You will find below a list of the most popular international and bilingual schools for expats in Portugal with fee information. The list includes nursery schools, primary and secondary (high) schools for you to find the right school to prepare for the International Baccalaureate and other accreditation in Portugal. Some schools may follow the American or British curriculums with English speaking programs while others are regulated under the Portuguese, French, German or Islamic language and system.

Education in Portugal

Education in Portugal is free and compulsory until the age of 18, when students usually complete their year 12. However, only one of those requirements is necessary.

The education is regulated by the State through the Ministry of Education. There is a system of public education and also many private schools at all levels of education.

The Portuguese education system is divided in pre-school education, basic education and upper secondary education.

• Pre-school education covers children from three years old up to the age of compulsory schooling (six years old). Attending pre-school education is optional.
• Basic education is universal, compulsory, free and lasts nine years. It is divided into three sequential cycles; each should complete and build upon the previous one from a global perspective:
• First cycle (CITE 1) corresponds to the first four years of schooling (grades 1 to 4. Age level from 6 to 10).
• Second cycle corresponds to the next two years (grades 5 and 6. Age level from: 10 to 12).
• Third cycle lasts for three years and corresponds to lower secondary education (grades 7 to 9. Age level from: 12 to 15)
• Upper secondary education lasts for three years (age level from 15 to 18) and corresponds to grades 10, 11 and 12 of upper secondary education, organised into different types.
• Optional higher education is structured according to the principles of the Bologna Process.

More information on the stages of education and schools can be found in the EasyExpat.com Guide to Lisbon, Portugal.

International Schools

International schools can be the perfect solution for an expat student (multinational corporation executives, children of diplomats, NGO staff) in Portugal. Many schools provide similar standards of schooling around the globe, providing for an easy transition between schools whether they are in France or Vietnam.

There may be some local population, but the schools are usually geared for an international student body. Schools may follow a curriculum model from the US, UK, France, etc. Primary instruction may be any language (and multiple languages are usually taught), but it is usually in English, French, Spanish, German, or Japanese. Schools also provide internationally accepted accreditation such as the international baccalaureate.

Admission and enrolment procedures vary from school to school. Space is often limited and preference may be given to students based on nationality. Tuition tends to be expensive based on local standards, but offers high standards of learning, boast smaller class sizes, first-rate facilities, and extracurricular. Boarding facilities are available at some schools, but most only provide day classes.

Accreditation & Membership

• The CoIS (Council of International Schools) is a non-profit association of international schools and post-secondary institutions which provides educational accreditation, teacher and leadership recruitment services, links to higher education, governance assistance and help with founding new schools.
• European Council of International Schools (ECIS) is a collaborative network promoting the ideals and best practice of international education, complemented by grants and awards.
• Council of British International Schools (COBIS) is a responsive organisation that serves, supports and represents its member schools.
• New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) is a regional accrediting association which establishes standards for all levels of education, from pre-K to doctoral.
• Agency for French Education Abroad (Agence pour l'enseignement français à l'étranger, AEFE) is a national public agency under the administration of the French government that assures the quality of schools teaching the French national curriculum outside France.
• National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) represents over 1100 independent schools and associations in the United States and abroad.

International schools in Lisboa

Colegio Planalto International School
Address: Rua Armindo Rodrigues, 28
1600-414 Lisboa
Tel: +351 217 541 530
Email: secretaria@colegioplanalto.pt
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

Colégio Planalto is a Portuguese school, located in Lisbon, Portugal. The school offers sex-differentiated education addressing differences in the developmental rates of boys and girls. The school is also a Catholic educational centre and a member of the IB Diploma Programme. Opus Dei, an institution of the Catholic Church, is in charge of its religious teachings and services.The school offers education for all years from Kingergarden to high school, offering the International Baccalaureate programme.
Although the school accepts students from faiths and religions, the educational programme practiced in the school is of deep Catholic underpinnings with a particular preoccupation of involving the parents in the school's activities and programs.
The school is very associated with the Opus Dei, not only drawing from it its values and principles, but also through the presence of ecclesiastics including their involvement in classes.

Oeiras International School
Address: Quinta da Nossa Senhora da Conceição
Rua Antero de Quental, Nº 7
2730-013 Barcarena
Tel: +351 211 935 330
Email: info@ois.pt
Tuition Rates: From 10,550€ ($11,900) to 15,170€ ($17,100) [school year 2022-23]

Oeiras International School opened in 2010 to offer a fresh approach to independent education within the Lisbon area. OIS is unique in that it was founded by parents themselves. Parents still own and run the school through their charitable foundation, Oeiras International School Associação SFL. OIS today welcomes 457 students from age 6 to 18 who are taught under the IB programme.

