Guide · Comparison
DSB or BIS?
Deutsche Schule Belgrad and British International School Belgrade side by side on curriculum, admissions, what the fee covers and what neither school publishes.
Updated September 2026 · schools' own pages read 24 August 2026
Deutsche Schule Belgrad teaches German curriculum, Deutsches Internationales Abitur and Mittlerer Schulabschluss to ages 3-18 in Senjak. British International School Belgrade teaches Cambridge Checkpoint, Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge AS and A Level and University of Nebraska curriculum (Years 12-13) to ages 3-18 in Voždovac. 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
| DSB | BIS | |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum | German curriculum, Deutsches Internationales Abitur, Mittlerer Schulabschluss | Cambridge Checkpoint, Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge AS and A Level, University of Nebraska curriculum (Years 12-13) |
| Language of instruction | German | English |
| Founded | 1854 | 1997 |
| Neighbourhood | Senjak | Voždovac |
| Campuses | School, Kindergarten | Primary, Lower Secondary, Upper Secondary |
| Students | over 250 | 473 |
| Nationalities | more than 20 | Not published |
| Publishes fees | Yes, a current schedule | No |
| Inside the fee | Textbooks and materials | 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 |
| Billed on top | Lunch (invoiced separately by the caterer); Field trips and excursions; Optional summer care | School transport; Lunch (external caterer); After-school activities; The annual study tour; Uniform |
| Entrance testing | German native speakers sit a school aptitude test around March/April. Non-native German speakers additionally sit a language assessment (Sprachfeststellung). | No entrance examination is described. |
| Admission type | Conditional on language and age | By admissions conference |
| School bus | Nothing published | Runs a service |
| Special needs support | Nothing published | Individual education plans are in place for all pupils identified with special educational needs. The 2025 inspection recorded 32 such pupils, and noted that monitoring in the primary school is close and consistent while use of the plans in secondary teachers' planning is less consistent. |
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 | |
|---|---|
| Ages | 3-18 |
| Class size | Not published |
What stands out about each
- DSB: Founded 1854 — the earliest founding year in this guide, and the only one we can date before 1948; Entry is gated on German language competence rather than nationality; Serbian taught from Grade 1; Holds the Exzellente Deutsche Auslandsschule seal, reconfirmed in 2023.
- BIS: Two routes in the final years: Cambridge A Levels, or the University of Nebraska curriculum; Examination fees and ESL are both inside the fee; Duke of Edinburgh's International Award operator; Hosts its 2025 British Schools Overseas inspection report on its own site — the only inspection report we found published by a school in this guide.
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.
What to ask both
Questions worth asking both schools, because neither publishes the answer:
- DSB: Whether any transport service exists
- DSB: Whether examination fees are charged separately
- BIS: Whether the University of Nebraska route leads to an awarded American high school diploma — the Upper Secondary page and the homepage description word it differently
- BIS: Whether Advanced Placement is offered
- BIS: Fee schedule
- 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 DSB and BIS?
Deutsche Schule Belgrad teaches German curriculum, Deutsches Internationales Abitur and Mittlerer Schulabschluss to ages 3-18; British International School Belgrade teaches Cambridge Checkpoint, Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge AS and A Level and University of Nebraska curriculum (Years 12-13) to ages 3-18. 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, DSB or BIS?
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.