International School of Dublin vs Nord Anglia International School Dublin
🇮🇪 Dublin · Side-by-side comparison on verifiable public data.
Neither International School of Dublin nor Nord Anglia International School Dublin 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. Both run the same curriculum (IB), so the differences come down to pathway detail, campus culture, and specific language/boarding arrangements rather than the curriculum framework itself. On cost, International School of Dublin has the noticeably lower entry fee — a material difference for budget-conscious families. See the table below for the figures, and verify against each school's own published fees.
Key Facts
| International School of Dublin | Nord Anglia International School Dublin | |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum | IB | IB |
| Ages | 3.5–12 | 3–18 |
| Languages of instruction | English | English |
| Annual fees | EUR 11,250 | EUR 15,312–24,464 |
| Boarding | Day only | Day only |
| Accreditations | International Baccalaureate |
Strengths
- ✓Accredited IB World Primary School — Ireland's first, per the school's own site
- ✓Central Dublin 8 location on Synge Street, convenient for city-based families
- ✓Co-educational, non-denominational and open year-round to all nationalities and faiths
- ✓Dedicated English-as-an-Additional-Language (EAL) support for new-arrival and multilingual pupils
- ✓Sibling tuition discounts (10% for 1st/2nd siblings, 20% for 3rd and beyond)
- ✓Ireland's only IB continuum school, offering an unbroken IB pathway from age 3 to 18 (self-reported on the official site).
- ✓Genuinely international community of 60+ nationalities.
- ✓Part of the global Nord Anglia Education network (80+ schools) with an established performing-arts partnership with The Juilliard School.
- ✓Established track record: opened 2018 with a first IB Diploma graduating cohort in June 2022.
Trade-offs
- !Primary only (to age 12) — no secondary or sixth-form provision, so families must transition elsewhere afterwards
- !No boarding provision
- !Enrollment numbers and detailed staffing are not published on the school's site
- !Language-of-instruction detail beyond English/EAL is not published
- !No graded public inspection band is published for the school, so external quality is harder to benchmark than in jurisdictions with a graded inspectorate.
- !Premium fee level (top published fees near EUR 24,000/year).
- !English-language-support (EAL) provision is not published on the school's own pages.
Best Fit For
- • Internationally mobile families needing a recognised IB primary programme in central Dublin
- • Multilingual children who benefit from structured EAL support
- • Families wanting a small, non-denominational, inquiry-based primary setting
- • Expatriate and internationally mobile families in south Dublin wanting IB continuity across all ages.
- • Families prioritising a single-curriculum IB route from early years through the Diploma.
- • Households valuing a strong performing-arts programme (Juilliard partnership).
University Placement
School-reported · not independently verified
School leaver / onward-placement destinations are not published by the school (school-reported data not available).
School-reported, unverified: NAIS Dublin reports graduating IB Diploma cohorts from 2022 onward; individual university-placement destinations are not independently published here.
More Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I choose International School of Dublin or Nord Anglia International School Dublin?
International School of Dublin is best for: Internationally mobile families needing a recognised IB primary programme in central Dublin. Nord Anglia International School Dublin is best for: Expatriate and internationally mobile families in south Dublin wanting IB continuity across all ages.. The right choice depends on target curriculum, budget, and family priorities — the two are not linearly comparable.
How do fees compare between International School of Dublin and Nord Anglia International School Dublin?
International School of Dublin: EUR 11,250. Nord Anglia International School Dublin: EUR 15,312–24,464. Verify against each school's own published fees; some figures are sourced from third-party aggregators.
What curricula do International School of Dublin and Nord Anglia International School Dublin offer?
International School of Dublin: IB. Nord Anglia International School Dublin: IB.
Do International School of Dublin or Nord Anglia International School Dublin offer boarding?
International School of Dublin: day school only. Nord Anglia International School Dublin: 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 →