International schools in Qatar

Search for the best international schools in Qatar; 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. 

One of the world’s richest states in terms of GDP per capita, Qatar is host to a thriving international school sector serving expatriates, Qataris and Arabic-speaking students from across the region. The ruling Al Thani family has poured billions of dollars into education since the current Emir’s father launched a drive to set up the world’s first purpose-built regional education hub, Qatar Education City, on the outskirts of Doha in 1995. 

International schools have blossomed in and around Doha following a raft of nationwide education reforms begun in 2001. They now account for about a quarter of all schools in the Emirate, where some 85 per cent of the population are expatriates. 

Most international schools are large, co-educational day schools that teach in English. But there are several single-sex international schools for girls and an elite boys’ boarding school, the Doha Leadership Academy, while the Deutsche Internationale Schule Doha offers instruction in German and English and the French School teaches in French. 

Qatar has 18 IB World Schools, 15 of which are authorised to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma, including nine that are also approved to offer both the Middle Years Programme and the Primary Years Programme.

High demand for international education has prompted a steady stream of new school openings. The first school for expatriates in Qatar was the English-medium Pak Shama School, which serves the Pakistani community. Schools aimed at other Asian migrant communities, such as the Philippine School Doha, have followed. Public schools, which are normally single-sex, are reserved for Qatari nationals. 

As well as overseas universities, school-leavers can apply to branches of prestigious US and European institutions within Education City. These include the American universities Cornell and Carnegie Mellon, University College London and top French business school HEC Paris.

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