Guide · Admissions
How to apply to an international school in Belgrade
Rolling admission, entrance testing, waiting lists, the documents nobody warns you about — and the Serbian state calendar, which works nothing like it.
Updated August 2026 · schools' own pages read 24 August 2026
There is no application season for international schools in Belgrade. Almost every school here admits year-round and is gated on one thing only: whether a place exists in your child's specific year group on the date you want to start. The one published deadline in the city belongs to the École française, whose pre-registration window opens in early February each year — for 2026/27 it opened on 9 February 2026. Serbian state schools are the opposite — they run on a strict statutory calendar with fixed dates. So the right question to ask a school is never "when do applications open" but "do you have a place in Year 7 in January".
Admission, school by school
| School | Admission type | Testing | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| International School of Belgrade | Rolling, no deadlines | Taster day on campus, or online cognitive testing from abroad | Minimum three weeks from a complete application |
| Chartwell | Rolling; mid-year entry explicitly accommodated | Oral English placement test for all Secondary students | Usually a couple of days |
| Ruđer Bošković | Rolling; you nominate a desired start date | English placement test, mandatory for everyone. Trial day. | Documents due before the meeting or within 14 days |
| PRIMA | Rolling, gated on a free place in the year group | No entrance exam. Parent interview with the Head of School. | — |
| British International School | No published deadlines | No entrance examination described | Begins with an Admissions Conference |
| Brook Hill | Year-round, all age groups | A short English assessment only "when necessary". Optional trial day. | — |
| Westbridge | Applications open for all semesters | No testing mentioned | Usually a few days |
| EDUCA | Rolling | Low-pressure orientation and assessment; optional trial day | — |
| Crnjanski | Open all year | Readiness test for Grade 1 entry | — |
| International School Savremena | Rolling | Psychological testing and interview with the school psychologist | — |
| Deutsche Schule Belgrad | Conditional on language and age | Aptitude test around March/April; language assessment for non-native German speakers | Age cut-off is 31 July, not 1 September |
| École française de Belgrade | Deadline-based — pre-registration opens in early February each year (9 February for 2026/27); re-enrolment a month later | Placement test only for children arriving from a non-French system | Registration final after payment and validation |
Checked 24 August 2026. Where a school publishes no deadline we say so rather than inventing one — for most Belgrade schools, no deadline genuinely exists. Green School by Chartwell, IPS and the state Deseta gimnazija are not in this table because they publish no admissions process we could find; their pages say so.
Waiting lists, and what nobody publishes
Waiting lists are real, they are specific to a year group, and no Belgrade school publishes which year groups are full. PRIMA states plainly that lists exist "for some year groups"; Chartwell and Westbridge operate lists when a year is full; ISB has a formal waitlist policy.
Two things about ISB's policy are worth knowing because nothing similar is published elsewhere. First, movement off the list "does not necessarily take place in chronological order". Second, ISB caps enrolment of any single nationality at 35% of the total at each grade level. So a place can exist and still not be offered to your child, if that year group is already at the cap for your nationality. ISB also runs a formal priority order: dependents of U.S. Government-sponsored employees, faculty dependents and current students first; then non-permanent residents of Serbia; then permanent residents.
The practical consequence is the same everywhere: enquire the moment your move is confirmed, and ask about your child's exact year group, not about the school.
What you will be asked for
Requirements differ, but a Belgrade international school will generally want:
- Passport and birth certificate for the child; parent passports or, for Serbian citizens, ID cards
- School reports from the previous two or three years, officially translated into English. ISB asks for three years. Start this early — sworn translation takes time you will not have.
- A medical form with vaccination records. This is not a school preference. Under Article 32 of the Law on Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, children must be vaccinated to remain in preschool and school institutions in Serbia, except where a doctor certifies a medical contraindication. It is the most under-explained requirement for arriving families, and it is worth resolving before you travel rather than after.
- Teacher references, where the school uses them (ISB asks for a maths teacher reference specifically)
- Any individual education plan or record of learning support. ISB warns that failing to disclose learning differences may result in an acceptance being withdrawn.
