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International schools, articles and Search Facilities


The information on individual schools, articles, and the search facilities that we make available, are most easily accessed through the menus that appear at the top and on the left of every page.

If you are a current subscriber to the Guide online and are logged in, you will be able to see our critical write-ups and notes on the schools that we visit and review, as well as articles about living in different countries and general articles about schooling systems, curricula, transitions etc. If you are not, there is still a good deal of public information that you will find for free - contact information, links to web sites, basic school features etc.

The available options are:

  • Quick search: enter part of a school name or country
  • Features search: enter one or more of a large number of characteristics of the school - name, location, religion, age range, etc, etc
  • Location search: enter city or country to see schools considered by expats, including schools we’ve covered and schools we haven’t. You can filter this list by a number of characteristics such as age range, single sex/co-ed, independent/state, mainstream/special ed, etc
  • Text search: searches the text of our reviews
  • Schools that we cover: lists of schools that we have reviewed

Here is a complete outline of countries and articles in The Good Schools Guide International

Australia

  • Melbourne/Victoria

          Melbourne/Victoria International Schools Considered by Expats

  • Perth

          Educational Overview: International Schools in Perth

          Perth International Schools Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Perth

          Upside Down or Right Way Round? The Seasons and School Year in Northern Hemisphere v Southern Hemisphere

  • Sydney

          International Schools in Sydney Considered by Expats

          Education in Sydney (New South Wales): Overview

          Expat Living in Sydney

          Living in Sydney with Small Children

          DayLiving in Sydney with Children Under Five: Day Care and Pre-Schools Used by Expats

Barbados

          International Schools in Barbados: Educational Overview

          Barbados International Schools Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Barbados

          Living in Barbados with Small Children: Pre-schools Used by Expats

          Mothers with Children Under 5 (and Miscellaneous Family Entertainment)

Botswana

  • Gaborone

          International Schools in Gaborone Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Gaborone

          Reading Your Way to Botswana: To Begin…

Brazil

  • Brasilia

          International Schools in Brasilia Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Brasilia

Canada

  • Calgary

          Finding an International School in Calgary: The Practicalities

          International Schools in Calgary: Educational Overview

          Expat Living in Calgary

  • Montreal

          Montreal International Schools Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Montreal

          Educational Overview of Montreal

China

  • Beijing

          Beijing International Schools Considered by Expats

          Beijing Pre-schools and Kindergarten Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Beijing

  • Hong Kong

          Hong Kong International Schools Considered by Expats

          Kowloon International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview of International Schools in Hong Kong

          Expat Living in Hong Kong

          We Didn’t Think We’d Stay So Long: Things about Hong Kong We Wish We’d Known

          Reading Your Way to Hong Kong

  • Shanghai

          Shanghai International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview of International Schools in Shanghai

          Expat Living in Shanghai

Czech Republic

  • Prague

          Brief Educational Overview and International Schools Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Prague

Egypt

  • Cairo

          Cairo International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview of International Schools in Cairo

          Expat Living in Cairo

France

The French System: In All Its Gloire

We Live In France: If I can Wake Up My Teenager, Can He Get a Summer Job?

  • Toulouse

          Toulouse International Schools Considered by Expats

          Expat Overview: A Flying View of Toulouse

  • Cannes

          Cannes International Schools Considered by Expats

Germany

  • Berlin

          Educational Overview of International Schools in Berlin

          First Do Your Homework: What to Read (and Watch) About Berlin

Hungary

  • Budapest

          Budapest International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International School Choices in Budapest

          Expat Living in Budapest

India

  • Bangalore

          Bangalore International Schools Considered by Expats

  • New Delhi

          New Delhi International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in New Delhi

          Expat Living in New Delhi

Italy

  • Rome

          Rome International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in Rome

          Expat Living in Rome (to Which All Roads Lead etc)

Japan

  • Tokyo

          Tokyo International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in Tokyo and Yokohoma

          Preschools and Kindergartens Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Tokyo

Jordan

  • Amman

          Amman International Schools Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Amman

          Reading/Watching Your Way to Jordan: Books/Films Before You Go

Korea

  • Seoul

          Expat Living in Seoul

Kuwait

  • Kuwait City

          Kuwait International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in Kuwait

          Expat Living in Kuwait

Luxembourg

Mexico

The Netherlands

Educational Overview: International Schools in the Netherlands

  • Amsterdam

          Amsterdam International Schools Considered by Expats         

  • Arnhem

          Arnhem International Schools Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Arnhem

