Good to know
Good to Know
- Haileybury Almaty is consistently the most expensive option in the city and the most selective for British A-Levels; apply well in advance.
- Kazakhstan International School (KIS) is the only Almaty school offering the full IB continuum (PYP, MYP, and DP) with a genuinely international, majority English-speaking student body.
- Several schools (ISA, Miras) let students earn a Kazakhstani national diploma alongside an IB credential — worth considering if you expect to stay in Kazakhstan long-term.
- Nazarbayev Intellectual School is tuition-free but only realistic if your child already speaks Kazakh or Russian, since entry is by a competitive exam at Grade 7.
- Many schools (Miras, AIS, QSI) do not publish a full grade-by-grade fee table online — budget extra time to request current tuition directly from admissions offices.
- One-time, non-refundable admission or entrance fees (commonly KZT 500,000–600,000) are charged separately from annual tuition at several schools, so factor that into first-year budgeting.
- Almaty's international school market is small enough that the popular schools can be oversubscribed at key entry grades (especially early primary) — apply the moment you know your move date, don't wait until you land.
- KIS's application window opens August 1 of the preceding school year, and grade levels commonly fill by April for the following autumn — a family targeting a September start should ideally be applying by the previous winter, not the previous summer.
- Bring apostilled birth certificates and prior academic records with you when moving — getting these apostilled after arrival is slow and will delay finishing enrollment paperwork.
- If you're relying on homeschooling as a bridge option, know that Kazakhstan does not have a clear, codified general right to homeschool for its own citizens the way the US, UK, or Canada do — the practical tolerance for foreign families' children is real but informal, so keep your own documentation (curriculum provider, home-country registration) in order rather than expecting local sign-off.
Schools And Curricula
- Overview
- Almaty has a cluster of established international/bilingual schools plus a few well-known selective local/state schools that operate trilingually (Kazakh, Russian, English). Full IB continuum (PYP+MYP+DP) is offered by Kazakhstan International School and Miras International School; British A-Level education is concentrated at Haileybury Almaty; American/AP-style education is offered at Almaty International School and QSI Almaty.
Schools
Kazakhstan International School (KIS)
- Curriculum
- International Baccalaureate — full continuum: PYP (Grades 1–5), MYP (Grades 5–9), DP (Grades 10–12); DP authorization completed 2020; MSA accreditation added 2023
- Ages Grades
- 2 to 18 years (Kindergarten through Grade 12)
- Sibling Discount
- 5% discount for a second child, 20% for each subsequent child
- One Time Admission Fee
- KZT 600,000
- Language Of Instruction
- English, with an English as an Additional Language (EAL) support program
Tuition Annual
- Range Low
- KZT 3,780,000
- Range High
- KZT 9,396,000
- Current Average Reported
- KZT 4,431,265
- Note
- Fees are fixed in USD-equivalent terms and converted to KZT at the exchange rate on the payment date; historic published range and current aggregator average both cited below
International School of Almaty (ISA)
- Curriculum
- IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP), integrated with Kazakhstani national education standards; UNESCO Associated School
- Ages Grades
- 5 to 16 years
- Language Of Instruction
- Trilingual — English, Russian, and Kazakh
Tuition Annual
- First Year 5yo 2025 2026
- KZT 3,550,000
- Note
- First-year figure includes one-time enrollment fees; ISA is generally positioned as more affordable than KIS or Miras
Miras International School
- Curriculum
- Full IB continuum — PYP, MYP, and DP (DP taught in English with six subject groups, Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge, CAS), integrated with Kazakhstani standards; students can also receive the Kazakhstani national diploma alongside IB credentials
- Ages Grades
- 3 to 18 years
- Accreditation
- Council of International Schools (CoIS) accredited; IB World School
- Language Of Instruction
- Choice of Kazakh, English, or Russian streams, with a switch option to the international/English stream at Grade 6
Tuition Annual
- Note
- Exact current published tuition table was not available at the time of research; independent reviews place Miras fees above ISA and Shoqan but the school directs inquiries to be made directly
Haileybury Almaty
- Curriculum
- British curriculum leading to A-Levels; positioned as the most academically selective British-curriculum option in the city
- Ages Grades
- Opened 2008; caters from early years through secondary (A-Level)
- Language Of Instruction
- English, with EAL provision
Tuition Annual
- Range Low
- KZT 8,800,000
- Range High
- KZT 19,200,000
- Note
- Fees include meals/snacks, extracurricular activities, stationery, security and medical services; billed in KZT using a coefficient tied to GBP/USD exchange rates published by the National Bank of Kazakhstan; generally the highest fees in Almaty
Almaty International School (AIS)
- Curriculum
- American curriculum with AP courses
- Ages Grades
- 3 to 18 years
- Language Of Instruction
- English
- Audience Note
- Popular with families on US government or NGO postings
- Location Note
- Kalkaman village area of Almaty
Tuition Annual
- Note
- Described by independent reviews as the most accessible of the major Western-curriculum schools (below Haileybury and KIS), but exact current tuition table not published in searchable form — inquire directly
Galaxy International School (GIS)
- Curriculum
- Cambridge International Programmes and Qualifications (Cambridge Primary/Lower Secondary Checkpoints, IGCSE, AS/A Levels), plus Cambridge English exams
- Ages Grades
- 5 to 18 years
- Accreditation
- Member of COBIS
- Tuition Annual
- KZT 3,125,000
- Language Of Instruction
- English
QSI International School of Almaty
- Curriculum
- American/international curriculum (QSI network standard)
- Ages Grades
- Not confirmed at the time of research
- Language Of Instruction
- English
Tuition Annual
- Note
- Named as a viable option for non-Kazakh/Russian-speaking families alongside Haileybury, Miras and KIS, but specific current tuition figures were not found at the time of research — inquire directly
Nazarbayev Intellectual School (NIS) Almaty
- Curriculum
- Kazakhstani state curriculum, taught trilingually
- Ages Grades
- Entry by competitive exam at Grade 7
- Language Of Instruction
- Trilingual — Kazakh, Russian, and English
- Fit Note
- Not an international school in the expat sense; only realistic for families whose child already speaks Kazakh or Russian
Tuition Annual
- Note
- State-funded, so no tuition fee — but admission is highly selective and most successful applicants invest a year or more in exam-prep courses
NGS (Novaya Gimnaziya / Similar Russian-medium Private School)
- Curriculum
- Rigorous Russian-medium private curriculum, not a Western framework
- Ages Grades
- Not confirmed at the time of research
- Tuition Annual
- KZT 4,950,000
- One Time Admission Fee
- KZT 500,000
- Language Of Instruction
- Russian-medium
- Fit Note
- Suits Russian-speaking families wanting structured academics with small classes, not a Western-curriculum family
Enrollment And Homeschooling
- Overview
- Almaty's international/bilingual school market is small — realistically three schools cover most expat shortlists (Almaty International School/QSI for the American track, Kazakhstan International School for the IB track, and Haileybury Almaty for the British track), plus a second tier of smaller bilingual options. Most admissions run through the OpenApply portal.
