· updated monthly
The ten schools Brussels parents researched most this year, chosen from the 36 international schools in the city. Ranked by how many families opened each school’s profile and spent time reading it between July 2025 and June 2026, then the full picture on curricula, class sizes and fees.
The 2026 ranking
Ranked purely by parent interest — the number of families who opened each school’s profile and spent time reading it between July 2025 and June 2026.
The International School of Brussels is a private, not-for-profit day school in Belgium for ages 2–18. It offers IB programs (PYP, MYP, DP) along with AP, BTEC, and an American curriculum, with English as language of instruction. French begins at age 2.5, with a bilingual program from Grade 5; additional languages include Dutch, Spanish, and Japanese, and a Home Language Programme integrates languages spoken at home. ISB uses an inquiry-based, personalised learning approach across ECC to High School. Set on a 40-acre forest campus in Forêt de Soignes beside a UNESCO World Heritage site, the campus includes libraries, Arts Annex, theatre, science labs, a digital music classroom, and arts spaces. Sport and outdoor facilities include two gyms, a running track, athletic fields, a dojang, climbing walls, a tennis bubble, and a VUB swimming partnership. ISB Plus offers about 90 activities and 50+ teams, with community service, CAS, and leadership development.
St. John's International School is a private, all-through IB school in Waterloo, Belgium, part of Inspired Education Group, with boarding at Shannon House. It serves ages 1 to 18 and offers the IB continuum—PYP, MYP and DP—alongside AP courses for Diploma students. Five graduation pathways combine the IB Diploma with AP credits and the St John's High School Diploma. A Dual Language Programme in French and English runs from Early Years through Primary to foster bilingualism; in Grades 6–8 students study two to three languages, and Grades 9–10 feature a Mother Tongue Programme with eight languages. Language A and Self-Taught Literature are available within the Diploma. The Waterloo campus features bright classrooms, Samsung smartboards, VR headsets, and well-equipped visual and performing arts spaces, including a 400-seat professional theatre—the largest in Brussels—and the Greene Gallery. NECIS membership supports a vibrant co-curricular life, alongside Summer Camps and Exchange Programmes.
From the details provided, the institution described is Brussels Unit School, a DoDEA (Department of Defense Education Activity) school in Brussels. It serves preschool through 12th grade with a combined elementary, middle, and high school population and is part of Brussels Community Schools in DoDEA Europe West District. The curriculum is stated as American Curriculum with Advanced Placement (AP). The school offers a PSCD program for students with disabilities and a general special education program for a diverse learner population. The age range is 4 to 18. This profile does not include information about Brussels American School. If you intended Brussels Unit School, I can format a full school_character entry. If you need Brussels American School specifically, please provide the correct details or confirm that BAS is the target, and I will adjust accordingly.
BSB is a not-for-profit international day school in Belgium offering a UK-based curriculum for ages 1–18. The school provides a British curriculum up to age 16 (GCSE/IGCSE) and post-16 options including the International Baccalaureate Diploma, A Levels and BTEC vocational courses. A bilingual IB Diploma is available in French/English or Dutch/English, and a French-English bilingual Primary programme runs from Reception (age 4–5) with Dutch lessons beginning at age seven. Founded in 1969 and opened on the current site in 1970, BSB houses the Jacques Rogge Sports Centre, which includes a 25m indoor pool, gym, dance studio and multi-sport hall, plus extensive outdoor facilities. The Brel Theatre seats 240; there are music rooms, a recording studio and film-editing facilities, together with art studios, a CAD suite with a 3D printer, and textiles and Food & Nutrition classrooms. Extracurricular life features over 120 weekly sports clubs and around 200 clubs in total, with partnerships such as West Ham United, Swim Swift Elite and Special Olympics Belgium. The school runs the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and the Futures careers programme.
European School Brussels IV delivers the European Schools curriculum from nursery to secondary, providing a multilingual, culturally diverse education. Instruction uses official EU languages, with eight language sections—German, English, Bulgarian, Estonian, French, Italian, Dutch and Romanian—and Croatian for SWALS pupils. Basic instruction is delivered in the official languages, and curricula are aligned across language sections, with a strong focus on developing mother tongues and foreign languages. Students complete the European Baccalaureate at the end of S7, opening access to higher education throughout the Union. The school sits on the Laeken site, with nursery and primary in Building L and secondary in Building R. Facilities include science laboratories, art and music spaces, libraries, a canteen, sport halls and a multipurpose hall, plus infirmary, psychologists and after-school care. Extra-curriculars range from robotics and coding to Erasmus+, KiVa, Green & Clean School, and international projects (eTwinning, WEX, CAAP). Pupils' Committee enables student leadership.