Saint Dominic's International School
Address: Rua Maria Brown,
Outeiro de Polima, 2785-816 São Domingos de Rana, Portugal (outside Lisboa)
Tel: +351 214 440 434 and +351 214 480 550
Email: school@dominics-int.org
Tuition Rates: From 10,500€ ($11,850) to 19,200€ ($21,650) [school year 2021-22]

Saint Dominic's International School is an English-speaking school, with children of around 50 different nationalities. The school offers the IB Diploma Programme at all three levels — Primary Years Programme (since December 1997), Middle Years Programme and the Diploma Programme (both since December 1994).

Queen Elizabeth's International School
Address: Rua Filipe de Magalhães nº 1, 1700-194 Lisboa
Tel: +351 218 410 140
Email: info.qes@gmail.com
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

Queen Elizabeth's School (QES) is a Portuguese pre-school and 1st Cycle education establishment, with day-care facilities. QES gives an important role to the early learning of English in a bilingual context in the development of multilingual and intercultural competences in an increasingly global society. The school was formally approved as a Cambridge International School in August 2013 to teach the Cambridge Primary Program and Cambridge Information and Communications Technology Starters in order to continue to provide an excellent education for its students.
The educational action of QES is based on the values ​​and principles of the Catholic religion, as a fundamental moral influence in the formation of character as well as in the internationalization of the curriculum.

French Schools in Lisbon

Lycée français Charles Lepierre
Address: Avenida Duarte Pacheco, 32
1070-112 Lisbon, Portugal
Tel: +351 213 824 400
Email: contact@lfcl-lisbonne.eu
Tuition Rates: From 4,710€ ($5,310) to 6,510€ ($7,340) [school year 2022-23]

Inaugurated in 1952, the Lycée is now part of the network of schools placed under direct management by the AEFE (Agency for French Teaching Abroad), under the supervision of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It offers education from kindergarten to high school years.The approval issued by the Ministry of National Education certifies the compliance of teaching with the requirements, programs, educational objectives and rules of organization of the French education system.
Therefore, it allows any student from an approved establishment to continue their education in any other French establishment (subject to availability) without an admission exam.

German Schools in Lisbon

Deutsche Schule Lissabon
Address: Largo Willy Brandt, 1600-891, Lisboa, Portugal
Tel: +351 217 510 260
Email: direccao@dslissabon.com and secretariaalunos@dslissabon.com
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

German School for students of all nationalities from Kindergarten to 12th grade, with establishments in Telheiras/Lisbon and Estoril. The Deutsche Schule Lissabon is a regular school, which works according to German study plans, enabling its students to complete secondary education and obtain the degree of “Abitur”.
It also provides equivalence to 12th year subjects and conditions for accessing Portuguese universities. It is, therefore, a school that allows German, Portuguese and other nationalities students to experience and develop in Portuguese and German cultures.

International schools in Porto

CLIP - Colegio Luso-Internacional do Porto
Address: Rua de Vila Nova, 1071
4100 - 506 Porto
Tel: +351 226 199 160
Email: info@clip.pt and admissions@clip.pt
Tuition Rates: From 7,105€ ($8,010) to 10,945€ ($12,340) [school year 2022-23]

The Colégio Luso-Internacional do Porto, officially known in English as the Oporto International School, is a private international school in Porto. CLIP - The Oporto International School offers an international curriculum from Pre-Kindergarden to Grade 12 based on the National Curriculum for England, with certain modifications to suit both the school's philosophical and pedagogical objectives, and the local context.

Oporto British School International School
Address: Rua da Cerca, 338, 4150-201 Porto
Tel: +351 226 166 660
Email: admissions@obs.edu.pt
Tuition Rates: From 8,380€ ($9,450) to 12,420€ ($14,000) [school year 2022-23]

Oporto British International School provides an exceptional educational experience for students from 3 to 18 year old. It is a private day school for both boys and girls and it follows a British curriculum until the completion of the IGCSE. Senior pupils then study the IB Diploma Programme and many go on to higher education in the UK, Portugal, and other locations around the world. OBS received CIS Accreditation in 2005, becoming a member of the European Council of International Schools: the Council of British International Schools,

French Schools in Porto

Lycée Français International de Porto
Address: Rua Gil Eanes, 27 4150-348 Porto, Portugal
Tel: +351 226 153 030
Email: secretariat.direction@lfip.pt
Tuition Rates: From 4,703€ ($5,300) to 5,460€ ($6,155) [school year 2022-23]

Lycée Français International de Porto offers education from Maternelle (preschool) to Lycée (senior high school). The school curriculum is approved by both the French and Portuguese Ministries of Education and it provides a comprehensive generalist education up to the awarding of the final diploma: the Baccalaureate.

