Amsterdam International Community School

In Brief

AICS is the most affordable full-IB option in Amsterdam and the right call for families on shorter assignments who want a recognised IB school without a EUR 25K+ bill. The 2022 campus upgrade made a real difference - ask admissions which campus your child would join and visit both before enrolling.

AICS sits in a distinct category: government-subsidised, which means you get the full IB continuum - PYP, MYP, DP, and CP - at fees between EUR 6,025 and EUR 9,168. For families paying school fees themselves rather than on a package, that gap versus ISA (EUR 22K-32K) or BSA (EUR 19K-22K) is the reason most people end up here. With 2,400 students and 70+ nationalities across two campuses, it also has genuine scale.

The school runs from a purpose-built campus in Buitenveldert (South campus) and a second site in Amsterdam Zuidoost (SE campus). A community parent group - the APS (AICS Parents Society) - handles much of the social glue that corporate-package schools sometimes take for granted. IB Diploma results are solid: 93% pass rate and 90% for the CP in 2025. CIS accreditation covers the school's quality standards.

The honest caveat is history. Reviews from before 2022 describe cramped conditions in a converted building - that building is now gone and the current campus is purpose-built - but some families carry institutional memory of that era. Class sizes run to 23, which is larger than the private schools. Ask specifically about the SE campus if your child would be assigned there; it draws different feedback from the South campus.