Sky-high tuition fees at international schools in Hungary – is it all worth it?

According to Eduline, if a parent decides to enrol their children in a private foreign language school, they have to dig deep into their pockets, as tuition fees per school year usually start around 1-1.5 million HUF at schools based in Budapest.

Despite the horrendous amount of money that has to be invested as international tuition on an elementary and high-school level, there is a beneficial side to graduate from an international or foreign high school: students will finish their studies with an international or foreign high school diploma. Such a document makes it easier to get into prestigious universities in Hungary and also abroad.

Most of the international schools in Hungary were established in the 1990s in Budapest and in the surrounding cities. These schools operate with curriculums that are used abroad.

Out with the wallets

The Britannica International School claims to be the first British school that was established in Hungary. This institution is also like a kindergarten, as the earliest age that a child can be enrolled is that of five. Students finish their studies at the Britannica International School the moment they pass their school leaving exams. The school’s primary goal is to pique, maintain and promote children’s interest in the subjects taught and in studying itself.

Elementary school tuition costs HUF 2,600,000 – 3,100,000 (EUR 8,340 – 9,940) per year, varying between the grades.

An even more expensive international school is the Christian Greater Grace International School where teaching happens in English language:

elementary level tuition costs HUF 3,385,000 (EUR 10,850), grades 9-10 HUF 3,890,000 (EUR 12,475), grades 11-12 HUF 3,985,000 (EUR 12,780).

Eduline argues that students arrive from over 40 countries to the Gustave Eiffel French Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary School. The curriculum follows that of the official one in France. The upper school consists of four grades, high school of three.

Lower grades have to pay HUF 1.5 million (EUR 4,800), upper grades and high schoolers HUF 1,800,000 per year (EUR 5,770).

Finally, a German language school. At the German School of Budapest – Thomas Mann Gymnasium teaching is in German, according to the German curriculum. Aside from taking a high school exam in German, students can take one in Hungarian too.