European School Brussels III (Ixelles), Brussels

Year level	Age	Fee
Nursery (Maternelle, ages 4-6)	4	€8,741
Primary (P1-P5, ages 6-11)	6	€12,019
Secondary (S1-S7, ages 11-18)	11	€16,389

Year level

Age

Fee

Nursery (Maternelle, ages 4-6)

€8,741

Primary (P1-P5, ages 6-11)

€12,019

Secondary (S1-S7, ages 11-18)

€16,389

One of the four European Schools serving the EU institutions, on Boulevard du Triomphe next to the ULB and VUB campuses. Seven language sections (English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Greek, Czech), free for children of EU staff, fee-paying for outside families, ending in the European Baccalaureate. The system is the obvious choice for EU-institution households, and Ixelles sits in the most central catchment of the four. It is also the most overcrowded campus of the four, and the structural pressure on the European Schools system shapes most of what parents talk about.

Multilingual programme and European Baccalaureate. Seven mother-tongue sections, second and third languages from primary, and a Baccalaureate that travels well to European universities. The system is built for multilingual EU-institution families and it does that job.

Central Ixelles location. The Boulevard du Triomphe campus sits next to ULB and VUB, well connected to the European quarter and Etterbeek. For families inside the city, it is the most convenient of the four Brussels campuses.

Diverse and stable EU community. Around 3,200 pupils across roughly 30 nationalities, with strong parent-association infrastructure (APEEE) running canteen, after-school and a daily bus network for around 2,400 children.

Considerations

Overcrowding. Ixelles is the most overcrowded of the Brussels European Schools, running around 20% over theoretical capacity. Secondary classes regularly sit at 30 to 32 pupils, prefab classrooms have been used to absorb the overflow, and shared playground and sanitation come up in parent complaints.
System capacity and the fifth school. The promised fifth European School in Neder-Over-Heembeek has slipped from 2028 to late 2030, and a proposal to convert Ixelles into a secondary-only campus drew strong pushback from current parents. Pressure on places, language-section allocation and SWALS arrangements is unlikely to ease soon.
Teacher contracts and strikes. Locally Recruited Teachers now make up close to 60% of staff across the Brussels European Schools against a 30% target, on weaker contracts than seconded teachers. Strike action across the system in February, March and April 2025 disrupted teaching days at Ixelles along with the other Brussels campuses.
Enrolment access. Free for Category I children of EU staff and prioritised in placement; fee-paying Category III places are tight and not guaranteed at the parent's preferred campus. Waitlists for nursery and primary have run into the hundreds in recent years.

Micheline Sciberras