International schools in India

Search for the best international schools in India; you can find a list of selected schools at the bottom of this page. Use the search filters to select only girls' or boys' schools, prep schools, senior schools or sixth forms; or you can search for schools that offer a particular curriculum, such as the International Baccalaureate, the UK national curriculum, a US-style model or the International Primary Curriculum.

More than two decades of rapid economic growth has stimulated strong demand for private, international education among India’s growing middle class and schools have sprung up around the country. 

Most major cities now have an international school, with larger concentrations in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. India has 210 IB World Schools and 156 of these teach the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

India also has a long-established network of independent boarding schools modelled on the traditional British public school. The first such school, Rajkumar College, Rajkot, was founded in 1868 as an English-medium, boys’ boarding school. With girls admitted since 2001, the model continues to attract India’s elites. 

The first boarding school to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma was Kodaikanal International School, a former missionary school at a Tamil Nadu hill station. Today, boarding options are offered by about a third of international schools, including chains such as The Indian Public School group.

The American School of Bombay offers the IB Diploma alongside a US high school diploma and Advanced Placement courses, while Greenwood High in Bangalore combines the IB Diploma and primary years programme with IGCSEs and the Indian School Certificate.

About 29 per cent of India’s 179 million schoolchildren attend private schools and the international sector also includes schools offering American, British or French curriculums, religious foundations ranging from Catholic to Jain, and Montessori schools – a legacy of Maria Montessori’s stay in India during WWII. 

Education is compulsory and free for Indian children from age six to 14. In state schools, eight years of elementary education, which has lower and upper stages, is followed by two years of secondary education. A two-year upper secondary programme prepares students for higher education. 

In 2019, gross enrolment was 97 per cent at elementary level and 74 per cent at secondary level, while gross tertiary enrolment was 29 per cent, according to UNESCO. The school year starts in July and ends in April.

If you are looking specifically for International Baccalaureate World Schools in India, you can find selected schools on our sister website: www.ibyb.org.