  • The Hague

          The Hague International Schools Considered by Expats

  • Hilversum

          Hilversum International Schools Considered by Expats

          Expat Living in Hilversum and Het Gooi

Pakistan

  • Islamabad

          Islamabad International Schools Considered by Expats

Portugal

  • Lisbon

          Lisbon International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in Lisbon

          Expat Living in Lisbon

Philippines

Russia 

  • Moscow

          Moscow International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in Moscow

          Expat Living in Moscow

          Points to Ponder: Choosing Schools in Moscow (Even Day Schools)

          Moscow Playschools Considered by Expats

          Jane’s Travel Bullet: When You Arrive in Moscow…

Singapore

          Singapore International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in Singapore

          Expat Living in Singapore

          Jane’s Travel Bullet: When You Arrive in Singapore…

South Africa

Spain

  • Costa del Sol

         Costa del Sol International Schools Considered by Expats

         Expat Living in the Costa del Sol Area

  • Barcelona/Cataluña

          Barcelona/Cataluna International Schools Considered by Expats

  • Costa Blanca

          Costa Blanca/Costa Calida International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in the Costa Blanca/Costa Calida

          Expat Living in the Costa Blanca (or Never a Dull Day in Dolores)

          The Costa’s Explained

Switzerland

  • Geneva

          Geneva International Schools Considered by Expats

          Educational Overview: International Schools in Geneva

          Expat Living in Geneva

  • Chesières-Villars
  • Lausanne/Vevey

          Lausanne/Vevey International Schools Considered by Expats

United Arab Emirates

  • Dubai

          Dubai International Schools Considered by Expats

          Dubai Nurseries and Pre-Schools Considered by Expats

          Dubai Educational Overview: International Schools in Dubai

UK  

  • London

          Educational Overview: International Schools in London

          First, Do Your Homework: What to Read (and Watch) About London            

USA

  • Houston, Texas

          Expat Living in Houston

Vietnam

  • Dongguan

          Dongguan International Schools Considered by Expats

  • Ho Chi Minh City

          Ho Chi Minh City International Schools Considered by Expats

Zambia

Feature Articles

Schooling abroad, special education needs, differences between curricula, the fine points of “the footy” (round ball or pointy): articles to fill in the blanks, help you plan, or give you heart…

International Schools: In Name Only?

By Jennifer Sharple - Expat, parent, journalist. When is an international school not an international school? Or even a school where most students aren't international at all, but instead locals whose parents want them to have a British or American education...at least on paper? What should you look for, what should you ask?

Citizens of the World aka Third Culture Kids

By Jennifer Sharple – How do these modern nomadic children cope as they ride the coat tails of their parents’ dreams and lives? 

Schools Abroad: How Do I Even Begin?

By Jennifer Sharple. What to look for in an international school and how to strategize the search: pitfalls to beware of, what should wave a red flag; what to look for in accreditation, staff, special needs, financial stability.

Glossary  

Words, agencies and phrases that are found peppered throughout the GSGI, many that are peculiar to one country (especially Montreal), or wander into a range of jargon for a particular area (say, US Financial Aid).

The Basics of an English Education  

Find everything you need to know about the British school system....wherever you find it, in this article written for Paragon by Sandra Hutchinson, one of the leading editors from The Good Schools Guide.

The Footy: Football, Soccer, Neither, Both?

There are many mystery words amongst English speaking peoples, but some are more likely than others to incite international incidents....

We Live In France: If I Can Wake Up My Teenager, Can He Get a Summer Job?  

The trials and tribulations of finding jobs during a teenage holiday...

Small Children Abroad: Schooling and Entertainment  

Some of these are excerpts of other GSGI articles, or stand alone articles in their own right. So some are country-specific, but much of the information is universally useful, so here it is in one folder.

Quick bullets by Martine Self from the GSGI Moscow section, but helpful for choosing schools for all ages anywhere, especially kindergartens and day school.

More brilliant reassurance from Charlotte Sherston for mothers picking up their babies and carrying them most of the way around the world and all the way down under.

To Board or Not to Board?  

Thoughts from parents of boarders, and boarders themselves: how to choose, how to plan, or whether to do it at all.

A shot cross-cultural snapshot of things your children will deal with if they join in this nomadic life with you.

No nonsense advice from parents (posted in the Middle East) who sent three children back home to board...two were "Enid Blyton" perfect fits (although one was a boy) but the third was a square peg and expected by the school to "stand up to the bullies"...

