Good to know
Good to Know
- Several of Riga's best-known international schools (King's College Latvia, Exupery International School, and part of the International School of Latvia's catchment) are actually located outside central Riga, in Pinki or near Mārupe/Bābīte — expect a 20-30 minute drive or school-bus commute rather than a walk from the city center.
- Beyond tuition, budget for one-time enrolment costs — schools like ISR charge a one-time Membership Fee plus an annual Capital Fee on top of tuition, and these can add several thousand euros to the first year.
- The German International School of Riga is unusual in billing monthly rather than as one annual tuition figure, and in some cases public co-financing can reduce the cost for eligible families.
- Not all schools publish fees online (e.g. Lycée Français International Jules Verne de Riga, Baltic International Academy, International School Premjers) — you'll need to contact admissions directly for a quote.
- IB is the most common curriculum thread across Riga's international schools, often combined with British (IGCSE/A-Level-style) or, in a couple of cases, German or French national curricula.
- ISR's rolling, deadline-free admissions can feel deceptively relaxed — in practice, popular entry grades (early Kindergarten, Grade 1) fill up, so applying months ahead of an August start meaningfully improves your odds versus applying last-minute.
- If your family is relocating and your child hasn't previously studied in Latvian, that can actually work in your favor for waitpool priority at ISR, alongside having a sibling already enrolled.
- Homeschooling in Latvia is not a simple opt-out for nomad families who dislike the local system — it legally requires a documented health or psychological justification and stays tied to a partner school's oversight, and it's only available up to roughly Grade 6, so longer-term nomad families with older kids will likely need to use a formal school (local, private, or international) rather than home education.
- The main homeschooling support association found is Latvian-language and grassroots in nature — useful for local networking, but not a ready-made English-speaking co-op for expat families.
Schools And Curricula
International School of Riga (ISR)
- Location
- Two central Riga campuses: Primary Campus at Kalnciema iela 118, Secondary Campus (Skanstes/Vesetas iela 9)
- Age Range
- 2 to 18 (Toddlers to Grade 12)
- Notes
- Non-profit, governed by an elected School Council; annual tuition/fees are set by the Council and approved at the AGM. Serves roughly 305 students from more than 47 nationalities; offers a hot lunch program and daily bus service between campuses.
Tuition
One Time Fees
Membership Fee (One-time, per Student)
- Membership Fee (One Time, Per Student)
- €1,600
Capital Fee, New Students (Annual, per Student)
- Capital Fee, New Students (Annual, Per Student)
- €2,000
Capital Fee, Returning Students (Annual, per Student)
- Capital Fee, Returning Students (Annual, Per Student)
- €1,500
Annual Tuition By Grade
Preschool
- Preschool
- €10,500
Kindergarten
- Kindergarten
- €12,250
Grades 1-5
- Grades 1 5
- €15,900
Grades 6-8
- Grades 6 8
- €17,400
Grades 9-12
- Grades 9 12
- €18,400
Curricula
- IB Primary Years Programme (PYP)
- IB Middle Years Programme (MYP, candidate)
- IB Diploma Programme (DP)
The International School of Latvia (ISL)
- Location
- Meistaru iela 2, Pinki, Babites pagasts, Babites novads — outside central Riga, roughly midway between Riga and Jūrmala
- Age Range
- 2 to 18 (PreK2 to Grade 12)
- Notes
- Independent, coeducational, non-profit, college-preparatory day school founded in 1994; open to children of all nationalities.
Tuition
- Annual Range
- €6,500
- Notes
- One source citing 2025/2026 fees puts the first-year cost for a 2-year-old (including one-time fees) at roughly €9,575.
Curricula
- International Baccalaureate (PYP, MYP, DP - all three IB programmes)
Exupery International School (EIS)
- Location
- Two-hectare campus roughly 15 km from central Riga, on the way to Jūrmala
- Age Range
- 1.5 to 18/19
- Notes
- Instruction in English with mother-tongue support in Latvian, Russian and French; Latvian studies are a required part of the curriculum. Offers day and boarding options.
Tuition
- Notes
- Specific published tuition not confirmed for this school individually; general Latvia international-school range is roughly €6,500 to €22,950/year depending on school and grade. High School scholarships are offered that can cover up to 100% of day or boarding tuition for students entering the IB Diploma Programme after Grade 9 or 10.
Curricula
- IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), Preschool-Grade 5
- Cambridge IGCSE, Grades 6-9
- IB Diploma Programme (DP), high school
King's College, The British School of Latvia
- Location
- 20,000 sq m campus in Pinki — outside central Riga
- Age Range
- 2 to 18 (Pre-Nursery to Sixth Form)
- Notes
- Part of the King's Group / Inspired Education Group; opened in 2017, became an IB World School in 2022. Facilities include two indoor swimming pools and a private forest.
Tuition
- Annual Range
- €10,000
Curricula
- Early Years Foundation Stage
- British National Curriculum
- Cambridge IGCSE
- IB Diploma Programme (ages 16-18)
Deutsche Internationale Schule Riga (German International School of Riga)
- Location
- Dzirnavu iela 16, Riga — central location
- Age Range
- Kindergarten through roughly Grade 9 (expanding one grade per year)
- Notes
- Founded in 2015 as a kindergarten; serves about 300 children from 25 countries.
