The Guide

International Schools Guide is an independent editorial platform. We profile international schools across Asia - fees, results, facilities, and a written review - so expat families can make informed decisions instead of relying on school marketing and word of mouth. We don't take money from schools. We don't run sponsored rankings. We don't earn commissions on enrolments. We research, and we write what we think.

Why we built this

The school search is broken. If you're an expat family arriving in Jakarta - or Singapore, or Bangkok, or Dubai - finding the right school for your child is one of the most consequential decisions you'll make. It's also one of the least well-served by good information. Most "school guides" are funded by the schools themselves. Rankings are paid placements. Relocation agents earn commissions. The glossy brochure tells you everything except what you actually need to know: is this school worth the money, will my child thrive here, and what do parents who are already there really think?

We started with Jakarta because it's the city we know best - nearly 80 international schools in our directory, annual fees running from under US$2,000 to more than US$50,000, and very little independent information to help parents navigate it all. We're expanding across Asia, one city at a time.

Our principles

Editorially independent. Schools don't pay to be listed, can't pay to improve their review, and don't see our editorial before it's published. We take no money from schools. If we ever carry advertising, it will be clearly labelled, and it will never come from a school.

Data you can trust. We publish fee schedules, exam results, inspection ratings, and accreditation status where schools and regulators publish them. Every data point is sourced and dated. If we can't verify something, we say so rather than guess.

Written for parents. We write the way we'd talk to a friend who just landed in the city and needs to find a school by next term.

Editorial process

01 We gather the data. Fee schedules, inspection reports, exam results, accreditation records, admissions policies. We get this from school websites, regulator and inspectorate publications, and the accreditation bodies' own registers. If a school won't publish its fees, we say so.

02 We research. We read the inspection reports cover to cover. We check school claims against regulator data and accreditation registers. For the parent's-eye view, we read what parents say in public - reviews, forums, community discussions - and synthesise the consistent signal while filtering the extremes. We don't visit every school, and we don't pretend to.

03 We write what we think. Every full school profile includes an editorial review - our honest assessment of who the school suits, what it does well, and where the public signal raises questions. Schools don't get to approve or edit these reviews before publication.

04 We keep it current. Fees and facts are refreshed on a rolling research cycle. Every profile shows when it was last updated.

Who we are

The Guide is a small independent operation with a background in running schools. No school owns a stake in it and no school pays it. Articles are published under The Guide's name, and the standards above apply to every one of them.

Questions, tips, or corrections?

If you're a parent with a school recommendation, a head of school who wants to update your profile, or a journalist who wants to talk - we'd like to hear from you. Get in touch.