Australian International School Saigon vs European International School Ho Chi Minh City
🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City · Side-by-side comparison on verifiable public data.
Neither Australian International School Saigon nor European International School Ho Chi Minh City sits in a market with a public inspectorate, so both are assessed on verifiable accreditation, curriculum authorisation, and published data rather than an official quality rating. One practical difference: Australian International School Saigon offers boarding while the other is day-only — decisive for families who need a residential option. Verify current fees against each school's own figures (see the table below).
Key Facts
| Australian International School Saigon | European International School Ho Chi Minh City | |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum | IB / British | IB |
| Ages | 18 months-18 years | 2-18 |
| Languages of instruction | English | English |
| Annual fees | VND 295,600,000-860,700,000 / year (2025/26) | 291,200,000-817,900,000 VND/year (2025/2026) |
| Enrollment | — | 735 |
| Boarding | Yes | Day only |
| Accreditations | CIS, IB, Cambridge International, NEASC | Council of International Schools (CIS), International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), Accrediting Commission for Schools (ACS WASC) |
Strengths
- ✓Recognised accreditation stack: CIS, IB (PYP + DP), Cambridge International and NEASC.
- ✓Coherent international pathway from IB PYP through Cambridge IGCSE to the IB Diploma.
- ✓Only international school in HCMC offering secondary boarding (Years 7-13), per the school.
- ✓Documented compulsory EAL programme supporting non-native English speakers.
- ✓Backed by Inspired Education Group, a global operator of 120+ premium schools.
- ✓Full IB continuum (PYP, MYP, DP) — uncommon completeness for the Vietnam market
- ✓Full CIS accreditation plus IB World School authorization (and referenced ACS WASC accreditation)
- ✓Published 2025 IB Diploma results: average 35 points and a 100% pass rate
- ✓Multilingual provision including a bilingual IBDP and German/French/Spanish/Korean/Vietnamese options
- ✓Backed by the global Inspired Education Group, with a highly international community (40+ nationalities)
Trade-offs
- !No independent graded inspection report (Vietnam lacks a domestic graded inspectorate), so external quality is membership-based, not rated.
- !'Australian' branding can mislead — it teaches IB/Cambridge, not the Australian state curriculum.
- !No IB Middle Years Programme; the middle years rely on Cambridge instead of a continuous IB continuum.
- !AIS-specific enrolment figures are not published, limiting size/community transparency.
- !No independent graded inspection of teaching, pastoral care or wellbeing (no domestic inspectorate in Vietnam)
- !Premium fee level (up to ~817.9M VND/year), placing it at the higher end of the local market
- !Boutique single-campus scale limits breadth of cohort, facilities and senior-school subject options versus the largest HCMC schools
- !Founding-year and some pastoral/operational details are not independently documented
Best Fit For
- • Families wanting an IB Diploma exit with a Cambridge IGCSE middle-school route.
- • Secondary families needing boarding within Ho Chi Minh City.
- • Non-native English speakers who would benefit from a structured EAL programme.
- • Early-years and primary families seeking an IB PYP start (Thao Dien or Thu Thiem).
- • Internationally mobile families wanting an unbroken IB pathway from toddler to Grade 12
- • Families seeking a small, boutique-scale community over a large campus
- • Multilingual households interested in a bilingual IBDP or additional-language provision
- • Expatriate families based in or near the Thao Dien district of Ho Chi Minh City
University Placement
School-reported · not independently verified
School-reported, unverified: a 2025 IB Diploma average of 34.5 (above the global average of ~30), 100% IGCSE/IBDP pass rates, 77% earning a Bilingual IB Diploma, and a 100% university acceptance rate.
School-reported, unverified: the school states students gain IB scores above the global average and that a high share attend their first-choice university, citing Inspired-wide figures; no independent verification of named university destinations is available.
More Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I choose Australian International School Saigon or European International School Ho Chi Minh City?
Australian International School Saigon is best for: Families wanting an IB Diploma exit with a Cambridge IGCSE middle-school route.. European International School Ho Chi Minh City is best for: Internationally mobile families wanting an unbroken IB pathway from toddler to Grade 12. The right choice depends on target curriculum, budget, and family priorities — the two are not linearly comparable.
How do fees compare between Australian International School Saigon and European International School Ho Chi Minh City?
Australian International School Saigon: VND 295,600,000-860,700,000 / year (2025/26). European International School Ho Chi Minh City: 291,200,000-817,900,000 VND/year (2025/2026). Verify against each school's own published fees; some figures are sourced from third-party aggregators.
What curricula do Australian International School Saigon and European International School Ho Chi Minh City offer?
Australian International School Saigon: IB, British. European International School Ho Chi Minh City: IB.
Do Australian International School Saigon or European International School Ho Chi Minh City offer boarding?
Australian International School Saigon: offers boarding. European International School Ho Chi Minh City: day school only.
Questions parents ask
This comparison is BrightKey's independent assessment using verifiable public data only. University-placement figures are school-reported and not independently verified. BrightKey takes no payments from schools. Our method →