The private international schools: what you are paying for

Luxembourg's private international schools are the option most arriving families default to, partly because they are the easiest to find and partly because their admission is the most predictable. They are also, over a full school career and more than one child, one of the largest discretionary expenditures a household in Luxembourg will make. The schools are good. The question worth answering carefully is what specifically you are buying, and whether one of the free alternatives would serve your particular child as well.

The main options and what they teach

• International School of Luxembourg (ISL), in the capital, teaching in English and leading to the International Baccalaureate. The largest and longest established of the English-medium private schools.
• St George's International School, teaching a British curriculum through IGCSE and offering the International Baccalaureate in the sixth form.
• Lycée Vauban, the French school, following the French national curriculum within the AEFE network and leading to the French Baccalauréat.
• Other providers, including Waldorf and Montessori settings and smaller bilingual schools, serving families looking for a particular pedagogy rather than a particular nationality.

The curriculum, not the reputation, is the decision. A family that will move on to the United Kingdom is served differently from one moving to France, and a family that will stay in Luxembourg differently again.

What the fees actually cover, and what they do not

Fees vary by school and by year group and are published annually, so check the current schedule directly. The items to look for beyond the headline tuition:

• Registration and enrolment fees, often payable once and sometimes non-refundable.
• A capital or building levy, charged by some schools in addition to tuition.
• Transport, where a school bus is used.
• Lunches and after-school care.
• Trips, examinations and materials, which in the upper years can be substantial.
• Sibling arrangements, where they exist.

Ask your employer before you assume the cost is yours. Education allowances are a common component of senior packages in Luxembourg's financial sector and among the institutions, and they are frequently negotiable at the point of hiring and almost never afterwards. This is the single most valuable thing to raise before signing a contract.

Admission

Private school admission is generally more predictable than the European School route, but it is not automatic.

• Waiting lists exist in popular year groups, particularly at entry points.
• Assessment of the child's level, especially in English, is normal.
• Previous school reports are required, and translations may be needed.
• Timing matters. Applying in March for September is a different exercise from applying in July.
• Deposits are usually required to hold a place and are frequently non-refundable.

The questions to ask on a school visit

• What is the turnover of pupils and of staff? High mobility is inherent in an international school; very high turnover in the teaching body is a different signal.
• What happens for a child who needs additional support? Provision varies considerably between schools and is frequently the deciding factor.
• What are the class sizes in the years my child will actually be in?
• What are university destinations over the last three years?
• How do children arriving mid-year settle? A school that handles this well is describing a process, not an intention.
• What is the total annual cost including everything? Ask for the figure, not the tuition line.
• What is the language environment outside the classroom?

The argument for and against

For: continuity of curriculum for a mobile family, predictable admission, teaching in a language your child already has, strong extracurricular provision, and a peer group in the same situation.

Against: the cost, and a social world that can be entirely expatriate. Children in private international schools in Luxembourg frequently reach eighteen without Luxembourgish friends and without the languages of the country, which is a real loss for a family that ends up staying.

The families who tend to regret the decision are those who chose privately on the assumption of a two-year posting and then stayed twelve years. If there is any prospect of staying, weigh the free alternatives seriously before committing.

Where to live

Most of the private international schools sit in or near the capital, with school bus networks covering a wide catchment. That gives families more housing freedom than the European School decision does, because the bus route matters more than the distance.

Before you sign a lease, check the actual bus route and the actual pick-up time. A route that exists on paper and involves a child leaving at seven in the morning is not the same product as one with a stop five minutes away.

The total cost, over a school career

The figure that matters is not the annual fee but the cumulative one, and very few families calculate it before committing.

• Multiply by years and by children. A full career from primary through to the final year, for two children, is a number in a different order of magnitude from an annual invoice.
• Add the extras: registration, capital levies, transport, lunches, trips, examination fees and materials.
• Subtract any employer allowance, and check whether it is fixed or indexed. A fixed allowance loses value against fee increases every year.
• Consider what the same money would do if the free routes are viable for your child: it is frequently the difference between renting and owning in Luxembourg.

This is not an argument against private schooling. For a genuinely mobile family, or for a child whose needs are best met there, it is money well spent. It is an argument for making the calculation deliberately, once, rather than renewing an assumption annually for twelve years.

Three questions we are asked

IB or the British curriculum?

If you are likely to move on to the United Kingdom, the British route is the smoother path. If you are likely to move anywhere else, or to stay in Europe, the IB travels more easily. If you are likely to stay in Luxembourg permanently, both are well recognised and the free alternatives deserve serious consideration.

Will my employer pay?

Frequently, in senior roles in the financial sector and the institutions, and the allowance is usually a fixed sum rather than full cover. Ask before you sign the employment contract. Almost nobody successfully negotiates an education allowance into a package after they have started.

What if we cannot get a place?

Apply in parallel to a public international school and, depending on your child's age, look seriously at the ordinary public system. Luxembourg has more good options than most countries, and the families who struggle are those who identified only one.

Where this touches the housing decision

School bus routes, rather than distances, determine which districts work for the private schools. Tell us the school and we will check which of our available apartments sit on a viable route.

A final practical note on timing. Most private international schools operate a rolling admission with deposits payable on acceptance, which means a place held in March for a September start is money committed before your employment contract, your housing and your residence procedure are settled. Ask what the refund position is if the move does not happen, and get the answer in writing before you transfer anything.

One of the easiest mistakes around admission is judging the visible result while ignoring the process that produces it. For the question raised by “Admission”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages. Then ask what happens when one assumption fails.

For the argument for and against, note what you can see, what you can measure, what you need to ask and what would be expensive to change. For the question raised by “Admission”, the useful detail is not a generic list of advantages.

A stronger reading of the questions to ask on a school visit starts by asking what would change for the resident on an ordinary weekday.