The Serbian state calendar, for contrast
| Serbian national calendar, 2026/27 | |
|---|---|
| School year begins | Tuesday 1 September 2026 |
| Autumn break | 11–13 November 2026 |
| First semester ends (primary) | 30 December 2026 |
| Winter break | 31 December 2026 – 15 January 2027 |
| Second semester begins | Monday 18 January 2027 |
| Sretenje break | 15–19 February 2027 |
| Spring break | 30 April – 4 May 2027 |
| Classes end, grades 1–7 | 11 June 2027 |
| Classes end, grade 8 | 28 May 2027 |
| Final exam (završni ispit) | 14–16 June 2027 |
Dates from the Ministry of Education's published calendar for 2026/27 (prosveta.gov.rs), checked 24 August 2026. Always confirm against the current official calendar before relying on a date.
Two things follow from this that matter even if your child never attends a state school.
- The calendar for next year is never available before June. Article 28 of the Law on the Foundations of the Education System requires the Minister to prescribe it by 1 June for the following school year. Anyone publishing next year's dates in March is guessing.
- Some international schools do not follow it. ISB runs an August–June year on three terms, so it starts before 1 September. Check the individual school's calendar rather than assuming.
If you are considering a state school: you are not locked to your catchment. Under Article 55 of the Law on Primary Education and Upbringing, a parent may choose a different school by applying to that school by 1 February, and the school must answer by 30 April. Grade 1 enrols children aged between six and a half and seven and a half at the start of the school year. In 2026 appointment booking opened on 23 March through the eUprava portal, with testing and enrolment slots from 1 April to 31 May. Schools pull most documents electronically — but bring paper if the medical examination was at a private or military clinic, or if the child attended a private kindergarten.
Residence, and the order things happen in
Families relocating hit a circularity that no school website explains. The Ministry of Interior wants an enrolment certificate to grant temporary residence on schooling grounds — while ISB, for one, requires students to reside with their parents in Serbia. In practice the parent's permit (work, single permit or investor) comes first and children follow on family-reunification grounds.
The basics, as they bear on school: many nationalities enter visa-free for 90 days in any 180. A long-stay Visa D covers 90–180 days and is applied for in person at a Serbian diplomatic mission, normally at least three months before travel; schooling and family reunification are both valid grounds. Temporary residence is granted for up to three years and explicitly includes "schooling" as a ground. Whoever provides your accommodation must register you within 24 hours of arrival.
None of this is legal advice, and rules change. Check the current position with the Serbian Ministry of Interior before you rely on it.
Questions families ask
When should I apply to an international school in Belgrade?
As soon as your move is confirmed. There is no application season — almost every school admits year-round — so the constraint is not a deadline but whether a seat exists in your child's year group. The one exception is the École française, whose pre-registration for new pupils opens in early February each year.
Do Belgrade international schools have entrance exams?
Some do and some do not. Ruđer Bošković tests every applicant's English. Chartwell tests all Secondary applicants orally. International School Savremena uses psychological testing with a school psychologist. ISB runs a taster day or online cognitive testing. PRIMA, the British International School and Westbridge describe no entrance examination at all.
Can my child start mid-year?
Usually yes. Chartwell states explicitly that it can accommodate a child arriving in the middle of the school year, and Brook Hill, Westbridge, EDUCA and Crnjanski all admit year-round. The binding constraint is a free place, not the date.
Are there waiting lists at Belgrade international schools?
Yes, and they are year-group specific. No school publishes which years are full. PRIMA confirms lists exist for some year groups; ISB has a formal policy under which movement off the list is not necessarily chronological, and caps any single nationality at 35% of each grade level.
What documents do I need to enrol my child in a school in Serbia?
Passport and birth certificate, parent identification, school reports from the previous two to three years officially translated into English, and a medical form including vaccination records. Vaccination is a legal condition of attendance in Serbia, not a school preference. Some schools also ask for teacher references and any individual education plan.
Does my child need their foreign qualifications recognised in Serbia?
Only if they move into the Serbian system. Recognition is handled by the Agency for Qualifications, with a statutory deadline of 30 days from a complete submission. A primary certificate must be recognised before enrolling in a Serbian secondary school. Families going straight into an international school rarely encounter this — families moving a child out of one later almost always do.