International Schools in Germany: Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Nuremberg, Fees and the German vs International Track

Quick Answer: German state schools are free, so an international school in Germany is a choice rather than a necessity. Published 2026/27 tuition runs from about EUR 15,145 near Nuremberg to EUR 31,365 in Frankfurt, with entrance fees on top. Here is how the Gymnasium and Abitur track works, what the main international schools charge, and how the Abitur compares with the IB and A Levels.

Germany's state schools charge nothing, so the honest starting point for any family moving there is that an international school is a choice, not a necessity. When families do pay, 2026/27 tuition at the established international schools runs from about EUR 15,145 a year in Erlangen to EUR 31,365 in the senior years at Frankfurt, with entrance and capital fees on top. This guide sets out the state system and the Abitur, explains when the international route makes sense, lists published fees in Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin and Nuremberg, and compares the Abitur with the IB and A Levels for university entry. Browse our directory of schools in Germany first.

What does the free state system look like?

The Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education (KMK) states that attendance of public-sector primary and secondary schools is free of charge, with no fees for enrolment or for report cards. Children attend a four-year Grundschule, six years in Berlin and Brandenburg, then split into secondary tracks. The KMK structural diagram gives the national picture in grade 8 as at 2021: Gymnasium 37.2%, integrierte Gesamtschule 20.2%, Realschule 17.4%, schools with several courses of education 12.3%, Hauptschule 8.1% and special schools 3.8%. Hauptschule leads to the Erster Schulabschluss after nine years and Realschule to the Mittlerer Schulabschluss after ten. The Allgemeine Hochschulreife, the Abitur, comes after 12 or 13 school years, eight or nine of them at a Gymnasium, and is the general qualification for university entry. Full-time compulsory education runs nine years, ten in five of the Länder, followed by three years of part-time vocational schooling.

When do families choose an international school instead?

Three situations, mostly. The first is timing: the decisive split between school types happens at the end of grade 4, and a child arriving at eleven without German has little chance of being placed on a Gymnasium track on merit. The second is portability, where a family expects to move again within three or four years and wants the IB or IGCSE and A Levels rather than a Land-specific Abitur. The third is language, where one parent wants the child's English or another home language maintained at first-language level.

Cost is not always the barrier it looks like. Article 7(4) of the Basic Law only approves a private school where "segregation of pupils according to the means of their parents will not be encouraged thereby". Some schools meet that by scaling fees to income. Berlin Metropolitan School publishes a tuition table, valid from 1 August 2026, that starts at EUR 210 a month for a family income from EUR 30,000 and rises to EUR 1,518 a month in Grades 11 and 12 for incomes from EUR 200,000.

What do international schools charge in 2026/27?

Annual tuition from each school's own published 2026/27 schedule, checked September 2026.

School	City	Primary (EUR)	Senior years (EUR)
John F. Kennedy School	Berlin	0	0
Berlin Metropolitan School	Berlin	210 to 1,009 a month	210 to 1,518 a month
Franconian International School	Erlangen, near Nuremberg	15,145 (Grades 1 to 2)	20,295 (Grades 11 to 12)
Bavarian International School	Munich	18,530 (Grades 1 to 5)	24,850 (Grades 10 to 12)
Munich International School	Munich	19,002 (Grades 1 to 4)	28,659 (Grade 12)
Frankfurt International School	Frankfurt	25,815 (Grades 1 to 4)	31,365 (Grades 11 to 12)

Figures from the Franconian International School fee schedule, Bavarian International School, the Munich International School fee overview, Frankfurt International School and the Berlin Metropolitan School tuition structure. The John F. Kennedy School is a German state school and the US State Department's 2026 fact sheet records tuition of zero from PreK to high school. Compare local options on our Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin and Nuremberg pages.

What do you pay before the first term?

Entrance or capital fees are the German quirk, and they are large. Munich International School charges an application fee of EUR 343, registration of EUR 2,100, an entrance fee of EUR 9,788 in the first year and EUR 4,098 in each of the second and third, plus a technology fee of EUR 702 to EUR 1,119 depending on grade. Bavarian International School charges EUR 200 on application, EUR 2,250 registration and an entrance fee of EUR 7,760, EUR 4,550 and EUR 2,280 across three years, EUR 14,790 in total. Frankfurt International School charges a EUR 1,500 registration fee and a capital assessment fee of EUR 6,600 in each of the first two years. Franconian International School charges EUR 340 registration, a EUR 1,500 tuition pre-payment and an infrastructure fee of EUR 4,200 in year one then EUR 840 for three years. There is partial relief: FIS notes that 30% of fees up to EUR 5,000 per child in Grades 1 to 12 are deductible as Sonderausgaben. Our guide to international school fees covers the pattern in other markets.

Abitur, IB or A Levels for university?

For a German university, the Abitur is the default and needs no assessment. The IB Diploma is recognised under a KMK agreement on the recognition of the International Baccalaureate Diploma, updated in 2022, and the Middle Years Programme can be recognised as equivalent to the Mittlerer Schulabschluss under certain conditions. Other foreign school-leaving certificates, A Levels included, are assessed against the KMK's anabin database, which classifies qualifications by whether they carry higher education access and on what terms, usually including required subject combinations. The practical difference is that the Abitur is accepted without further checking while an IB or A Level file goes through a recognition step, so subject choices at 16 need to be made with the destination country in mind. Our comparison of the IB, A Levels and AP and of Cambridge against the IB sets out what each demands.