Covers named international/bilingual schools only (curricula + tuition); all identified schools are located in Malé/Greater Malé, the country's only real hub for this school type
Good to know
Good to Know
- The international/bilingual school scene is small and concentrated almost entirely in Malé (many clustered around Ameenee Magu); there is no meaningful alternative cluster elsewhere in the country for a relocating family.
- Cambridge (IGCSE/A-Level) and Pearson Edexcel are the dominant frameworks; a full, currently-authorized IB Diploma World School was not confirmed to exist in the Maldives at the time of research, despite one source's claim to the contrary — worth double-checking directly with any school claiming IB before enrolling.
- Several well-known schools (Villa International High School, Ghiyasuddin International School, MAPS International High) do not publish tuition online at all — budget time to email or call for a fee schedule.
- Even schools that market themselves as 'international' typically still teach Islamic Studies, Dhivehi and Qur'an alongside the foreign curriculum, since most students are still Maldivian nationals.
- Some schools (e.g. Billabong, Lale Youth) quote fees in USD rather than MVR, which is common practice for schools courting expat families — worth clarifying which currency you'll actually be billed in.
- Because usable international/bilingual schooling is essentially only available in Greater Malé, a family that needs day-school access should factor that into where they base themselves — it's not something you can commute to from most resort islands.
- Don't assume you can enroll a child at a preferred school the month you arrive — seats are limited, some schools give priority to siblings/staff children/nationality groups, and real waiting lists exist, so start contacting schools well before your move.
- If considering homeschooling instead of enrolling locally, verify current rules directly with the Maldives Ministry of Education — public sources disagree on how compulsory schooling requirements apply, and there's no confirmed local homeschool support group to lean on for guidance.
Schools And Curricula
- Local Curriculum Alternative
- Most Malé children attend Dhivehi-medium day schools such as Thaajuddeen School, Jamaluddin School and Iskandhar School, which follow the 'National Curriculum Maldives' rather than an international syllabus; these are much lower-cost but not bilingual/international in the sense nomad families typically seek.
Schools
Billabong High International School Maldives
- Levels
- Nursery to Grade 12 / A-Level
- Location
- EPSS Building, Ameenee Magu, Malé
- Curricula
- Cambridge curriculum (IGCSE and A-Levels); proprietary Grade 1–4 curriculum co-developed with Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd (KKEL); Islamic Studies, Dhivehi and Qur'an instruction integrated for Maldivian students
- Curriculum Notes
- Described by the school itself as the only school in the Maldives offering Cambridge Lower Secondary Checkpoint at Grade 8
Villa International High School (VIHS)
- Levels
- Grades XI–XII (higher secondary only)
- Location
- Rahdhebai Magu, Machangolhi, Malé
- Curricula
- Pearson Edexcel — prepares students for Edexcel A-Level exams and the Higher Secondary Certificate; also accredited by Cambridge Assessment International Education
Ghiyasuddin International School (GIS)
- Levels
- Ages 6–16
- Location
- Ameenee Magu, Malé
- Curricula
- Cambridge International Curriculum; school is a former Japanese-aid-funded government school, run since 2010 as a public-private partnership with Shri Educare Pvt Ltd (Shri Ram Schools network, India)
MAPS International High
- Levels
- Grades 11–12 only (senior high)
- Location
- H. Vaifilaa-aage, Janavaree Magu, Malé
- Curricula
- GCE Advanced Level, Edexcel A-Level, Edexcel International Diploma
Lale Youth International School (LYIS)
- Levels
- Nursery to Grade 12
- Location
- Reethigas Hingun, Malé
- Curricula
- UK National Curriculum and Cambridge curriculum in all grades, alongside Dhivehi, Islam and Qur'an teaching; SAT tests also offered
Finland International School Maldives (FISM)
- Levels
- Primary through Grade 10 (progressive fee structure by grade)
- Location
- Malé
- Curricula
- Finnish education model
Tuition
- Period
- per month
- Amount Local Grade10
- MVR 12,000
- Amount Local Primary
- MVR 8,000
- Note
- Figures are approximate; fees rise progressively by grade level, exceeding 8,000 MVR/month at primary and nearing 12,000 MVR/month by Grade 10
Ahmadiyya International School
- Levels
- Not specified in available sources
- Location
- Malé
- Curricula
- Cambridge International Curriculum, with a stated emphasis on moral/ethical education
International School of Maldives
- Levels
- Early years to secondary
- Location
- Malé
- Curricula
- British curriculum; students prepared for IGCSE and A-Level examinations
The British School Maldives
- Levels
- Not specified in available sources
- Location
- Malé
- Curricula
- British curriculum (implied by name; limited independent detail found)
Enrollment And Homeschooling
Homeschooling
- Confidence Caveat
- Because of this gap between an older 'not compulsory' description and a newer, more comprehensive 2020 Education Act whose homeschooling-relevant provisions (if any) could not be confirmed in detail, families should not treat homeschooling in the Maldives as definitively either formally sanctioned or formally restricted — verify directly with the Ministry of Education before relying on this.
