Guide · Questions
Questions families ask about Belgrade international schools
Short, direct answers to the questions that come up again and again — including the ones about cost, support and outcomes that are hardest to get a straight answer to.
Updated August 2026 · schools' own pages read 24 August 2026
The questions below are the ones families actually ask about Belgrade international schools, collected from expat forums, school FAQ pages and our own inboxes. Where the honest answer is "nobody publishes that", we say so — several of the most important facts about schooling in Belgrade, including special educational needs provision and university destinations, are simply not in the public domain.
Cost
How much does an international school in Belgrade cost?
There is no standard figure, and only six of Belgrade's international schools publish one at all. The bigger problem is that the schools are not charging for the same thing: some fees include lunch, uniform, textbooks and examination entry, others cover teaching alone. Ask each school for its schedule and its exclusions in writing, and compare those.
Why is international school so expensive in a country where living costs are low?
Because the cost base is not local. International schools recruit teachers internationally and pay accordingly, run small classes, and pay examination and authorisation fees to bodies abroad in euros. Fees track the international market rather than the Serbian one. Whether that is worth it is a fair question, and it is worth asking each school what class size and teacher retention it actually achieves.
Is there a cheaper option than an international school?
Serbian state schools are free, and foreign nationals have the same right of access as Serbian citizens under Article 23 of the Law on the Foundations of the Education System, which also obliges schools to arrange Serbian-language support for children who do not speak it. Deseta gimnazija Mihajlo Pupin in New Belgrade is a state school authorised to teach the IB Diploma — it publishes nothing about whether that stream carries a charge, so we cannot tell you what it costs, only that it exists and that no directory lists it.
What is not included in the fee?
Most often: the school bus, lunch, uniform, examination entry and trips. The pattern varies a lot. PRIMA includes lunch, books and Cambridge examination fees. Ruđer Bošković includes lunch and uniform. Chartwell excludes meals. The École française charges separately for canteen, supplies and each examination. Always ask for the exclusions in writing.
Are there sibling discounts at Belgrade international schools?
Commonly, and the scales differ a lot. Deutsche Schule reduces for a second child and more steeply for a third. Chartwell and Crnjanski both reduce for a second and third. International School Savremena runs the most generous scale in the city, reducing for the second and third child and waiving the fee entirely for a fourth where enrolments overlap. Several schools also discount for paying the year upfront, and at least one adds a surcharge for paying monthly.
Choosing
Which is the best international school in Belgrade?
There is no answer to that question that is true for every family, and any source that gives one is selling something. The useful comparison is narrower: which schools teach the curriculum your child will finish in, have a place in the right year group, sit in a neighbourhood you can live in, and can support your child's particular needs. Our guide is built to let you answer those four questions rather than to rank schools.
Chartwell or the British International School?
The most-asked question in Belgrade, and the honest answer is that they are more alike than different: both British-curriculum, both Cambridge, both in the Dedinje and Voždovac area. Directories report Chartwell at around a thousand students; BIS does not publish a roll, so we cannot compare the two on size. Neither publishes a fee schedule. BIS includes examination fees and ESL in tuition and offers an American high school diploma alongside A Levels, which Chartwell does not. Visit both — on curriculum they are close, and what differs is scale and atmosphere.
Should I judge a school by its building?
Several Belgrade international schools operate from converted villas and residential buildings rather than purpose-built campuses, and split across several addresses — Brook Hill lists four, and Chartwell more. That is a fact about the city's property market, not about teaching quality. What is worth checking is whether the split affects your child specifically: how far apart the buildings are, whether facilities are shared, and how the day works.
How big are the classes?
ISB publishes an average of 15 and a student-teacher ratio of 8:1. Ruđer Bošković publishes a range of 10 to 20. Figures circulating for EDUCA (average 12), Chartwell (average 16) and International School Savremena (average 18) come from directories rather than the schools themselves. Others describe class sizes as "limited" without a number, which is worth pressing on.
Language
Does my child need to speak Serbian?
Not to attend an English-medium international school. Serbian is taught as a subject at most of them, and Serbian law requires institutions to organise Serbian-language instruction for children who do not know the language. For daily life outside school, some Serbian helps a great deal, and children generally pick it up faster than their parents do.
What if my child's English is not strong?
Most schools have EAL or ESL provision and many children arrive with little English. Read the limits carefully. ISB includes up to 150 minutes a week of additional EAL or learning support, and charges a separate one-time EAL fee; beyond 150 minutes, an offer may depend on additional support the family pays for. The British International School provides ESL at no extra charge. Chartwell provides a comprehensive ESL course but does not say publicly whether it costs extra.
Can we choose a French or German school if we are not French or German?
Yes — neither has a nationality requirement. Both have language requirements instead. Deutsche Schule Belgrad requires non-native German speakers to have completed a year of kindergarten before Vorschule and two years of pre-school before Grade 1, plus a language assessment. The École française tests children arriving from a non-French system.
Practicalities
Where do international-school families live in Belgrade?
Overwhelmingly in Savski Venac — Dedinje, Senjak and Topčidersko brdo — because that is where almost all the schools are. Banovo Brdo and Vračar are the next most common. Novi Beograd has the highest overall expat concentration and modern family housing, but only Westbridge is actually there, so it usually means a commute.
Is there a school bus?
At most schools, optional and charged separately. Only ISB publishes its coverage: Dedinje, Senjak, the diplomatic area in Banovo Brdo, parts of New Belgrade and parts of downtown, with a new route created only when at least seven pupils live in the same area, and a monitor on every bus. No school publishes bus prices. Ask about your street specifically, and ask early — ISB plans routes at the start of the year from applications received.
How long is the school day?
Broadly 08:30 to 15:00 or 16:00, with supervised care afterwards at most schools, and after-school care is usually charged separately. Individual schools differ by up to an hour at each end, and several publish their exact hours on their own sites — ask for the timetable for your child's year group, since primary and secondary often finish at different times.
Is there a uniform at Belgrade international schools?
It varies, and it is worth asking because a uniform inside the fee and a uniform you buy are different amounts of money. Ruđer Bošković and International School Savremena include uniform in the fee. The British International School requires one to the end of Key Stage 2 and has a casual dress code in secondary. ISB states there is no uniform. EDUCA requires none.
Support and outcomes
What support is there for special educational needs?
Less than most families expect, and only one school publishes its limits. ISB includes up to 150 minutes a week of additional EAL or learning support; beyond that, families fund an additional teacher the school employs on their behalf, and applications from students with limited mobility are difficult to accommodate because of accessibility on the Lower School campus. No other Belgrade school publishes a comparable statement. If your child has identified needs, make this your first question to every school, in writing, and ask what happens if needs change later.
Where do graduates go to university?
Almost no Belgrade school publishes destination data, which is itself worth noting when you are comparing. ISB's most recent published IB results date from 2016. PRIMA cites Yale, Harvard, Boston University and NYU in the context of A Level recognition generally, not as its own leaver destinations. Ask each school directly for last year's actual destinations and average results, and treat a reluctance to answer as information.
How much do teachers move between schools?
Nobody publishes it, and it is one of the most useful things you can ask about. A practical version of the question at an interview: how many teachers in my child's year group were here last year, and how many the year before?