Frankfurt International School
🇩🇪 Germany (international) · Founded 1961 · IB · Ages 3-18
One of Europe's oldest and largest international schools, a founding IB community offering a verified PYP-to-Diploma continuum on a leafy campus near Frankfurt.
Curricula
IB
Age range
3-18
Languages of instruction
English
Annual fees
SGD EUR 11,590-31,365/year (2026/27)
Enrollment
1,800
Boarding
No (day school)
IB authorised
PYP, DP
Accreditations
NEASC, IB World School (IBO)
Tier Profile
We only tier dimensions backed by a public inspection verdict or verifiable accreditation. Other dimensions show a data flag — never a guessed score.
BrightKey's Assessment
Frankfurt International School (FIS) sits in Oberursel at the foot of the Taunus hills, just outside Frankfurt am Main, with a satellite campus in Wiesbaden serving the same wider Frankfurt area. Founded in 1961 by a group of expatriate families, it is one of continental Europe's oldest and largest international schools, enrolling roughly 1,800 students from around 60 nationalities across the age range of 3 to Grade 12.
FIS was one of the founding schools of the International Baccalaureate in the 1960s and remains an IB World School to this day. The academic spine is an IB continuum: the Primary School is anchored in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle School bridges PYP toward the Diploma, and Grades 11-12 culminate in the IB Diploma Programme. The school reports that the great majority of its students pursue the full Diploma, and the Class of 2025 averaged 36 points - comfortably above the worldwide mean.
Instruction is in English, with German, French, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Dutch taught as languages. With 60 nationalities on roll, the community is genuinely international, and the school operates what it describes as one of Germany's largest private school-bus networks to serve a dispersed expatriate catchment. FIS is a day school; it does not offer boarding.
Germany has no national Ofsted-style graded inspection band for international schools, so FIS's external quality assurance rests on accreditation by NEASC (the New England Association of Schools and Colleges) and its standing as an IB World School. Tuition for 2026/27 runs from around EUR 11,590 for half-day First Steps to EUR 31,365 for Grades 11-12, placing it at the premium end of the Frankfurt international-school market.
Why These Ratings?
Inspection & AccreditationA — Excellent
Germany operates no national graded inspection band (no Ofsted-equivalent) for international schools, so no verbatim graded rating exists and an 'S' cannot be awarded. FIS holds accreditation by NEASC and is a long-standing IB World School - a credible, well-recognised accreditation footprint - which supports an 'A' on accreditation depth. CIS membership could not be confirmed from the school's own published sources and is therefore not claimed.
Strengths & Trade-offs
Strengths
- Founding IB heritage (since the 1960s) with a verified PYP-to-Diploma continuum
- Strong reported IB outcomes - Class of 2025 averaged 36 points, above the global mean
- Large, genuinely international community of ~1,800 students across ~60 nationalities
- Accredited by NEASC and an established IB World School
- Extensive school-bus network serving a wide Frankfurt-area catchment
Trade-offs
- Premium fees, up to ~EUR 31,365/year for the senior grades, plus registration and capital fees
- No boarding option, limiting access for families outside the commuter catchment
- No MYP authorization confirmed; the Middle School bridges PYP to Diploma rather than running the formal IB Middle Years Programme
- No Advanced Placement track for families seeking a US-style alternative to the IB
Is It Right For You?
Best For
- ✓Expatriate and internationally mobile families wanting a single-school IB continuum
- ✓Students aiming for the full IB Diploma and university entry worldwide
- ✓Families relocating to the Frankfurt / Rhine-Main region
- ✓Households valuing a large, multinational peer community
Not Ideal For
- ✕Families needing boarding or weekly residential provision
- ✕Those seeking a US AP-based or British A-level pathway
- ✕Budget-conscious families, given premium tuition and capital fees
- ✕Families wanting a formal IB Middle Years Programme in Grades 6-8
Curriculum
FIS delivers an IB continuum: PYP in the Primary School and the IB Diploma Programme in Grades 11-12, with the Middle School (Grades 6-8) bridging the two. It is an IB World School and was a founding IB school in the 1960s. The school's own pages do not present a formal MYP authorization, and there is no Advanced Placement offering; students earn the FIS High School Diploma alongside the IB Diploma or IB Coursework Certificates.
Fees
Tuition for 2026/27, in EUR, ranges from EUR 11,590 for half-day First Steps to EUR 31,365 for Grades 11-12, per the school's official fee schedule. Additional charges include a EUR 1,500 new-student registration fee, a EUR 350 re-enrollment fee and a EUR 6,600 capital assessment fee for new students (over years 1 and 2). Figures are the published standard rates; corporate and diplomatic schedules differ.
Admissions
FIS admits from age 3 (First Steps) through Grade 12 across its Oberursel campus, with Wiesbaden running age 3 to Grade 8. A new-student registration fee applies on application. As a day school it draws on a wide Frankfurt-area catchment supported by an extensive bus network.
Campus Life
The main campus in Oberursel lies at the base of the Taunus mountains in a wooded setting near Frankfurt, with a second campus in Wiesbaden. The school reports 40+ extracurricular activities, clubs and service groups and a community spanning roughly 60 nationalities, served by one of Germany's largest private school-bus systems.
University Placement
School-reported · not independently verified
School-reported, unverified: the great majority of FIS students pursue the full IB Diploma, and the Class of 2025 averaged 36 IB points, a result the school cites as evidence of strong university-entrance preparation.
Sources
Every verifiable fact carries a public source — verify it yourself.
- FIS official site - homepage at-a-glance (enrollment 1,800, 60 nationalities, 2025 average IB score 36) · 2026-06
- FIS official site - tuition & fees 2026/27 · 2026-06
- FIS official site - academics (PYP, age 3-Grade 12 structure) · 2026-06
- FIS official site - about (founded 1961, NEASC, IB World School) · 2026-06
- Wikipedia - Frankfurt International School (founded 1961, Oberursel, day school, languages, NEASC, IB) · 2026-06
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