What students should expect from boarding school, and how to prepare....by someone who graduated about a minute ago and wrote this for her school paper, called "Hey You".  

Special Education Needs: International Schools  

Definitions, descriptions, resources, solutions....these mini-guides to Special Education Needs in the UK and US will equip you for those countries, but help you find your way (and at least know what you're missing) in more far-flung corners of the globe.

What can you expect, and to what are you entitled? How do the laws affect you, even if you're not a US citizen, and only in the US for a short time; definitions, bibliography, and who to call for help....written by Karen Moffitt, one of the leading SEN authorities in America.

Global Special Education and Disabilities Sites - how to find Special Education Needs help when it isn't available in schools abroad.

Eligible disabilities as defined by US law, specifically IDEA 2004 under the American Disabilities Act.

Thousands of words of US law and regulations whittled down to a few clear and succinct pages by Karen Moffitt, one of the leading US Special Education Needs authorities (who wrote a few of those laws herself).

Does my child have a “special education need” or are the difficulties he seems to have actually pretty ‘normal’? How to know the difference, how to get help....definitions, resources, and help contributed by some of the top experts in the SEN field, much of it from Sandra Hutchinson's excellent and comprehensive "Good Schools Guide: Special Education Needs" (if we do say so ourselves).

Who to call in the UK about special education needs, how to get help.

A crisp, clear guide for parents to this labrynthine, often frustrating world, adapted from the Introduction to The Good Schools Guide: Special Education Needs, by Sandra Hutchinson.

Not a school as such, but a useful resource for those with children in or near Lisbon with Special Education Needs

Transitions: Between School Systems, Hemispheres, Countries  

Can you transfer out of the American system into the British, or out of the British into the IB? If summer is winter in Australia, when does school begin? What happens to children who need someplace to land in between, for extra work, visa help or beefing up on skills?

The rigourous French schools are undoubtedly the most difficult to transfer into from other systems, but the best if you want a dependable and seamless transition within the same system, no matter where you go.

Touted as the best system for the most seamless transition, country to country, but it ain't necessarily so....

Certainly one of the most difficult of transitions, but not impossible. And then what's needed to get into American unis from the British system?

Accreditation/Inspection Agencies

How can you find out about accreditations of international schools? Are all international schools inspected by Ofsted? Which accreditation and inspection agencies are legitimate, which ones aren't, how do you tell the difference, why do accreditations matter... in this section, you'll find everything we can think of that you might need to know.

If schools outside the UK say they're inspected by Ofsted, can you believe them? (Mostly not). How do you know, and what other agencies should you look for?

How to separate the sheep from the goats, the authorised from the bogus. Beware the alphabet soup of lookalike initials and reversed titles: all accrediting agencies are not equal.

How far does the IBO oversight go, and what does a school have to do to qualify as one?

All schools in this book with full reviews are accredited or inspected by one or more of these agencies.

School Systems, Curricula and Exams  

All curricula, exams and systems for international schools mentioned in the Good Schools Guide Intwrnational (with descriptions as we find authorities who can put each one in clear concise terms....which is almost NEVER the official and mostly useless website set up to do that). If you need information on one we haven't defined yet, just let us know.

SATs, GCSEs, APs, A levels, IB....what are they, what do they mean? In an international school, does one equal or substitute for another, who needs them....?? What age child takes which exam in what year? Here you will find equvilencies between systems (GSCE vs American Diploma), the IB explained, transitions decoded.

The GCSE is technically regarded as the equivilent of an American high school diploma, but if you're applying from abroad, is it enough to get into a good US college or university? Unlikely....

What's the best SAT score, are they necessary, where are they accepted, why do some good international schools have lower-than-expected scores, what is the ACT?

What are acceptable IGCSEs? How do you qualify the raw data between so many schools in the UK, much less British international schools? This should help you judge for yourself when a school says they have "outstanding" results.

Use this cryptic chart to figure out which age and stage your child will take various examinations for the English or Scottish National Curriculum systems, or the IB.

Are AP classes different from run-of-the-mill courses of the same name, and do you really need to work this hard? Do university admissions offices weight them more heavily, and can they really give advance credit for university work?

Only someone like Mary Langford, who has set up, run, and inspected IB schools herself, could produce such a clear, condensed, no-frills treatise on this popular curriculum that is gaining momentum around the world with the speed of a rip tide.

