Cities / Doha / Swiss International School Qatar
Swiss International School Qatar
CIS-accredited IB school founded in 2017, offering trilingual education in English, French, and German alongside Arabic. Around 830 students from Al Luqta, with a Class of 2025 that collected 170-plus university offers across 15 countries.
In brief
A full IB continuum school on Al Hashimiya Street, partnered with Bellevue Education, that has built a strong reputation since opening in January 2017.
SISQ runs PYP, MYP and the Diploma Programme for ages 3 to 18 and now teaches around 830 students. It is multilingual by design, with German and French taught alongside English and Arabic from early years. Riyad Yaghi leads the school and CIS membership is in place.
Families talk about approachable teachers, strong communication, and a campus that feels purpose-built rather than retrofitted. The IB pathway and language stack pull in expat families who want continuity if they move on to other IB schools. Fees sit in the upper bracket for Doha. The criticism heard most is simply that the IB workload is heavy in upper years, which is true of every IB school.
Fees
Annual fees
| Year level | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| PYP (PK1 - Grade 5) | 3 | QAR 55,750 |
| MYP (Grade 6 - Grade 10) | 11 | QAR 66,717 |
| DP (Grade 11 - Grade 12) | 16 | QAR 74,017 |
One-time fees
| Item | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Registration (non-refundable) | QAR 2,500 |
Reviews
SISQ sits in Doha's premium IB tier, mentioned in the same breath as ASD, SEK, ACS, ISL and Doha College when parents talk through options. The pull is the full IB continuum from PYP through Diploma, the trilingual English-French-Arabic instruction, and the small-community feel of a school still in its founding decade. The counterweight is the price tag; SISQ shows up in fee-and-discount conversations as one of the schools where parents push hardest on sibling rates.
Positives
- Full IB continuum. One of the small group of Doha schools running the full IB continuum (PYP, MYP, DP), grouped with ACS and SEK in IB-school conversations. CIS accreditation landed in 2024.
- Multilingual programme. Trilingual English-French-Arabic instruction is the distinctive pull. Families who want stronger French alongside English in Doha cite this as the main reason to look at SISQ.
- Campus and pastoral feel. The Al Luqta site reads as compact and well-kept. Parent commentary that does surface points to approachable teachers and a small-community feel from the founding-cohort years.
Considerations
- Fees. Comes up tagged as overpriced in Doha school threads, and sits in the bracket where families look hard at sibling discounts. The price puts it next to ASD, Doha College and USI without the same long track record.
- Track record still building. Founded 2017, IB Diploma authorisation 2019, CIS accreditation 2024. The senior school is young and graduating cohorts are still small, so public IB results data and university-destination patterns are thinner than at the established Doha peers.
Leadership
Riyad Yaghi
Riyad, an Arab-American educator with 27 years of experience, has led American, British, and IB schools. With a BSc from New York, a Master's from Australia, and 22+ years in IB programs, he specializes in school improvement and staff development.
Accreditations
- Council of International Schools 01
Academic results
- Class of 2025 university offers 170+ across 15+ countries