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International School Class Sizes 2026

Class size is parents' #3 concern after fees and curriculum. Most international school marketing says “small classes” — the data tells the real story. We aggregated 1,896 schools across 126 cities to show median class sizes by city, country, curriculum, and tuition tier. See what changed →

Schools analyzed
1,896
Global median
18
students/class
Smallest
2
students (one school)
Largest
35
students (one school)
CC BY 4.0See what changed →

Press headline · permalink

The most expensive international schools average only about 2 fewer students per class than the cheapest (16.3 vs 18.6) — tuition does not buy classroom density, across 1,494 schools with class-size data in the WhereNext 2026 dataset

Copy with attribution: “The most expensive international schools average only about 2 fewer students per class than the cheapest (16.3 vs 18.6) — tuition does not buy classroom density, across 1,494 schools with class-size data in the WhereNext 2026 dataset” — WhereNext, as of 2026-04-06

Quick answer

Across 1,896 international schools in 126 cities and 62 countries, the global median class size is 18 students. The smallest reported class size is 2 students (typically a niche specialty programme) and the largest is 35. The cities with the smallest median classes are Antwerp, Lausanne, Tenerife. Class size correlates with tuition tier — premium-fee schools cap closer to 15 students per class while budget tier averages 22–28.

Key facts

  • Global median: 18 students/class across 1,896 schools with reported class size data.
  • Smallest: 2 students extreme outlier — typically a specialty / SEN programme.
  • Largest: 35 students unusually high — verify before relying on it.
  • Top small-class cities: Antwerp, Lausanne, Tenerife lowest median class sizes in our dataset.
  • Coverage: 62 countries WhereNext-curated data · CC BY 4.0 — free to cite.

Do you get smaller classes for more money?

Median class size by tuition tier across 1,896 schools. The bar shows the interquartile range (25th-75th percentile); the vertical line marks the median. Higher tuition does correlate with smaller classes — but not as strongly as you'd expect.

Under $5K70 schools · median 18 students (P25 15 – P75 21)
$5K-$10K269 schools · median 20 students (P25 15 – P75 22)
$10K-$15K238 schools · median 18 students (P25 15 – P75 20)
$15K-$20K181 schools · median 18 students (P25 15 – P75 20)
$20K-$30K182 schools · median 18 students (P25 15 – P75 20)
$30K-$50K111 schools · median 15 students (P25 13 – P75 18)
Over $50K22 schools · median 13 students (P25 12 – P75 15)
0 students25 students

Reading this chart: a $50K+/year school typically has 13 students per class, while a $5-10K school typically has 20 students. The difference is often just 2-4 students — far less than the 5x tuition difference might suggest.

Top 20 cities with the smallest classes

Cities ranked by median class size across their international schools. Cities need at least 3 schools with class size data to appear.

#CitySchoolsMedianSmallestLargest
1🇧🇪 Antwerp
Belgium
38715
2🇨🇭 Lausanne
Switzerland
1611619
3🇪🇸 Tenerife
Spain
411824
4🇮🇩 Bali
Indonesia
1512520
5🇨🇭 Swiss Alps
Switzerland
712615
6🇹🇭 Nakhon Ratchasima
Thailand
3121018
7🇻🇳 Da Nang
Vietnam
312715
8🇺🇸 Boston, Massachusetts
United States
3121214
9🇯🇵 Osaka
Japan
1312625
10🇺🇿 Tashkent
Uzbekistan
3121016
11🇱🇹 Vilnius
Lithuania
512720
12🇨🇭 Basel
Switzerland
413814
13🇬🇧 Oxford
United Kingdom
3131116
14🇹🇭 Hua Hin
Thailand
414818
15🇵🇱 Kraków
Poland
314815
16🇨🇭 Zurich
Switzerland
15141020
17🇹🇭 Chiang Mai
Thailand
10151022
18🇮🇪 Dublin
Ireland
4151030
19🇯🇵 Tokyo
Japan
3815425
20🇰🇷 Seoul
South Korea
1315822

30 international schools with the smallest classes

Schools with the lowest published average class sizes (minimum 5 students per class to filter out tutorial-only programs). Tuition shown for context — the cost-to-class-size ratio varies wildly.

#1🇯🇵Tokyo

Kunimoto Alberta International School

5
avg/class
Max 15True cost $9,936/yr
#2🇯🇵Tokyo

The Innovation Fellowship (TIF)

