Guide · Comparison
BIS or PRIMA?
British International School Belgrade and PRIMA International School Belgrade side by side on curriculum, admissions, what the fee covers and what neither school publishes.
Updated August 2026 · schools' own pages read 24 August 2026
British International School Belgrade teaches Cambridge Checkpoint, Cambridge IGCSE to ages 3-18 in Voždovac. PRIMA International School Belgrade teaches English National Curriculum via Cambridge, Cambridge IGCSE to ages 2-18 in Senjak. The table below sets them side by side on everything either school publishes. Where a row says “not published”, that is the finding — it means the school does not put it anywhere public, and it is a good question to take to an interview.
Where they differ
| BIS | PRIMA | |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum | Cambridge Checkpoint, Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge AS and A Level, American High School Diploma | English National Curriculum via Cambridge, Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge AS and A Level |
| Ages | 3-18 | 2-18 |
| Founded | 1997 | Not published |
| Neighbourhood | Voždovac | Senjak |
| Campuses | Primary, Lower Secondary, Upper Secondary | Campus, Administrative |
| Nationalities | Not published | over 45 |
| Inside the fee | Teaching and extracurricular activities; Books and instructional materials; Examination fees; Report and certificate issuance; Single-day curriculum-related field trips; ESL support at no extra charge | Daily warm school lunch; Morning break fresh fruit; Day trips to museums, fairs, exhibitions and theatres; One full-day excursion within Serbia; Use of all books and equipment; PE kit; Progression tests and exams; Secondary Cambridge examination fees (Years 11-13); Primary after-school clubs (Years 1-6); Child insurance during the school day |
| Billed on top | School transport; Lunch (external caterer); After-school activities; The annual study tour; Uniform | School bus (optional, charged on top) |
| Entrance testing | No entrance examination is described. | No formal entrance examination described. The process is interview- and records-based: parent interview with the Head of School, plus previous school reports. |
| Admission type | By admissions conference | Rolling, year-round |
Rows where the two schools give the same answer are listed separately below, so that this table shows only what actually separates them.
Where they are the same
| Both schools | |
|---|---|
| Language of instruction | English |
| Students | Not published |
| Class size | Not published |
| Publishes fees | No |
| School bus | Runs a service |
| Special needs support | Nothing published |
What stands out about each
- BIS: Dual British and American diploma pathway; Examination fees included in tuition; Free ESL; Duke of Edinburgh's International Award operator.
- PRIMA: Bundles Cambridge examination fees, books and a daily hot lunch into tuition; Natural-grass football pitch, unusual for a city international school.
BIS: A directory publishes an annual tuition range for BIS on a profile the school does not manage, with no academic year stated. The school's own position is that fees are given to families directly, so we do not reproduce that range.
PRIMA: PRIMA's site names Yale, Harvard, Boston University and New York University in the context of how A Levels are recognised generally. It is not a list of where PRIMA leavers have gone, and we have not been able to find one.
What to ask both
Questions worth asking both schools, because neither publishes the answer:
- BIS: Student numbers — the ISI BSO inspection report (BSO9527, 2025) is the likeliest public source
- BIS: CIS and COBIS membership against those bodies' own directories
- BIS: Whether there are three or four campuses — the site is internally inconsistent
- PRIMA: Founding year
- PRIMA: COBIS status and level
- PRIMA: Student numbers
- Both: last year's actual leaver destinations and average results.
- Both: how many teachers in your child's year group were also there last year.
- Both: whether the bus covers the street you will live on.
Questions families ask
What is the difference between BIS and PRIMA?
British International School Belgrade teaches Cambridge Checkpoint, Cambridge IGCSE to ages 3-18; PRIMA International School Belgrade teaches English National Curriculum via Cambridge, Cambridge IGCSE to ages 2-18. They also differ on admissions process, what the fee covers and how much each publishes about itself. The full side-by-side is on this page.
Which is better, BIS or PRIMA?
Neither, in the abstract — and any source that answers that question is guessing about your child. The comparison that decides it is narrower: which one teaches the curriculum your child will finish in, has a place in the right year group, is reachable from where you will live, and can support your child's particular needs. This page is built to let you answer those four.