Affordable International Schools in Paris

Comparison table

Top-year annual tuition in EUR, 2026 school-published schedules. EUR 20,000 corresponds to roughly USD 21,600 at indicative mid-2026 rates. Verify current figures with each school.

Paris is the rare global capital where a family can put a child through a recognised international programme for under EUR 5,000 a year. France runs a state contract system that absorbs teacher salaries at sous-contrat and lycee international schools; the curriculum core stays French. That is the trade.

Above and below EUR 20,000

Affordable is city-specific. In Dubai or Singapore the equivalent shortlist would start at USD 18,000. In Paris the threshold lands at EUR 20,000, which buys a different range of school.

Above EUR 20,000 sit the six hors-contrat internationals: ASP, ISP, Marymount, BSP, ICS, Ecole Jeannine Manuel. Top-year fees EUR 28,950 to EUR 41,400 before one-off entry charges of EUR 3,750 to EUR 12,400. Those schools price against the American School in London and the International School of Brussels, not against anything inside Paris.

Below EUR 20,000 sit three different groups: state lycees with international sections (native-language teaching three to nine hours a week, slotted into the French Bac); sous-contrat bilingual schools (state-funded teacher pay, bilingual French-something from the start); and the upper edge of bilingual private (CIS-accredited French-British or French-American models, priced just under the hors-contrat floor).

A family on a short posting needing English-medium teaching from day one will struggle in groups 1 and 2. A family that can integrate into French academic culture, or one with a child young enough to learn the language quickly, gets an education the global premium tier cannot match on price.

The picks

The lycee international: EUR 2,558 to EUR 4,348

Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a French state school with 14 international sections running inside the timetable, from American and British through to Chinese and Japanese. Children spend three to nine hours a week in section classes taught in the section language by native-speaker teachers; the rest of the week is the standard French Bac. CIS-accredited, founded 1952, around 3,000 pupils across primary, college and lycee.

Families pay the section fee only. EUR 2,558 in primary, EUR 3,762 in college, EUR 4,348 in lycee. The IB DP average in 2024 was 38 points and 52 percent of A-Level entries hit A or A*. Same academic bracket as ISP and ASP at a tenth of the price.

Entry is selective. Children outside the system at ages 11 or 14 sit a language and reasoning test; the British and American sections run waiting lists. A repeated year during transition is common.

The British Section inside the lycee charges separately. EUR 3,746 in primary rising to EUR 9,090 at sixth form, with Cambridge IGCSE and Pearson Edexcel A-Levels alongside the French Bac. The BFI saw 80 percent of 2024 candidates pass with Mention Très Bien or Bien.

SIS Paris Ouest: EUR 2,611 to EUR 3,464

SIS Paris Ouest in Hauts-de-Seine runs an integrated French-international bilingual model from EUR 2,611 in early years to EUR 3,464 in the senior years. Founded 1960. Smaller and less well known than the Saint-Germain lycee; same sous-contrat economics. Curriculum is Cambridge-aligned.

International School Montessori Jeunes Pousses: EUR 8,450

Jeunes Pousses is a small Montessori primary in central Paris running from age 2 to 12 at a flat annual fee of EUR 8,450. Bilingual French-English from the start. No IGCSE pathway, no accreditation listed, no published exam data.

For families committed to Montessori in early years with a planned transition into the French or international system at age 11 or 12, the fee point makes a serious case. As a long-haul international school, this is a phase, not a destination.

Deutsche Schule Paris: EUR 10,684 to EUR 13,054

Deutsche Schule Paris in Saint-Cloud is the German-curriculum option in Paris. Founded 1958, around 332 pupils, ages 4 to 18, ZFA-accredited. 100 percent Abitur and AbiBac pass rate in the most recent published cohort.

Annual fees: EUR 10,684 in primary and lower secondary, EUR 11,550 in Grades 11 to 12, EUR 13,054 in kindergarten. Enrolment fee EUR 650. Company-funded families pay an extra EUR 6,120 infrastructure fee on entry; private families do not. The cheapest pure-curriculum international school in Paris by some distance. German Abitur is excellent for German and Austrian universities and well recognised across the EU; less natural for families pointing children at US, UK or Canadian destinations.

Trillium International School: EUR 9,810 to EUR 13,570

Trillium in Yvelines is a young bilingual school founded in 2017, with top-year fees of EUR 13,570. The dataset shows 100 percent success on 2025 and 2026 entrance examinations into French selective programmes, which is what the school currently optimises for.

No accreditation listed, no published IB or A-Level cohort, no detailed curricula tagged. New schools take time to establish a track record.

Cours Molière: EUR 12,350 to EUR 12,825

Cours Molière is a Paris bilingual school founded 1926 pairing a French curriculum with the US High School Diploma. 100 percent baccalaureate pass rate, 80 percent with honours, 100 percent Parcoursup success in the most recent cohort.