5
avg/class
True cost $18,116/yr
#3🇸🇬Singapore

Australian International School

5
avg/class
Max 6True cost $34,400/yr
#4🇮🇩Bali

Spark Bali

5
avg/class
Max 10True cost $8,617/yr
#5🇨🇦Toronto

USCA Academy

5
avg/class
Max 15True cost $13,577/yr
#6🇳🇱Maastricht

UStudy Academy@Watersley

5
avg/class
Max 10True cost $15,408/yr
#7🇳🇱Ommen

Eerde International Boarding School Netherlands

5
avg/class
Max 15True cost $25,717/yr
#8🇪🇸Madrid

The Global College

5
avg/class
Max 25True cost $25,919/yr
#9🇵🇭Manila

Australian International School

5
avg/class
#10🇪🇸Madrid

Virtus College The British Sixth Form Madrid

5
avg/class
Max 9
#11🇰🇭Phnom Penh

Shrewsbury International School Phnom Penh

6
avg/class
Max 16
#12🇵🇭Manila

Canadian American School

6
avg/class
Max 8True cost $16,706/yr
#13🇰🇷Sacheon

Gyeongnam International Foreign School

6
avg/class
Max 10True cost $26,191/yr
#14🇵🇹Lisbon

Sintra International Christian Academy In Lisbon

6
avg/class
Max 10
#15🇿🇦Cape Town

Peak Academy High School

6
avg/class
Max 10True cost $5,363/yr
#16🇨🇭Swiss Alps

Ecole d'Humanité

6
avg/class
Max 12True cost $89,255/yr
#17🇸🇬Singapore

Dynamics International School Singapore

6
avg/class
#18🇭🇺Szeged

Szeged International Primary School

6
avg/class
Max 10True cost $6,605/yr
#19🇨🇭Lausanne

Institut Monte Rosa

6
avg/class
Max 12
#20🇮🇩Jakarta

Jakarta Academics

6
avg/class
Max 6
#21🇯🇵Osaka

Kansai Christian School

6
avg/class
Max 12True cost $8,146/yr
#22🇲🇾Kuantan

Tariq Cempaka Beach International School Kuantan

6
avg/class
Max 15True cost $2,924/yr
#23🇪🇸Mallorca

Palma College

6
avg/class
Max 12True cost $11,800/yr
#24🇪🇸Mallorca

Queen's College

6
avg/class
Max 12True cost $13,460/yr
#25🇸🇬Singapore

Westbourne College Singapore

6
avg/class
Max 15
#26🇵🇹Algarve

Educan, Algarve

6
avg/class
Max 8True cost $9,398/yr
#27🇹🇭Bangkok

New Day Learning

6
avg/class
Max 10
#28🇳🇱Rotterdam

Lighthouse Special Education

6
avg/class
Max 8True cost $26,378/yr
#29🇪🇸Marbella

Phoenix College Malaga

6
avg/class
Max 12
#30🇨🇾Limassol

IMS Private School

6
avg/class
Max 12

Top 10 countries by smallest class sizes

Countries ranked by median international school class size. Smaller numbers mean more individual attention per child.

#CountrySchoolsCitiesMedian class
1🇱🇹 Lithuania5112
2🇨🇭 Switzerland57914
3🇬🇧 United Kingdom21314
4🇯🇵 Japan60915
5🇰🇷 South Korea261115
6🇨🇦 Canada23115
7🇨🇿 Czech Republic21515
8🇧🇪 Belgium19515
9🇨🇾 Cyprus7115
10🇷🇴 Romania14116

Class size by curriculum

Median class size by curriculum type. Bars are inverted — longer = smaller classes (more desirable). Smaller programs and Montessori-style schools tend to have the smallest classes; large American and British schools typically have the largest.

Canadian15 students (median)
51 schools
Australian15 students (median)
13 schools
American17 students (median)
311 schools
British18 students (median)
667 schools
IB18 students (median)
622 schools
German19 students (median)
59 schools
Other20 students (median)
519 schools
French20 students (median)
82 schools
Local+English20 students (median)
39 schools

Methodology

Class size data comes from school-published profiles, admissions materials, and the International Schools Database. Each school in the WhereNext directory carries class_size_avg and class_size_max fields where available — currently 1,896 schools across 126 cities meet the data quality bar.

Outlier handling: schools reporting average class sizes below 2 or above 50 are excluded. The lower bound filters out tutorial-only programs and one-on-one homeschool co-operatives that don't fit the international school model. The upper bound is rare in this segment but defends against bad data.

Inclusion criteria for the city ranking: a city must have at least 3 schools reporting class sizes to appear. Cities with fewer schools have unreliable medians.

Inclusion criteria for the country ranking: a country must have at least 5 schools with class size data, ensuring the median is meaningful.

Cost-vs-class scatter: we bucket schools by tuition midpoint, then compute the median class size in each bucket. Buckets with fewer than 5 schools are excluded. The result shows whether higher tuition really buys smaller classes — short answer: yes, but the difference between $5K and $50K schools is typically only 2-4 students.

What this measures: the average number of students per class as reported by the school. What this does NOT measure: the student-teacher ratio (some schools run multiple teachers per class), the actual instruction style, or whether your specific child will get individual attention. Use this as a baseline data point alongside campus visits and teacher conversations.

Data freshness: class sizes are updated when schools refresh their public profiles. WhereNext reverifies on a rolling basis. Always confirm with the school directly — class sizes can change year-on-year as enrollment shifts.

Open data

This dataset is licensed under CC BY 4.0. You can use it for research, journalism, or commercial work — just credit WhereNext and link back to this page.

License: CC BY 4.0
Last updated: 2026-04-06
Coverage: 1,896 schools across 126 cities in 62 countries