Choose an international school in Riyadh by confirming curriculum fit, support needs, an available place and the complete first-year bill before committing to housing. An employer’s school allowance does not secure admission. Published tuition is useful, but joining fees and invoice dates can change both the annual cost and the cash needed to move.
Updated 9 September 2026. Official BISR and AIS-R fee and admissions pages checked on 9 September 2026. The examples below are a limited comparison, not a ranking or a complete school directory.
On this page
International schools in Riyadh: start with your child’s requirements
Create a separate requirement sheet for each child: age, current year or grade, curriculum, languages, intended start term, examinations approaching, learning support and any accessibility needs. A school that suits one sibling may not offer the right programme or an available place for another.
Ask admissions to confirm the appropriate year group using its own rules. Do not convert British years into American grades by matching the number alone. Differences in age cutoffs and curriculum sequence can affect placement.
Treat support provision as a substantive admission question. Provide relevant records through the school’s verified channel and ask what can actually be offered, by whom and at what additional cost. General statements about inclusion are not a substitute for a discussion about your child’s needs.
Keep school selection connected to the moving to Riyadh plan. The school campus may determine where you can reasonably live and when the family should travel.
Two official fee schedules to use as reference points
The following is a small, explicitly limited sample of published provider prices. BISR and AIS-R are shown because their current schedules are publicly accessible. Inclusion is not an endorsement, paid placement or a claim that these are the cheapest or best options.
| Provider and band | Published annual tuition, SAR | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| BISR, Years 1–2 | 71,154 | 2026–2027, including VAT |
| BISR, Years 3–6 | 78,414 | 2026–2027, including VAT |
| BISR, Years 7–9 | 86,134 | 2026–2027, including VAT |
| AIS-R, KG-II–Grade 5 | 106,496.90 | 2026–2027 non-Saudi schedule, including VAT |
| AIS-R, Grades 6–8 | 110,158.50 | 2026–2027 non-Saudi schedule, including VAT |
| AIS-R, Grades 9–12 | 120,756.90 | 2026–2027 non-Saudi schedule, including VAT |
Sources: BISR fees and AIS-R tuition and fees. Use the applicable current invoice for your household. Different bands in this table are not necessarily equivalent placements and should not be interpreted as a like-for-like curriculum comparison.
Tuition totals alone do not explain class provision, support, curriculum suitability, journey time or admission availability. Avoid choosing a school by dividing cost by a broad online rating. Your child must be able to access and benefit from the actual programme.
Ask the school to identify any difference between new, returning and re-enrolling family charges. AIS-R publishes these as separate cases. A family that previously attended should not assume its new invoice will be identical to that of a continuously enrolled student.
Calculate first-year charges separately from tuition
Build an itemised first-year sheet including application, assessment, registration, capital or development charges, deposits, transport, uniforms, meals, devices, activities and examinations where applicable. Mark whether each line is compulsory, optional, refundable or credited against another payment.
Do not add a seat payment twice if it is part of the published tuition total or is credited later. Conversely, do not omit a separate joining charge because the school describes it as a one-time payment. Ask finance to reconcile the schedule into a complete invoice.
The current BISR and AIS-R pages both identify charges beyond tuition. Their structures differ, so request a total for your precise family and start date. For multiple children, establish which charges are per child and which apply once to the family.
Use two totals: non-refundable first-year expenditure and maximum cash required at the payment deadlines. A refundable deposit increases the second total without necessarily increasing permanent spending. Keep refund conditions and notice deadlines with the invoice.