- Waitlist Realism
- Realistically, rolling admissions mean most families are not flatly rejected but placed on a waitlist once a grade fills; priority commonly goes to returning families, then siblings of current students, before other applicants are considered on 'fit.' If waitlisted for a specific target year, moving into the next enrollment cycle is often more realistic than waiting for a mid-year opening, since some families sit on waitlists for extended periods hoping a seat frees up.
- How Far In Advance To Apply
- Practically: apply 6–9+ months ahead of the target school year if aiming for a popular grade level (especially early primary and popular IB/British-curriculum entry points), since some entry years are described as the most likely to be oversubscribed. Families arriving mid-year should still apply immediately — schools admit on a rolling, space-available basis, but popular grades can already be full by spring for the following autumn.
- Visa Paperwork Context
- Most expat families in Almaty arrive on an employer-sponsored work permit; getting the IIN (Individual Identification Number) is usually a prerequisite for finishing school enrollment paperwork, and this process is digitized but still commonly takes a few weeks rather than days — apostilled academic records and birth certificates should be brought from the home country in advance.
Homeschooling
- Legal Status Kazakhstan
- Decriminalized or tolerated
- Local Community Or Co Op
- No specific, verifiable Almaty homeschooling co-op, meetup group, or physical resource center was found in this research. General sources note that homeschooling resources and groups exist somewhere in Kazakhstan and that online communities/forums are used by expat homeschooling parents, but none of this is tied to a named, checkable Almaty organization, so no local group is being asserted here.
- Practical Implication For Nomad Families
- For a foreign family homeschooling a non-Kazakhstani-citizen child while based in Almaty, this is generally workable in practice, but there is no single authoritative Almaty-specific homeschool registration office to point to — families doing this should expect to rely on their home country's or an online/international curriculum provider's compliance framework rather than a local Kazakhstani homeschool licensing process.
- Legal Status Notes
- Kazakhstani law does not provide a clear, general legal right to homeschool citizen children the way some Western countries do — sources describe it as not codified for general students domestically (it is explicitly provided for by law only for gifted or disabled students), while other guidance states parents generally have a right to choose the form of education, subject to following the national curriculum and keeping the Ministry of Education and Science informed via annual assessments. Multiple relocation-focused sources specifically describe homeschooling as effectively tolerated for expatriate/foreign children living in Kazakhstan even where it is more restricted or not codified for Kazakhstani citizens — this citizen/foreigner distinction shows up consistently enough across sources to be a real practical distinction, not just a technicality.
Application Timing
Almaty International School (QSI)
- Detail
- Applications are accepted throughout the year and students are admitted based on space availability, so there is no hard deadline, but earlier applications have better odds as grades fill.
- Citation Note
- AIS/QSI admissions page
Kazakhstan International School (KIS)
- Detail
- The application for the following school year opens on August 1 of the preceding school year, and although KIS accepts applications year-round on a rolling basis, many grade levels fill up by April for the first semester, so applying as early as possible is strongly encouraged.
- Citation Note
- KIS admissions page
Typical Process Steps
- Submit an online application via the OpenApply portal with an electronic document checklist.
- Provide past academic records/report cards and, for many schools, standardized test scores.
- Sit a placement/entrance assessment (e.g. AIS uses the MAP computerized adaptive test in Reading, Mathematics and Language Usage, given in English) — required for students roughly age 5 and up.
- Attend a family interview/conversation with an admissions counselor or divisional principal — used to gauge fit, English proficiency, and support needs, not purely academic ranking.
- Receive an admissions decision from an Admissions Committee (schools weigh academic history, behavioral background, English level, and support needs alongside space availability).
- Upon acceptance, sign an enrollment/education services agreement and pay admission/reservation fees to secure the seat.
- Submit final required documents (withdrawal letter from prior school, health/immunization forms, identification for both student and parents) — some documents must be uploaded as PDF, others brought as hard copies on the first day of school.
Required Documents Commonly Requested
- Prior school records/transcripts and a withdrawal letter from the current school
- Identification documents for the applicant AND both parents
- Health/immunization forms (original copy typically required)
- Standardized test scores or willingness to sit the school's own placement test
- Optional but often requested: parent employment letter, residence permit, health insurance card
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.