Annual fees EUR 12,350 in early years and primary, EUR 12,825 in college and lycee, with a EUR 2,500 registration deposit refundable across three instalments. The flat fee structure is unusual for a Paris international. Small, family-run in feel, outside the better-known international circuit; CIS or COBIS accreditation is not listed.

Eurécole: EUR 12,940

Eurécole in central Paris runs from age 2.5 to 18 at a flat EUR 12,940 across primary, college and lycee. Founded 1989. 100 percent DNB pass rate in 2024 with 87.5 percent honours. Registration fee EUR 725. The school positions itself as a multilingual international French-English programme with German and Spanish from primary.

EIB Paris: EUR 14,100 to EUR 16,995

EIB Paris is the affordable tier's upper edge. French-British bilingual, CIS-accredited, founded 1954, around 3,000 pupils across multiple Paris campuses (Etoile, Monceau, Pereire, Lamartine, Lycée EIB Etoile in the 8th). 100 percent Brevet pass rate, 98 percent Bac with honours in the most recent cohort.

Fees run EUR 14,100 in maternelle and elementaire, EUR 16,995 from college through lycee. One-off charges: EUR 300 application, EUR 1,800 registration, EUR 1,700 development fund. An all-in entry total of EUR 3,800, the lowest of any of the multi-campus Paris privates.

EIB sits closer to the hors-contrat schools in feel than to the sous-contrat lycees: independent pricing, named English-medium classes, admissions that select on academic and language fit. The dominant exit qualification is the French Bac with English-language reinforcement, not full English-medium IB or A-Levels.

What to watch out for

French language is the price of entry to the sous-contrat tier. Lycée International, SIS Paris Ouest, Deutsche Schule, EIB and Cours Molière all teach a significant share of the day in French. Children arriving in maternelle or early primary tend to absorb the language inside two terms; older arrivals often need an intensive year of FLE (Français Langue Étrangère) support or repeat a year. Several of these schools openly run FLE as part of the integration model.

Selective entry at the lycees. The Saint-Germain international sections fill from waiting lists and require a language and reasoning assessment for entry above primary. SIS Paris Ouest operates similarly. Late-spring applications for the September intake are often too late; entries firm up six to twelve months out.

Religious affiliation in parts of the sous-contrat sector. France's sous-contrat private sector includes a substantial Catholic and Protestant network. None of the schools above publish a confessional identity, but the wider sous-contrat tier does. The lycee international and SIS routes are secular state.

Curriculum continuity is uneven. Several schools in this tier do not run a recognised international exit qualification. Deutsche Schule routes to Abitur. Eurécole publishes DNB results but no senior cohort data. Trillium has no published exit cohort yet. A family pointing children at universities outside continental Europe has more qualification mapping to do than at the hors-contrat tier.

Brand-name parity is misleading. EIB Paris and ISP Paris share the word international and a city, but EIB is a French-British bilingual sous-contrat operator and ISP is a full English-medium IB school. The affordable tier is its own category, not a discount on the premium tier.

Related reading

• Best international schools in Paris
• International school fees in Paris
• Best British schools in Paris
• International school fees: a global comparison
• Cost of living in Paris

FAQs

What is the cheapest international school in Paris?

Lycée International de Saint-Germain-en-Laye at EUR 2,558 in primary, rising to EUR 4,348 in the senior years. A French state school with 14 international sections taught by native-speaker teachers inside the timetable. SIS Paris Ouest in Hauts-de-Seine is comparable at EUR 2,611 to EUR 3,464.

Can a family without French language get into the affordable tier?

Younger children, yes. Older arrivals, usually not without preparation. The lycee international sections and the bilingual sous-contrat schools assume children can follow a substantial part of the day in French. EIB Paris and Cours Molière run intensive French support for new arrivals; the lycees expect entry-level competence by age 11 or 14.

Why are Paris fees so different from London or Singapore at the bottom end?

The French state contract. Sous-contrat schools have a contract under which the public purse pays teacher salaries in return for following the French curriculum core. London and Singapore have no equivalent system; international schools there pay the full salary bill out of fees. Paris has a sub EUR 5,000 international option and no other top-ten city does.

Is there anything between EUR 17,000 and EUR 20,000?

Not in the current dataset. The next schools up sit at EUR 20,700 (Lennen Bilingual School in the 7th) and EUR 23,500 (Lab School Paris in the 11th), both covered in the Paris fees guide. Above EUR 23,000 the market jumps into the hors-contrat international tier proper.

Sources

ISG fees database, school-published 2026 schedules. Exam results are the most recent figures schools have published. USD conversion at indicative mid-2026 rate of EUR 1 = USD 1.08; the EUR figures are the source of truth.