German Schools in Porto

Deutsche Schule zu Porto
Address: Rua Guerra Junqueiro, 162
4150-386 Porto, Portugal
Tel: +351 226 076 570
Email: info@dsporto.de and administrativo@dsporto.de
Tuition Rates: From 4,100€ ($4,630) to 5,750€ ($21,650) [school year 2021-22]

Deutsche Schule zu Porto offers education from kindergarten high school. The school curriculum is approved by both the German and Portuguese Ministries of Education and it provides a comprehensive generalist education up to the awarding of the final diploma. As part of the German-Portuguese exchange school, the pupils are also taught the Portuguese subjects according to the mandatory Portuguese curriculum in order to guarantee them a transfer to a purely Portuguese school at any time.

International schools in Sintra

Carlucci American International
Address: Rua António dos Reis 95
Linhó 2710-301
Sintra, Portugal
Tel: +351 219 239 800
Email: info@caislisbon.org
Tuition Rates: From 9,150€ ($10,315) to 19,370€ ($21,850) [school year 2022-23]

Carlucci American International is an accredited American International School in Sintra providing a nurturing and challenging environment to students Pre-Kindergarden to Grade 12 from 50+ nationalities. This is the only school in Portugal assisted by Office of Overseas Schools of the US Dep. of State.

Prime School
Sintra Campus
Address: Rua Mestre Neves, 20 Portela de Sintra
2710-422 Sintra, Portugal
Tel: +351 966 155 909 or 219 235 496
Email: info@primeschool.pt
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

Estoril Campus
Address: Rua Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Alapraia
2765-043 Estoril, Portugal
Tel: +351 966 155 909 or 219 235 496
Email: info@primeschool.pt
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

Prime School International is a private school located in Estoril and Sintra, close to Lisbon, Portugal. From Kindergarten to College shaping citizens of an Interconncted World. It was one of the first schools to obtain the Cambridge Curriculum certificate in Portugal, together with the teaching equivalence of the Portuguese Ministry of Education.

International schools in Braga

CLIB - The Braga International School
Address: R. da Igreja Velha - Gualtar
4710 - 069 Braga, Portugal
Tel: +351 253 679 860
Email: r.publicas@clib.pt and secretaria@clib.pt
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

The Braga International School accepts students from 3 to 18 years old. CLIB’s curricular programme is conceived to allow equivalency on all levels with the Portuguese educational system and other international Schools and facilitates access to university, whether Portuguese of foreign. At the end of the 10th year, and in some cases the end of the 9th year, the students complete examinations developed by Cambridge University through their exam department CIE (Cambridge International Examinations). In Form 11 and Form 12, students prepare for AICE exams (Advanced International Certificate of Education) also from Cambridge University.

International schools in Tavira

Colegio Santiago Internacional
Address: Praça Zacarias Guerreiro, nº29
Tavira, Faro - 8800, Portugal
Tel: +351 281 328 677
Email: info.csitavira@gmail.com
Tuition Rates: From 4,300€ ($4,850) to 6,745€ ($7,600) [school year 2022-23]

Colégio Santiago welcomes students from Pre-school to secondary education. From the beginning of their studies at Colégio Santiago Internacional’s students are taught in two languages, Portuguese and English. They follow the programs of the National Curriculum of education in Portugal and the English curriculum, evidencing bilingual learning and a specialization in the teaching of mathematics and technological sciences.

International schools in Funchal, Ilha da Madeira

Escola da A.P.E.L. International School
Address: Caminho dos Saltos nº6 ou Rua do Til nº69
9050-219 Funchal, Ilha da Madeira – Portugal
Tel: +351 291 740 470
Email: geral@escola-apel.com and secretaria@escola-apel.com
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

Escola da APEL offers the IB DP - Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate to its students. This two year Programme gives equivalence to the 11th and 12th year of the Portuguese education system.Students wishing to take the IB Diploma Programme at Escola da APEL must meet the entry requirements: conclusion of year 10 of education in the Portuguese National Curriculum or an equivalent qualification.
Currently, the APEL School also develops its activity in the professional field, with a view to young people, who not being oriented to higher education, choose to enter the market.
APEL was also one of the first schools to start the 13th grade courses via vocational training, thus collaborating with the Regional Secretariat for Education in the professional training.

