Good to know
Good to Know
- Croatia's public primary and secondary education is free and compulsory (8 years of elementary school), but instruction is in Croatian only — this is the main reason expat families look at the international/bilingual options above.
- AISZ, BISZ, and Matija Gubec International School are the three schools that give the clearest path to an internationally-recognized diploma (IB Diploma, Cambridge A-Levels, or IB PYP/MYP) in Zagreb.
- Croatia adopted the euro in January 2023, so any school pricing you find still quoted in Croatian kuna (kn/HRK) online is outdated — always double-check current fees directly with the school in euros.
- Several schools (German school, American Academy, PKG European School) don't publish tuition rates online at all — budget time to email or call for a quote.
- The French and German schools (EFZ and DISZ) share a single 'Zagreb Eurocampus' site on Fratrovac 36, which can be convenient if you have children needing different language tracks.
- For Zagreb's international schools, treat admission timelines like a rolling waitlist rather than a fixed application window: several schools only finalize new-student vacancies after current students re-enroll each spring, so applying early (many months ahead) genuinely improves your odds rather than just being bureaucratic advice.
- Newly-arriving expat families are sometimes placed in a lower admission-priority tier than currently-enrolled or staff-connected families at some schools, so don't assume a school with '255 students, 33 nationalities'-style diversity automatically has open seats in your specific grade — ask directly about current waitlist length for that grade.
- Get official school records translated and certified before arriving if possible — this is a recurring document requirement across Zagreb's international schools and for Croatian public-school transfers alike.
- Homeschooling is not a legally recognized general option in Croatia — the only sanctioned form of at-home education is for children with severe illness or disability. If schooling flexibility is important to your family, plan around Zagreb's international/private schools rather than assuming you can homeschool locally.
- Homeschooling Hrvatska (based in Zagreb) is a real parent-advocacy network worth contacting if you want to connect with other homeschooling families in Croatia, but it is a community/advocacy group, not a legal pathway or accredited alternative.
Schools And Curricula
American International School of Zagreb (AISZ)
- Type
- Private, non-profit, international
- Location
- Bundek campus, Ulica Damira Tomljanovića Gavrana 3, Zagreb
- Ages Grades
- Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 (ages 3–18)
- Language Of Instruction
- English
- Notes
- Founded 1966; the most established international school in Zagreb. AISZ also offers a Croatian Young Leaders Scholarship (up to 90% tuition discount for qualifying Croatian students) and a need-based financial aid program.
Tuition
- Period
- per year
- Amount Local Low
- €6,275
- Amount Local High
- €16,640
Curriculum
- American curriculum (PK-12)
- IB Diploma Programme (high school)
- AISZ High School Diploma
- AISZ Honors Diploma
British International School of Zagreb (BISZ) / Bright Horizons
- Type
- Private, international
- Location
- Dedići 102, Zagreb
- Ages Grades
- Ages 3–18; on-site boarding available for ages 13–19
- Language Of Instruction
- English
- Notes
- Founded 2013 as sister school to the private Kreativan razvoj Primary School. First Cambridge International School in Croatia; students come from 50+ nationalities.
Tuition
- Period
- per year
- Amount Local Low
- €8,900
- Amount Local High
- €15,000
Curriculum
- UK National Curriculum / English National Curriculum
- International Primary Curriculum (IPC)
- Cambridge IGCSE
- Cambridge International AS & A Levels
Matija Gubec International School
- Type
- Public school with international IB stream
- Location
- Sveti Duh 122, Zagreb
- Ages Grades
- Preschool through Grade 8 (ages 3–16)
- Language Of Instruction
- English (with Croatian, German, French, Italian as additional languages)
- Notes
- An IB World School offering both PYP and MYP in English.
Tuition
- Period
- per year (annual tuition payable in 4 installments); one-time non-refundable enrollment fee
- Annual Tuition
- €7,000
- Enrollment Fee
- €500
Curriculum
- IB Primary Years Programme (PYP)
- IB Middle Years Programme (MYP, first years)
ÉCole Française Internationale De Zagreb (EFZ)
- Type
- Private, part of AEFE network
- Location
- Fratrovac 36, Zagreb (Zagreb Eurocampus, shared with the German school)
- Ages Grades
- Preschool through Grade 12 (some sources cite through Grade 8/9)
- Language Of Instruction
- French (Croatian language/history/geography taught per Croatian curriculum)
- Notes
- Part of the Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE) network; shares the Eurocampus site with the German school.