- Legal Status Summary
- No dedicated, publicly available homeschooling statute or Ministry of Education regulation specific to home education in the Maldives could be located. Older country-education sources describe Maldivian primary and secondary schooling as historically not compulsory, which would leave no formal legal barrier to educating a child at home, but the more recent Education Act (Act No. 24/2020) reorganized the country's overall legal framework for education and it is not clear from publicly available material whether it created any registration or compulsory-attendance requirement that would affect homeschooling.
- Homeschool Community Or Co Op
- No genuinely documented homeschooling community, support network, or co-op specific to the Maldives was found. Given how small and Malé-concentrated the international-school-using expat population is, and the absence of any public homeschool association, group, or registry turning up in research, we are not asserting that such a community exists — foreign families choosing to homeschool here appear to be doing so individually rather than through an established local network.
Foreign Family Enrollment
- Waitlist Reality
- The better-regarded international schools combine high tuition, limited capacity, and strict admission criteria, and openly operate waiting lists rather than guaranteed on-demand enrollment — so a seat is not assured just because a family can pay.
- Application Process
- Admission and enrollment procedures vary from school to school, so there is no single national process to follow.
- Timing Recommendation
- No single, universal application deadline could be confirmed across Malé's international schools — academic calendars differ by school (some, especially those following Cambridge/Edexcel curricula, run closer to an international school-year cycle, while some national-curriculum-affiliated schools such as Jamaluddin School start their academic year in April). Given the documented pattern of limited seats and waitlists, the realistic approach is to contact each target school directly 6–12 months ahead of your planned move, ask for that specific school's own intake calendar and cut-off dates, and apply as early as possible rather than assuming a rolling-admission model.
- Documents Typically Requested
- Based on individual school admissions pages, the recurring pattern is submission of the child's previous academic records/transcripts and a completed application form; some schools also conduct an entrance interaction, interview, or a basic assessment before offering a seat.
- Seat Availability And Priority
- Space at the established international schools is often limited and preference may be given to students based on nationality, and several schools use a formal priority order for applicants — for example children of staff, siblings of currently enrolled students, or alumni of partner schools — which can put newly-arrived foreign families at a disadvantage relative to already-connected local or long-term expat families.
- Context
- Nearly all schools with an international/bilingual curriculum (Cambridge, Edexcel/British, or similar) are concentrated in Greater Malé (Malé, Hulhumalé, Villimalé) — this is effectively the only part of the country where this school type exists. Families basing themselves on a resort island rather than Greater Malé generally do not have day-school access and rely on online schooling instead.
- Visa Note
- Formal 'student visa' guidance published by the Maldives generally addresses foreign students enrolling directly in Maldivian tertiary/higher-education institutions, not foreign children accompanying working parents into K-12 schools — a foreign child attending a Malé international school is typically covered under a parent's own work/dependent permit rather than a separate student visa in their own right.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.