All curricula mentioned in the Good Schools Guide International; brief descriptions of each as we find sources and succinct descriptions in clear English), and schools that use each curriculum. (Most with descriptions as we find authorities who can put each one in clear concise terms....which is almost NEVER the official and mostly useless website set up to do that).

Good Schools Guide International schools offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum: 

Good Schools Guide International schools offering the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP):

Good Schools Guide International schools offering the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (PYP):

Good Schools Guide International schools offering the National Curriculum of England and Wales (often just known as British Education, including IGCSEs, A levels, and/or IGCSEs):

Good Schools Guide International schools offering IGCSEs:

Good Schools Guide International schools offering IGCSEs and/or A Levels in conjunction with an adapted curriculum: 

Good Schools Guide International schools offering the American High School Diploma (College Prep): 

Good Schools Guide International schools offering Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum:

 Good Schools Guide International schools offering the French National Curriculum:

Good Schools Guide International schools offering the New South Wales (Australia) curriculum and High School Certificate:

Good Schools Guide International schools offering Victoria Certificate of Education (VCE)(Australia):

Use this cryptic chart to figure out which age and stage your child will take various examinations for the English or Scottish National Curriculum systems, or the IB.

Sydney has more than its share of very good schools, but places for expats are in short supply. Beware, and plan early. It's not impossible, but read carefully to sort out a backup strategy.

A quick description of the ins and outs of the French education system: how it works, what to expect and how non-French children (and parents) make the system adjust to themselves (they don't), or learn to fit in (and it is possible).

Find everything you need to know about the British school system....wherever you find it, in this article written for Paragon by Sandra Hutchinson, one of the leading editors from The Good Schools Guide.

This may be the clearest, most succinct description you'll ever find on these elite European Schools funded by the European Union, run for the dependents of that vast bureaucracy, and resulting in the European Baccalaureate (but not to be confuse with the IB).

What to expect from American schools in America, what is the "American curriculum", and what makes it different from other curricula?

Getting Into University From Anywhere

Jane's Travel Bullets  

Just as definitive as, but not to be confused with, the famous military publishers of the same name, these travel tips come from a globe trotting consultant who makes it her business to enjoy the process of travel, and to find the comforts and shortcuts in every conceivable language and airport. Check your destination: if Jane Mason goes there, we have her up-to-the-minute advice for your city.

Navigating Narita - the airport in Tokyo

How to meet people in and navigate the airport and other stories

There are two airports in Moscow. Many choices of vodka in both. More humourless officials than you can shake a stick at. Enjoy!

Welcome to the calm oasis that is the airport in Singapore. With a garden on the roof, a spa, a gym, lovely shops, and thousands of orchids, you may be tempted to stay put!

A whistle stop tour thorough this great little airport

The most important bit of travel news really is contained in this article...

...iso easy!

Aiport fine - traffic not

...shame about the distance from Seoul itself!

 

One-to-One Advisory Service

Need extra specialist advice? We have advisors in place in many of the locations we cover that can provide it! See:

Or go straight to the page for our advisor in:

Want to Work for Us?  

Everything you need to know about writing and advising for the Good Schools Guide International.

A long but pretty thorough description about writing/advising for the Good Schools Guide International.

Help us get the Good Schools Guide International going, and share in the revenue.

What do editors do, and what kind of person would like it?

A brief job announcement for GSGI country editors, who also serve as GSGI advisors.  

Before You Go: Recommended Reading for Beach or Plane

Novels about your new country (also listed under some GSGI country sections); how-to books on parenting, relocating, life on the move...books in this chapter are recommended by readers and our editors.

In Depth: Focus on UK Schooling  

Coming from abroad, understanding the system, whether your child has a chance of getting in, whether British schools are as daunting as their reputation, how to check out a school....a wealth of articles reprinted from The Good Schools Guide.

aka: Sussing Out a School and Horses for Courses; long standing article reprinted year after year in The Good Schools Guide. If you don't read anything else, this is a must. It will arm you with the questions and courage you need to make the right decisions for your child.

Public or private, English or Scottish, advantages of each, how to get in (including the impossibly difficult labrynth of the state school system).  

Buy the Guide(s)  

Purchase any of the Good Schools Guide books: GSG Special Education Needs Guide, etc

Individual or Corporate rates; discounts for subscribers of any of the Good Schools Guides...

Links

Links with people, companies and agencies we think might be helpful to expats and parents. We decide which links we like; while we are not responsible for their content, we don't put them on our site unless we have taken a good look, have good reports on them or have used their services ourselves.