ACE of Brussels is a Cambridge International School for ages 3 to 18, located in Auderghem in château. The Junior School sits in the château, while Senior School occupies separate, modern building on the same grounds, creating campus with tram access near EU institutions. The school offers the Cambridge International Curriculum from early years through Cambridge A Levels and is a Cambridge Assessment International Education registered school and Cambridge Examination Centre for iGCSE, AS and A‑Levels. ACE Ascend Online School provides Cambridge online courses with flexible timetable, enabling students to mix IGCSE, AS and A‑Levels. Project Based Learning guides maths, literacy, sciences, languages and technology across ages 3–19. Facilities include the ACE spACE sensory room and a range of support services such as Listening Program, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Testing and Diagnosis, and Life Coach. After-school activities include Rock School, Computer Club and Dungeons and Dragons, with Garderie care to 18:00.
European School Brussels III, in Ixelles, Belgium, serves pupils from 4 to 18 within the public European Schools system. It follows a three-cycle secondary structure: Observation (S1–S3), Pre-orientation (S4–S5) and Orientation (S6–S7), culminating in the European Baccalaureate. The program is multilingual: for the first three years pupils study with most subjects in their mother tongue; from secondary, they choose a second foreign language (L3) and may take a third (L4) in S4. The core curriculum covers L1, L2, Mathematics, at least one science, History and Geography, Philosophy, Physical Education, and Religion or Ethics, with a wide range of electives to reach 31–35 periods per week. The campus includes a library and Documentation Center with thousands of books in multiple languages, online catalogues, and study spaces. Extracurricular life is coordinated by the APEEE and features Olympiads, Model United Nations, TEDx, music and theatre, and wellbeing and citizenship activities.
Located in Brussels, Lycée Français Jean Monnet is part of the AEFE network and serves pupils from age 2 to 18 across two campuses. The school follows the official French curriculum and prepares students for the Diplôme National du Brevet (DNB) and the Baccalauréat, offering four Bac options: conventional, European, British international and German international. Pupils can personalise their education through a wide range of pathways and elective subjects, with six modern languages taught from early childhood. The school welcomes 2,650 pupils from over 50 nationalities and provides facilities, including a Centre de Documentation et d'Information (CDI) with 20,000 titles, dining overseen by a dietitian and nurse, and spaces for group work and exhibitions. Cogni'Classe supports learning with neuroscience-informed strategies, and orientation services assist families with higher education planning. Extracurricular life includes MUN, Cine-club, theatre, Manga Club, Red Cross and Amnesty groups, and sport through the Association Sportive from 6e to Terminale.
The British International School of Brussels offers a British Curriculum for children aged 3–11. The campus comprises two buildings: the Emile Max Infant Department (ages 3–7) and the Avenue Emeraude Junior Department (ages 7–11). Pre-Nursery to Reception form the Early Years Foundation Stage; from Reception onward, four French lessons per week are incorporated. The Primary years are organized into Key Stage 1 (Years 1–2, ages 5–7) and Key Stage 2 (Years 3–6, ages 7–11). Instruction is in English, with French taught from Reception to Year 6 and specialist support available for non-English speakers. The school is located centrally in Brussels, between NATO and the European Commission. Facilities include two well-stocked libraries used weekly, a broad sports programme with swimming and tennis, and an outdoor education offering orienteering, archery and hiking. Debating, drama and cinema sessions, plus specialist music support, enrich the arts, alongside global education initiatives with university partnerships.
Montgomery International School is an international IB World School for students aged 5 to 18, located in Brussels, Belgium. The campus occupies a 1907 building with a 500 m2 extension added in 2020 to accommodate Diploma Programme students. The school delivers the IB continuum—Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme—across two language tracks: an English-language programme with French as a second language, and an advanced bilingual English–French immersion option. In 2022 MIS achieved the best IBDP score in Brussels, outperforming the global average by five points. The campus features a science lab, a 3D printer, a bilingual library and dedicated spaces for theatre, research and study; DP students access the Brussels University library (ULB). External facilities support PE and sports at nearby venues, and theatre performances occur in professional Brussels houses. MIS joined the Ermitage Educational Group in 2023, reinforcing its international network and signature service-learning and university-counselling programs.
What’s on offer
The mix of programmes and teaching languages across all 36 schools. Many offer more than one curriculum, so totals run higher than the school count.
Number of schools teaching each curriculum.
Number of schools teaching in each language.
Size & classes
School size and class size shape day-to-day experience as much as curriculum does.
Schools grouped by total enrolment.
Average school size is 907 students · based on the 17 schools that report enrolment.
Schools grouped by typical class size.
Average class size is 20.2 students · based on the 9 schools that report it.
What it costs
Fees shown are one year for a 12-year-old (or the closest age available), excluding one-time enrolment costs.
Across the 34 schools that publish a price for a 12-year-old. All figures in EUR.
How many schools sit in each annual-fee range.
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