Scholarships and Bursaries at Mumbai International Schools

Comparison table

Fees indicative; rounded from each school's 2025-26 schedule. Verify scholarship eligibility, coverage and deadlines directly with admissions.

Mumbai · Fees

# Scholarships and Bursaries at Mumbai International Schools

Mumbai's international tier is a fee-paying market. Tuition at the top of school runs INR 16,00,000 to 33,00,000 a year (USD 19,000 to 40,000) at Dhirubhai Ambani International School, the American School of Bombay and Oberoi International School. Mid-tier IB and Cambridge schools sit at INR 10,00,000 to 17,00,000 (USD 12,000 to 20,500). Indian families paying full tuition is the norm.

Scholarships exist, but they are not the route most families think they are. The published programmes are competitive, merit-led, and almost entirely restricted to Indian nationals. Bursary support is rare and handled case by case. For arriving expat families the realistic fee-reduction route is a corporate education allowance negotiated into a relocation package, not a school-side award.

Schools with published programmes

Only a handful of Mumbai international schools publish a named, repeatable scholarship route.

Programmes update year by year. Verify eligibility, deadlines and coverage with admissions before applying.

DAIS as the standout

The Dhirubhai Ambani International School Scholar Programme is the most visible international-school scholarship in Mumbai. It funds the two-year IB Diploma Programme in full for a small number of Indian-national students entering Grade 11.

The award is academic-merit led, not means-tested. Candidates apply through DAIS's admissions process, sit the school's entrance assessment, and progress through interview and panel review. The cohort is small and the bar is set against a school whose published IB DP average is among the highest in India.

A DAIS Scholar covers full tuition for the IB DP years. Capital fees and the school's substantial registration deposits are handled inside the award. Families remain responsible for personal costs (uniforms, IT, trips). The programme is selective rather than broad financial-access, and operates as a route for high-performing Indian students into a campus they would otherwise be priced out of.

The DAIS Scholar route does not extend to non-Indian passport holders.

Other merit programmes

Outside DAIS, the published landscape is thinner than the school marketing suggests.

Cathedral and John Connon School carries a long-standing scholarship and bursary culture inherited from its Anglo-Scottish foundation. Awards are concentrated in the ISC senior school (Std XI and XII), are academic-merit led with some need adjustment, and target Indian students continuing through the senior cycle. The IGCSE and IB DP side runs on a separate, smaller bursary pool.

Bombay International School runs need-cum-merit awards rather than a single named scholarship. The school is older, smaller and academically selective by Mumbai standards, and the awards target continuing pupils through the senior school. New applicants are not the typical recipient.

JBCN International School publishes merit and sports awards across its Parel, Borivali and Oshiwara campuses. Coverage is partial rather than full, structured around demonstrated achievement at the application stage. JBCN is a Cambridge and IB school in the mid-tier on fees.

Aditya Birla World Academy does not publish a scholarship page. The admissions office will discuss discretionary support for Indian students with demonstrated promise where a partial reduction would change the decision. Outcomes are case by case and not advertised.

Bursaries and need-based aid

Need-based bursaries at Mumbai international schools are rare and almost never publicly advertised. Where they exist they sit inside admissions, are reviewed case by case, and are confidentiality-bound.

Three patterns recur.

Continuing-pupil hardship. A family whose circumstances change mid-enrolment (job loss, business downturn, bereavement, divorce) can ask the school's finance office for a temporary adjustment. Most schools will consider a deferral, a payment plan, or a one-year fee reduction. Permanent fee relief is uncommon.

Sibling and category discounts. Several schools publish sibling discounts of 5 to 10 per cent for a second child. These are an administrative discount rather than financial aid, applied equally to Indian and expat families.

Foundation-linked support. Schools attached to a religious foundation or charitable trust (Bombay Scottish, Sacred Heart, parts of the Cathedral group) occasionally route bursary support through the foundation rather than the school's own finance office. Amounts are modest by international-tier standards.

RTE 25% EWS quota: a separate system

India's Right to Education Act, 2009, requires private unaided schools to reserve 25 per cent of entry-level seats for children from Economically Weaker Sections and Disadvantaged Groups, with the state government reimbursing the school at a notified per-pupil rate. This is not a scholarship at international schools in the sense most families mean.

