. The schools are funded by the EU and their dependents pay no tuition. Consequently, several of the schools are in Brussels, seat of the EU, and the others are located in Spain, Italy, Germany, Italy, UK, Luxembourg (where the largest schools is) and The Netherlands.

    • The French education system

      How the French education system works

    • The International Baccalaureate explained

      Schools offering the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB DP) prepare students for university entrance by following the IB programme over the final two years of high school. This involves taking six subjects (three at higher level and three at standard level). 

    • The International Primary Curriculum Explained

      We contacted the office of the IPC for information to round out our own article describing this interesting and fast growing curriculum (now almost 1,300 schools in over 63 countries are using it, 1000 of those in England, Wales and Scotland alone). They offered to write it for us, and we thought what they sent was so thorough and spot on (and certainly all you'll ever need to know about the IPC!), we'd publish as is.   

  • France
  • Help and Advice
    • Home and school overseas - do third culture kids make first class citizens?

      Along with globalisation has come greater mobility,  with millions of people crossing borders annually to work or migrate. They adapt new languages and customs but bring with them cultural influences from where they were raised. When children live overseas during their formative years in a country other than their own, they are tagged with a new label – “Third Culture Kids” (TCKs).

    • International schools: in name only?

      With over 8,000 international schools scattered across the world, globetrotting parents can work virtually anywhere secure in the knowledge that their accompanying offspring won’t have to compromise their education.

    • School ownership: what if a school is privately owned?

      Schools come under about four kinds of ownership:

  • Hong Kong
    • Best schools in Hong Kong

      A snapshot of international schools in Hong Kong that are considered (although not necessarily chosen) by English-speaking families, with the best visited and reviewed by the Good Schools Guide.

    • Living in Hong Kong: an expat guide

      A brisk expats' survival guide to Hong Kong: what schools are in what areas, how to find friends, clubs, nannies, shopping, healthcare, transportation and hiking trails. It's all here!

  • Kuwait
    • Best schools in Kuwait

      A snapshot of international schools in Kuwait that are considered (although not necessarily chosen) by English-speaking families, with the best visited and reviewed by the Good Schools Guide.

    • Living in Kuwait: an expat guide

      From clubs to camel racing, fast cars to local diet restrictions...a bracing guide to living in volatile, social, exotic Kuwait.

  • Planning for university
  • Singapore
    • Best schools in Singapore

      A snapshot of international schools in Singapore that are considered (although not necessarily chosen) by English-speaking families, with the best visited and reviewed by the Good Schools Guide.

    • Living in Singapore: an expat guide

      An up close and personal guide to the joys of living in Singapore, by The Good Schools Guide International's editor Selina Boyd.

    • Where to live in Singapore

      A guide to where to live in the city, if you have school-age children, by our Singapore editor, Selina Boyd.

  • Switzerland
    • La Maturité Suisse

      In some private schools in Switzerland, students can opt to take the Fédérale Maturité Suisse, (or “la matu” as it is known colloquially) which qualifies them for entry into any Swiss university or universities overseas.The Maturité Cantonale taken in the Canton de Vaud state schools may not be accepted by universities outside of Switzerland.

  • The Netherlands
  • Transitions
    • Coming home to roost: the pleasures and perils of returning to schools in the UK

      There comes a time in the life of most expatriate families when they have to decide about their children’s education – do we stay or do we go? Now or later? Should our children take all their public exams at an international school abroad, or would they be better served at a school in the UK? 

    • Comparative ages, grades and exams - US vs UK

      Comparing US and English ages, stages, grades and exams from English nursery through A levels, from American Kindergarten through 12th grade, and when students take AP, IB or GCSEs.

    • From American schools to British (National Curriculum for England, IGCSEs, A Levels)

      Moving from the American system into the British system is probably one of the trickiest transitions of all, and success very much depends on the age of the student and on his/her ability and willingness to adapt and take on the extra work that will undoubtedly be required. It would be exactly like jumping onto a jogging machine already going at full tilt.  

    • IB to IB: a seamless transition, wherever you go?

      We are moving back to the UK this June, once the children's school year is completed. My  middle son will have completed his first year of the two year IB course.  I approached the nearest IB school to us in terms of commutable distance, but they suggest that he start the IB all over again.

  • UK
    • Notes for foreign parents

      Most independent UK schools are now genuinely thrilled to welcome in foreign students, and no longer regard a cosmopolitan mix as a matter for shame (that they cannot fill the school with home-grown products). State schools too are getting used to the influx of EU students (boarded out with locals, or accommodated by the state boarding school network). Foreign students are perceived to add breadth, excitement, new horizons, not to mention fantastic exam results in exotic languages (Turkish, Norwegian, Polish, Mandarin, Japanese, Gujerati, Urdu among the most common), high intelligence (often) and motivation.

  • USA
    • American schools abroad and at home: the basics

      The American curriculum is a mis-nomer (there is no such thing as a National Curriculum of America), but there are requirements that most American schools meet, and qualifications and characteristics found in most of the best ones whether in the US or across the world.


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