Check how much the employer will actually reimburse
| Allowance question | Why it changes the calculation |
|---|---|
| Is the cap per child or per family? | A generous-looking family cap can leave a gap for siblings |
| Which costs qualify? | Tuition coverage may exclude admission or transport charges |
| Which children and age bands qualify? | Eligibility can differ from your school enrolment needs |
| Does the cap include tax? | Compare the allowance with the correct invoice total |
| Who pays first? | Reimbursement may require substantial upfront cash |
| What happens at an employment change? | Benefits and school commitments may end at different times |
Consider a hypothetical annual eligible tuition bill of SAR 150,000 and an employer reimbursement cap of SAR 100,000 for the family. The tuition contribution is SAR 50,000, equivalent to about SAR 4,167 monthly. Add excluded charges separately. These rounded inputs demonstrate the calculation; they are not a provider quotation.
If the employer reimburses only actual eligible invoices, an unused cap is not automatically extra salary. If schooling is a fixed cash allowance instead, confirm that distinction in writing and include the cash once in your income calculation.
The employment package benefits guide and job offer checklist help turn these questions into written offer terms.
Move from an enquiry to a confirmed place
Record each child’s status separately: enquiry, submitted application, missing documents, assessment, waitlist, conditional offer or confirmed place. Use the school’s wording. A friendly response from admissions is not the same as acceptance.
BISR’s admissions page describes campus selection, application documents, assessment, a formal offer and onboarding. It also discusses waitlists. Use its current instructions for that school; other providers may use different steps and priorities.
Request a written list of outstanding documents and conditions. Confirm deadlines for accepting an offer, paying charges and completing assessments. Ask how a delayed visa or start date would affect the place and any refund.
Before withdrawing from the current school, understand what is confirmed in Riyadh and what remains conditional. Obtain transfer records, reports and other required documents through the appropriate school channels without assuming a universal document list applies to every provider.
Choose the campus before narrowing the housing search
Large school names can cover multiple locations or different age ranges. Obtain the precise campus for each child and the entrance used for drop-off. Ask whether a later year-group transition would require another campus or a different journey.
Map work and school together. Include pickup times, after-school activities and any overlap between siblings. A housing choice that suits one route may make the other unmanageable.
If school transport is offered, request the current route, pickup point, journey estimate, age rules, supervision arrangements, price and availability. A bus service existing in principle does not establish that it serves your proposed building.
Keep a fallback plan if the first-choice school has no place. That may involve another school, a wider housing shortlist or a later family arrival. Put the extra costs and decision dates into the budget instead of treating the fallback as cost-free.
Ask questions that reveal educational fit
Ask how the curriculum connects to your child’s previous learning and likely next destination. For an examination-year move, discuss subjects, course sequence, assessment requirements and whether entry at the intended point is feasible. General curriculum labels do not answer those detailed questions.
On a visit, ask to understand the school day, pastoral support, communication with parents, safeguarding procedures, language support and learning-support process. Request published policies where available and note any promises that require written confirmation.
Ask how a new student is supported during the first weeks and how parents will learn whether the transition is going well. For younger children, practical questions about meals, collection arrangements and settling-in routines can matter as much as facilities.
Give your child an age-appropriate role in the comparison. Distinguish a preference, such as a particular activity, from a necessary support arrangement. A clear family discussion can prevent the cost comparison from overwhelming educational needs.
Use a decision sheet rather than an unsupported ranking
Create one row per campus with curriculum, confirmed year group, application status, support response, total first-year cost, recurring annual cost, employer contribution, payment deadlines and journeys. Add the date and source for each number.
Eliminate options that fail essential educational, support or logistical requirements. Among the remaining options, compare the cost your household actually pays and the practical strengths that matter to your child. Keep an unresolved admission condition visible rather than awarding it a reassuring score.
Update the household cost-of-living budget with the selected school’s invoice and payment schedule. Then revisit housing: an apparently affordable school can still require a housing or transport change that affects the total.
Before the first day, confirm the start date, arrival arrangements, required equipment, emergency contacts and how to report an absence or concern. The useful outcome is a suitable, confirmed place with a funded plan for the year—not simply a shortlist of well-known schools.
Before accepting the employment offer, calculate the school allowance shortfall and payment timing. The family relocation guide connects that result to arrival timing and housing.