Tuition
- Monthly Tuition 2023 24
- €750
monthly, Sept-June; public co-financing possible for some students
- First Year 2024 25 Example
- €9,000
illustrative first-year total for a 6-year-old including one-time fees
Curricula
- German curriculum for Auslandsschulen (GIB-Abschluss)
- IB Diploma Programme (DP)
Rūpniecības Iela 32, Riga — Central
- Name
- Lycée Français International Jules Verne de Riga (École Française Jules Verne de Riga)
- Age Range
- Grade 1 to 12 (with an earlier maternelle/kindergarten stage)
- Notes
- Founded in 1921; the only school in Latvia where French can be studied at an advanced level from primary school onward, operating within the French educational system.
Tuition
- Notes
- Fees are not published; prospective families must inquire directly with the school.
Curricula
- French national curriculum, recognized by AEFE and both Latvian and French governments
International Montessori School of Latvia (IMSOL)
- Location
- Riga (exact address not confirmed in sources reviewed)
- Age Range
- Early years through primary (exact upper age not confirmed)
- Notes
- English-medium, co-educational.
Tuition
- Notes
- Specific tuition figures not published in sources reviewed.
Curricula
- IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) blended with Montessori principles
International School of Science and Technology
- Location
- Riga (exact address not confirmed in sources reviewed)
- Age Range
- 15 to 18
- Notes
- Smaller, newer school; limited independent verification available beyond aggregator listings.
Tuition
- First Year 2025 26 Example
- €15,410
illustrative first-year cost for a 15-year-old including one-time fees
Curricula
- British curriculum
Baltic International Academy (BIA)
- Location
- Riga
- Age Range
- Not confirmed
- Notes
- Formerly known as the Baltic Russian Institute; students can study English, German, French, Spanish, Swedish, Latvian and Russian as foreign languages.
Tuition
- Notes
- Fees not published; prospective families must inquire directly with the school.
Curricula
- Not clearly IB/British/American; multilingual program with foreign-language options
International School Premjers
- Location
- Riga
- Age Range
- Not confirmed
- Notes
- Described as aiming to bring together students of different social and cultural backgrounds; limited independent detail available.
Tuition
- Notes
- This school does not make its fees public.
Curricula
- Not clearly specified in available sources
Enrollment And Homeschooling
- International School Landscape
- Riga's main English-medium options for nomad families are the International School of Riga (ISR, IB continuum, Toddlers–Grade 12) and the International School of Latvia (ISL, PreK2–Grade 12), both long-established, not-for-profit day schools.
Homeschooling
- State Exams
- Homeschooled children, like all pupils, must sit state examinations in Grades 3 and 6.
- Legal Status
- Decriminalized or tolerated
- Requirements
- Parents must submit a written application to a preschool or school principal, and for Grades 1–8 the application must include an affirmation that the child's health condition or psychological needs mean the school cannot provide suitable learning conditions, backed by a written conclusion from a physician or psychologist; the child remains registered with a partner school, which sets the procedure for monitoring and assessing progress during the year.
- Legality Summary
- Homeschooling ("education in the family") is a recognized education form under Latvia's Law of Education and Law of General Education, but it is narrowly conditioned rather than a free parental choice: it is permitted from preschool through roughly Grade 6 (up to about age 12), not simply for personal or curricular preference.
- Community And Support
- A dedicated Latvian home-school association, Ģimeņu Skolu Apvienība ("Family Schools Union"), exists and supports homeschooling families with information and community connection; it is a Latvian-oriented grassroots group rather than an English-language or expat-specific organization, so foreign families should expect to engage with it (or with a partner school) mostly in Latvian.
- Compulsory Schooling Context
- Latvian law separately requires every 5-year-old to be registered for preschool and every 7-year-old to be registered for school, with compulsory education generally running from about age 5 to 16.
Application Process
- Steps
- After a family submits an application file, the Admissions Committee reviews it and issues one of several outcomes: an offer to enrol, a conditional offer, placement in a waitpool, or refusal, with decisions usually communicated within about two weeks.
- Admissions Model
- International School of Riga operates rolling admissions with no fixed application deadlines; families can apply at any point in the year.
- Waitlist Mechanics
- If a grade level is full, ISR maintains a waitpool and contacts applicants as places open up; waitpool priority weighs a mix of factors including families relocating to Riga who have not previously studied in a local language, children of ISR staff, siblings already enrolled at the school, and how early the application file was completed.
- Documents And Interviews
- The process can include additional interviews if the school requires them; exact document checklists (transcripts, ID/passport, immunization records, etc.) are set by each school individually and are best confirmed directly with the admissions office rather than assumed, since specifics were not uniformly published across sources.
- Practical Timing Takeaway
- Because there are no formal deadlines but real seat scarcity in popular grades, the practical strategy is to apply as far ahead of the intended start date as possible (many nomad families apply months before an August start) since an earlier fully-completed file improves waitpool standing.
Typical Enrollment Fees Example
- School
- International School of Riga
- Membership Registration Fee
- €1,600
- Capital Fee New Student First Year
- €2,000
- Note
- These are one-time, non-refundable fees due at acceptance, separate from annual tuition; a tuition prepayment (10% of annual tuition) is also required at enrolment.
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.