Guide · Comparison
DSB or ISB?
Deutsche Schule Belgrad and The International School of 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. The International School of Belgrade teaches IB PYP, IB MYP and IB DP to ages 3-18 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
| DSB | ISB | |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum | German curriculum, Deutsches Internationales Abitur, Mittlerer Schulabschluss | IB PYP, IB MYP, IB DP |
| Language of instruction | German | English |
| Founded | 1854 | 1948 |
| Campuses | School, Kindergarten | Lower School, Secondary, Business Office |
| Students | over 250 | 500 |
| Nationalities | more than 20 | 54 |
| Class size | Not published | average 15 |
| Inside the fee | Textbooks and materials | Not published |
| Billed on top | Lunch (invoiced separately by the caterer); Field trips and excursions; Optional summer care | School bus (optional, charged on top of tuition) |
| Entrance testing | German native speakers sit a school aptitude test around March/April. Non-native German speakers additionally sit a language assessment (Sprachfeststellung). | Taster day on campus, or online cognitive testing for applicants abroad. DRA, EAL, MAP, CAT and ALIS used as appropriate. |
| Admission type | Conditional on language and age | Rolling, year-round |
| School bus | Nothing published | Runs a service |
| Special needs support | Nothing published | The school states it is “usually able to provide up to 150 minutes per week of additional support in either EAL or LS”. It does not say whether that ceiling applies per area or across both together. |
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 |
| Neighbourhood | Senjak |
| Publishes fees | Yes, a current schedule |
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.
- ISB: Founded 1948 as the Foreign School, by Lady Peake, wife of the British Ambassador; Board of 7 to 10, three of them appointed by the U.S. Ambassador, and an admissions priority order that reflects it; One of two private schools in Belgrade running the full IB continuum; The only school in this guide that publishes where its additional-support provision stops, not just that it exists.
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
- ISB: Whether the returning-student capital fee already reflects the 50% loyalty discount or is reduced further
- ISB: The homepage gives 47 nationalities and the FAQ gives 54. We publish 54, from the FAQ.
- ISB: Recent IB results and university destinations; the most recent results the school publishes are from 2016
- 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 ISB?
Deutsche Schule Belgrad teaches German curriculum, Deutsches Internationales Abitur and Mittlerer Schulabschluss to ages 3-18; The International School of Belgrade teaches IB PYP, IB MYP and IB DP 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 ISB?
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.