You will find below a list of the most popular international and bilingual schools for expats in Tunisia 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 Tunisia. Some schools may follow the American or British curriculums with English speaking programs while others are regulated under the Canadian, French or German language and system.

Education in Tunisia

In the decades following independence from French colonialism, Tunisia was among the countries with the highest investment in education in the region. This enabled the North African country to introduce important legal changes, such as compulsory basic education, which led to high enrolment and literacy rates.

Nowadays, the basic education system consists of:

• Nine years of schooling divided into two stages:
  1. Primary school, which lasts six years
  2. Preparatory or lower-secondary school, which lasts an additional three years.
• At the end of the nine-year cycle, students must pass a national exam to obtain a certificate.
• The successful candidates then move on to four years of upper-secondary school, of which the first half focuses on a general curriculum and the second half is spent specialising in an academic or vocational area.

International Schools

International schools can be the perfect solution for an expat student (multinational corporation executives, children of diplomats, NGO staff) in Tunisia. 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 Tunis

American Cooperative School of Tunis
Address: BP 150 Cite Taeib M'hiri
Laouina, Tunis 2045
Tel: +216 71 760 905
Email: school@acst.net and admissions@acst.net
Tuition Rates: From$23,246 to $25,980 [school year 2021-22]

The American Cooperative School of Tunis (ACST) is a private, non-profit, co-educational day school. The school is designed to afford children of all nationalities an education similar to that offered by schools in the United States. ACST is accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges in the U.S as well as the International Baccalaureate Organization.
The school uses American curriculum standards and benchmarks with an international perspective and a college preparatory level of rigor. As an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, the IB Diploma Programme is used in grades 11 and 12 to prepare the graduates for success in their continuing education.

British International School of Tunis
Address: 49 rue du Parc
La Soukra, 2036 Tunis, Tunisia
Tel: +216 71 865 682
Email: admissions@bistunis.com
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

The British International School of Tunis (commonly abbreviated to BIST) is a private school that provides elementary and secondary education.
The school offers the British Curriculum in both primary and secondary settings for children from 3 to 18 years old.

French Schools in Tunis

École Canadienne de Tunis
Address: Rue de l'Énergie Solaire/Rue des métaux
2035 Tunis, Tunisia
Tel: +216 71 206 035
Email: contact@ec-tunis.com
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

The Canadian School of Tunis (ECT) offers elementary and secondary programs.
ECT aims to train students by applying the Canadian program, ranked among the best in the world (PISA 2013 ranking), and renowned for its avant-garde approaches and its performance in the development of skills such as the child's personality. The study of the various disciplines uses French as the main vehicular language, yet also Arabic and English, so that students learn to communicate easily in the three languages.

International School of Carthage
Address: Les Jardins de Carthage – 2046,
Ain Zaghouan, Tunis
Tel: +216 71 777 722
Email: contact@iscarthage.com
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

International School of Carthage is a private school in Carthage, Tunisia that provides elementary and secondary education. The school is a member of the AEFE network and operates according to the official programs of the French National Education.

Groupe Scolaire International Les Nouvelles Générations
Address: Bousmail km 5 route Ajim-Houmet Souk Djerba,
4180, Tunisia
Tel: +216 75 663 472
Email: contact@lesnouvellesgenerations.com
Tuition Rates: From 5,900 DT ($2,050) to 6,500 DT ($2,255) [school year 2021-22]

Groupe Scolaire International Les Nouvelles Générations is an institution authorized to provide International Baccalaureate programs both in primary (Primary Program, PP) and in middle school (Intermediate Education Program, PEI), and is a candidate for authorization for the diploma program.

School Gustave Flaubert (Lycée Gustave Flaubert)
Address: 16, rue Othaman kaak
2078 La Marsa, Tunis
Tel: +216 31 355 600
Email: administration@johndewey.school.com
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

Lycée Gustave Flaubert is a French international school. It serves levels sixième of collège (junior high school/middle school) until terminale, the final year of lycée (senior high school/sixth form college).

German Schools in Tunis

International Deutsche School (IDS)
Address: 41 Rue Ibn Nafiss, Zone Lac 3
(Zone industrielle Kheireddine), Tunis
Tel: +216 21 183 000
Email: information@ids-tn.school
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

IDS is a private International Primary and Pre-School, located in Tunis. IDS currently offers a Primary Years Programme for students aged 3 to 9 years old. The school curriculum is based on the internationally recognized “International Baccalaureate” Programme. From Sep. 2021, IDS offers classes for ages 10 to 12, and a full K-12 primary and secondary education for ages 3 to 18, after that.
The school curriculum is unique in that the primary language of instruction is English, in addition to a strong emphasis on teaching the German language and culture. IDS intends to also become part of the PASCH-Initiative, as a Deutsch-Profil-Schule (DPS), as set by the ZfA (German Central Agency for Schools Abroad).

International schools in Sousse

John Dewey School de Sousse
Address: Sahloul 4054, Sousse
Tel: +216 73 823 401
Email: administration@johndewey.school.com
Tuition Rates: Inquire at school

John Dewey School of Sousse is a private educational establishment approved for the teaching of the programs of the Ministry of Education of Tunisia. It offers educational services from preschool to 6th grade. The school joined the World Schools network and obtained the IB label (awarded by the International Baccalaureate Organization) in May 2021.