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Where Are the World’s International Schools?

By Anne Keeling
26-Mar-15

There are now 22 countries in the world with over 100 English-medium international schools. This means that for expatriate and local families, opportunities for their children to follow an English-medium education and to learn through an internationally-recognized curriculum are becoming increasingly accessible.

The UAE leads the world with 507 international schools teaching over 455,000 students; 245 schools in the UAE are located in Dubai alone. Here the options are extensive although competition for the best schools remains high. The National Curriculum of England is the most popular curriculum option and is offered in half of all international schools in the UAE.

China has 480 international schools. For such a vast country, this may seem a relatively low number. A large part of the reason for this is that most of China’s early international schools are foreign-owned and, with few exceptions, are not allowed to enroll local children. However, there is a rapidly increasing demand from Chinese parents for English-medium education for their children, and the international schools landscape in China is changing in response to this demand. The number of Chinese-owned international schools is growing fast and, crucially, local children are allowed to attend.

India, Pakistan, Japan, Spain and Saudi Arabia all have over 200 international schools offering all or part of the curriculum in English. Spain leads Europe with 204 international schools, 46 of which are located in Madrid.

Countries with over 100 international schools include Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia in South East Asia; Qatar in the Middle East; Hong Kong in East Asia; Mexico and Argentina in South America; Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, and Switzerland in Europe; and Nigeria and Egypt in on the African continent.

“All of these countries are experiencing significant demand for international school places,” says Nicholas Brummitt, Chairman of the International School Consultancy (ISC). “Most of this demand is coming from local families who want a high quality, English-medium education for their children so that they can achieve a place at a respected English-medium university. As incomes rise, and as more English-medium international schools establish and become accessible, so such an option becomes a possibility for an increasing number of local families. The international schools market is currently an ever-expanding cycle of demand and supply, and this will remain so if international schools continue to deliver high-quality, internationally-recognized, English-medium curricula, examinations, learning, and teaching.”

In total, there are presently 7,625 international schools around the world teaching over 3.9 million students. Eighty percent of all these students are local. Within five years, ISC forecasts there will be over 5 million students globally studying in English-medium international schools.

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Comments

08/18/2022 - Velupillai
International schools bring quality education accessible to all.

03/28/2015 - 2Byngifd&bk
In other words, international schools could be promoted globally as a brand available domestically as well as abroad.

03/28/2015 - 2Byngifd&bk
Are there international schools in the US? Their flavor is likely to be different from even the best of public/private/privatized schools. Plus, they could serve as ''starter assignments" for teachers and principals not quite ready to leave US shores.