International school fees in the Netherlands 2026-27: Amsterdam, Amstelveen, The Hague, Utrecht and Eindhoven compared, the cheapest options, and what the 30% ruling covers

International school fees in the Netherlands come in two prices that are so far apart that families often do not realise they are looking at the same kind of school. The private international schools in Amsterdam, Amstelveen and The Hague charge €19,000 to €36,000 a year. The Dutch-subsidised international schools, which teach the same IB programmes in English, charge €4,200 to €10,000, because the state pays the teachers and the family pays a contribution. This post puts every fee an Indian family needs in one table for 2026-27, explains who qualifies for the cheaper schools, lists the one-off fees that are easy to miss, and says what the 30% ruling and an employer can cover.

Fees below are the published 2026-27 schedules, or the latest published where the school has not yet released 2026-27, rounded, as of September 2026. Check the school's own fee page before you sign; several schools raise fees in the spring.

The private international schools

A family with two children at the International School of Amsterdam is paying €55,000 to €70,000 a year, after tax, before the bus and the lunch. That is the number that sends most Indian families to the next table.

The Dutch-subsidised international schools

These are international schools attached to Dutch school boards, teaching in English on the IB programmes, where the Dutch government funds the teaching and the family pays an annual contribution. They are excellent schools, they are full in the popular years, and they are the reason the Netherlands is one of the cheapest countries in Europe to educate a child internationally.

Who qualifies: the child needs an international background. In practice that means a non-Dutch passport, or a Dutch family that has lived abroad and expects to move again, or a family in the Netherlands for a limited period. An Indian family on a posting, on a highly skilled migrant permit, or newly arrived, qualifies at almost every one of these schools. The schools check the criteria at application and some ask for the employer's letter. What they cannot do is create places: the popular years at AICS, ISH and ISU have waiting lists, and the plan for the gap is in on the waiting list.

The fees that are not in the tuition line

• Application and admission fees, €200 to €3,000 depending on the school, paid once and not refunded.
• Deposits, up to €2,500 per child at the private schools, returned when the child leaves.
• Capital or building fees at some private schools, charged in the first years.
• Bus, €2,500 to €4,000 a year where the school runs one; the subsidised schools mostly do not.
• Lunch, €1,000 to €2,000 a year at schools with a canteen; the subsidised schools expect a packed lunch.
• Trips, uniforms and exam fees, especially the IB Diploma exam fees in the last year.
• The mid-year start: most schools charge pro rata by term, and a child starting in January pays for two terms, not half a year in days.

What the 30% ruling and your employer can cover

The 30% ruling is a tax exemption on part of a highly skilled migrant's salary; it does not pay for anything by itself. But international school fees count as extraterritorial costs under the same rules, which means an employer may reimburse them tax-free, on top of the 30% ruling, for a child at an international school. Whether the employer will is a negotiation, and the time to have it is before the contract is signed, not after the school invoice arrives. Some employers pay the private schools in full, some pay the subsidised contribution, most pay nothing unless asked. Ask HR, in writing, and ask specifically about "reimbursement of international school fees as extraterritorial costs".

What you get for each price

The private schools buy smaller classes, more facilities, a wider set of languages and sports, and a place without a waiting list in most years. The subsidised schools buy the same IB programmes, the same English, teachers paid on the Dutch scale, larger classes, fewer facilities, and a waiting list at the popular years. Academically, for a child aged 6 to 14, the difference in outcome is smaller than the difference in price. What no international school buys, at either price, is the maths standard an Indian family expects: the IB order is different, the drill is lighter, and the child who gets every test right can still sit on a 5 because the criteria are unfamiliar. Why that happens is in IB MYP maths criteria explained, and the school-by-school picture for the Amsterdam area is in international schools in Amsterdam and Amstelveen.

The other comparison, an international school at either price against a free Dutch school with the standard kept up at home, is in Dutch school vs international school. For a family staying five years or more with a child under 10, the Dutch school wins that comparison more often than the fees suggest.

What we do

We teach the children at both kinds of school: the MYP and PYP maths and science at the IB schools, in the school's own order, and the Cambridge and IGCSE syllabus at the British schools, one child per class, at a Netherlands-friendly time. Bring the school's offer letter and the last report to the free demo and we will tell you what the maths will need from you at that school, whichever fee you are paying.

Questions parents ask

See how we teach this, 1-on-1 online →