International School of Madeira
Address: Calçada do Pico 5
9000-206 Funchal, Portugal
Tel: +351 291 129 900
Email: info@ismadeira.com
Tuition Rates: From 200€ ($225) to 330€ ($375) per month [school year 2021-22]

The International School of Madeira provides a bilingual syllabus for children aged 3-10 years. Primary age children can be taught the entire Portuguese national curriculum as well as a full curriculum programme in English.

A part from teaching English and Portuguese as First Languages, Mathematics, Information Technology, Science and Social Studies are all taught to all children in both languages. Enrichment courses such as Art, Music and Physical Education form part of the curriculum, with Swimming, Zumba and Piano offered as extra-curriculars.

International schools in Alcabideche

International Christian School of Cascais
Address: Av. de Sintra 1154, 2755-322 Alcabideche
Tel: +351 214 842 279
Email: admin@icsc.pt 
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

International Christian School of Cascais holds over 30 years of experience in providing an unparalleled North American academic education based on Christian principles and morals. ICSC provides a comprehensive, American-style curriculum for students grades PreKindergarden to Grade 12. The high school program is a complete academic, internationally recognized and diploma-granting program.
ICSC is fully accredited by the National Association of Private Schools and is a member of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI).

International Preparatory School
Address: Rua da Lagoa 171, Bicesse,
2645-344 Alcabideche, Portugal
Tel: +351 214 570 149
Email: info@ipsschool.org
Tuition Rates: From 2,245€ ($2,530) to 4,285€ ($4,830) per term [school year 2021-22]

International Preparatory School offers Primary English education for international children from 3-12 years of age (Nursery to Year 6) based on the National Curriculum of England.

International schools in Pamela

International School of Pamela
Address: Av. Vila Amélia, Lote 171-172
Cabanas, 2950-805 Quinta do Anjo
Tel: +351 212 105 685 and +351 966 216 593
Email: info@cip.edu.pt
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

The International School of Palmela is a non-profit educational institute providing both religious and secular education. The ISP delivers both the Cambridge International Curriculum fully recognized worldwide as well as an excellent Islamic curriculum.

International schools in Almancil

International School of The Algarve (ISALGA)
Address: Rua Manuel Teixeira Gomes, 8135-106 Almancil
Tel: +351 289 392 238
Email: admin@algarveinternationalschool.com
Tuition Rates: From 5,250€ ($5,900) to 11,340€ ($12,785) [school year 2021-22]

International School of The Algarve is an official Edexcel centre offering the complete series of academic qualifications for 5 to 19 year-olds based on the British curriculum. The school offers the International General Certificate of Secondary Education based on the British curriculum (GCSE). The qualification is taken by fifteen and sixteen year olds to mark their graduation from the Key Stage 4 phase of secondary education. Later on, the school offer the A-levels qualifications, which belong to the British school system, to students aged between 16 and 19 years old. Short for Advanced Level, A-levels, focus on the more academic subjects, compared to vocational qualifications like BTECs. 

Nobel Algarve British International School
Address: Barros Brancos, EN125
8400-400, Lagoa, Portugal
Tel: +351 282 342 547
Email: info@nobelalgarve.com
Tuition Rates: From 4,885€ ($5,510) to 16,720€ ($18,850) [school year 2022-23]

Nobel Algarve British International School have two outstanding campuses, both within an easy drive of Faro international airport: one in Lagoa and another one in Almancil, inaugurated in 2020.
Both the Lagoa and Almancil campuses offer a contextualised English national curriculum; Lagoa caters for students from aged 3 – 18 years and also has a national section that follows the official Portuguese Ministry of Education programme. Bilingualism is actively promoted and developed.
Almancil currently educates students from aged 3 - 12, but with the second phase of the school now under construction, it will open to students Year 8 and 9 in September 2022.

International schools in Carcavelos

St Julian's School
Address: Quinta Nova
2775-588 Carcavelos, Portugal
Tel: +351 214 585 300
Email: info@stjulians.com
Tuition Rates: From 10,750€ ($12,120) to 25,260€ ($28,480) [school year 2022-23]

St. Julian's School is a private British international school, located in Carcavelos, Cascais Municipality, on the Portuguese Riviera, in the Greater Lisbon region. St Julian’s school welcomes more than 1,100 students from age 3 to 18, which follow the British International Curriculum. The schools is divided into two linguistic sections:

• International section, where the language of instruction is English. It runs from Nursery (age 3) to year 13 (age 18).
• Portuguese language section. It runs from Primeiro Ano to Nono Ano (from age 6 to Grade 9, age 15).

The final two years of the school are given through the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.