Most premium IB and Cambridge schools sit outside RTE's scope. The framework applies to schools recognised under Maharashtra's Right to Education Rules and following the state's curriculum framework at primary level. The pure IB-from-PYP campuses (Dhirubhai Ambani, Oberoi, Ecole Mondiale) and ASB sit outside it.

Where RTE does apply, the application is to the state. Families enter the Maharashtra Education Department's RTE 25% online portal, which opens in the December to March window. Selection is by lottery, restricted to children whose family income and residential proximity meet the state's thresholds. The school has no role in selecting RTE pupils.

The mid-tier and Indian-international hybrids are where the quota bites. Bombay Scottish, Hiranandani Foundation School, Hill Spring International and some of the affordable IB campuses sit closer to the RTE recognition framework. RTE seats cover tuition only; books, uniforms, transport and capital charges are not included in the state reimbursement.

An expat family is not eligible for RTE. The framework is built around Indian-national EWS and DG categories and is income-tested against state-set INR thresholds.

Application timelines

Scholarship cycles are tied to each school's admissions calendar. The Indian academic year runs April to March, with entry assessments concentrated in October to January for the following April intake.

Schools on the August to June international calendar (ASB and parts of the IB sector) run the equivalent cycle twelve months earlier in the year.

What scholarships do not do

A scholarship at a Mumbai international school is not a tool for an arriving expat family to afford a top-tier campus. The programmes are sized for a small number of Indian-national students, application windows close before most international relocations finalise, and eligibility is built around Indian documentation and INR household-income thresholds.

The three realistic fee-management routes for an arriving expat family are:

• An employer education allowance, negotiated into the relocation package before signing. The most effective fee-reduction mechanism available in Mumbai.
• A mid-tier school. Bombay International, Ecole Mondiale, JBCN, Aditya Birla and Singapore International sit below USD 20,000 at the top of school and produce competitive IB results.
• An Indian-international hybrid. Bombay Scottish, Hiranandani Foundation and Hill Spring run ICSE or IGCSE programmes at INR 2,00,000 to 8,00,000 (USD 2,400 to 9,600) a year, with strong continuity into Indian and overseas universities.

Related reading

• International school fees in Mumbai
• Best international schools in Mumbai
• Affordable international schools in Mumbai
• International school admissions in Mumbai
• Cost of living in Mumbai

FAQs

Can a non-Indian family apply for a Mumbai international-school scholarship? In practice, no. The published programmes at DAIS, Cathedral, Bombay International, JBCN and Aditya Birla are restricted to Indian nationals. Schools without a published programme may consider discretionary aid for any family, but the published fee schedule applies to expat enrolments.

Is there a UK-style bursary culture for expat families? No. UK independent-school bursaries draw on charitable-status endowment funding. Indian international schools fund operations directly from fees, and the cultural expectation is full payment from Indian and expat families alike. Employer relocation allowances cover the equivalent ground in Mumbai.

What does the RTE 25% quota mean for international schools? The Right to Education Act reserves 25 per cent of entry-level seats at qualifying private unaided schools for children from Economically Weaker Sections and Disadvantaged Groups. Most of Mumbai's premium IB and Cambridge campuses sit outside the framework. Where it applies, eligibility is restricted to Indian-national families meeting Maharashtra's income and residency thresholds.

When should we start the scholarship conversation? Twelve to eighteen months before the target entry term. For an April intake, the initial enquiry sits in the previous October and a formal application in November or December. The DAIS Scholar timeline runs with the general Grade 11 admissions cycle.

Are there sports or arts scholarships? JBCN publishes named sports awards. Cathedral, Bombay International and DAIS will consider exceptional ability in arts or sport as part of the merit case, but a sports-only or arts-only route is not a standard feature. A national-level achievement record strengthens a merit application; it does not replace the academic threshold.

Is corporate fee coverage the main route? For arriving expat families, yes. Mumbai compensation packages for senior expat hires routinely include an education allowance covering one or two children at international-tier fees. The negotiation happens with the employer before signing the contract, not with the school after arrival.

Sources

Scholarship and bursary detail synthesised from the admissions and fees pages of the schools named above, cross-checked against admissions enquiry responses for the 2025-26 cycle. Fee ranges from each school's published 2025-26 fee schedule, converted at INR 83 = USD 1. RTE framework detail from the Maharashtra State Education Department's RTE 25% admission portal and the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.