Tuition
- Note
- Older published figures (roughly 19,150–64,700 HRK/year in various sources) predate Croatia's 2023 adoption of the euro and are likely outdated; current fees were not independently confirmed. Contact the school directly for up-to-date pricing.
Curriculum
- French national curriculum
- French Baccalauréat / Baccalauréat Français International
Deutsche Internationale Schule Zagreb (DISZ)
- Type
- Private, part of German Schools Abroad (ZfA) network
- Location
- Fratrovac 36, Zagreb (Zagreb Eurocampus)
- Ages Grades
- Kindergarten through Grade 12
- Language Of Instruction
- German (with Croatian and some English)
- Notes
- Opened 2004/2005; funded in part by the German Central Agency for Schools Abroad (ZfA) on behalf of the German Foreign Office.
Tuition
- Note
- Not publicly published — schools states 'inquire at school' for current fees.
Curriculum
- German national curriculum (Kindergarten, Grundschule, Gymnasium)
MIOC (XV. Gimnazija Zagreb)
- Type
- Public gymnasium
- Location
- Jordanovac 8, Zagreb
- Ages Grades
- Ages 11–16 for the IB MYP stream (as part of the broader 4-year gymnasium program)
- Language Of Instruction
- Croatian, with IB stream taught in English
- Notes
- Regarded as one of the top academic public high schools in Zagreb/Croatia.
Tuition
- Note
- Public school — no tuition fee for the standard Croatian program; contact the school regarding any costs associated with the IB stream.
Curriculum
- Croatian national curriculum (math/computer-science specialization)
- IB Middle Years Programme (final 2 years, in English)
American Academy in Zagreb
- Type
- Private, part of a regional network
- Location
- Agram Office Center, Zagreb
- Ages Grades
- High school
- Language Of Instruction
- English
- Notes
- Builds on the American Academy school network already operating in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Tuition
- Note
- Tuition not publicly listed; contact school directly.
Curriculum
- International/American-influenced high school program
PKG European School Zagreb
- Type
- Private, bilingual
- Location
- Zagreb (exact central address not independently confirmed)
- Ages Grades
- High school
- Language Of Instruction
- Croatian, with English-language content
- Notes
- Positioned as an academically rigorous bilingual high-school option, distinct from the fully English-medium international schools.
Tuition
- Note
- Not publicly listed; contact school directly.
Curriculum
- Croatian curriculum with selected content delivered in English
The Learning Tree International Kindergarten (TLT)
- Type
- Private international kindergarten
- Location
- Lovčenska ulica 38, Zagreb
- Ages Grades
- Ages 2–6
- Language Of Instruction
- English
- Notes
- Figures were originally published in Croatian kuna (2,300–3,500 kn/month); shown here converted to euro at the fixed kuna-euro conversion rate used at Croatia's 2023 euro changeover. Confirm current pricing directly with the kindergarten.
Tuition
- Period
- per month
- Amount Local Low
- €2,300
- Amount Local High
- €3,500
Curriculum
- English-language early-years program, accredited by Croatia's Ministry of Education, Science and Sports
Mala Kuća ("Small House") International Kindergarten
- Type
- Private international kindergarten
- Location
- Zagreb
- Ages Grades
- Ages 1–7
- Language Of Instruction
- English
- Notes
- Small, garden-based setting; half-day and full-day program options.
Tuition
- Note
- Not publicly listed; contact school directly.
Curriculum
- English-language early-years curriculum
Homeschooling
- Legal Status
- illegal
- Enrollment Rule For New Arrivals
- Under the same law, a child moving to Croatia must be enrolled in a school within 30 days of arrival, or as soon as possible thereafter; in practice many schools let a child start attending before all paperwork/documents are fully processed.
- Legal Status Note
- Homeschooling (parent-led home education) is not currently permitted for Croatian nationals under the Zakon o odgoju i obrazovanju u osnovnoj i srednjoj školi (Law on Education in Primary and Secondary Schools). Education officials interpret the law to require physical school attendance for compulsory primary education, and the only recognized exception is 'nastava u kući' — home instruction granted for a child's severe illness or disability, not general parent-directed homeschooling.
- Constitutional Context
- The Croatian constitution states that parents have a duty to raise, support and school their children (Article 63), and the education law establishes that primary education is compulsory — this ambiguity is what advocacy groups have used to push for formal legalization, but no such law has been enacted.
- Foreign Family Situational Note
- The law and Ministry guidance are written primarily around citizens/permanent residents. There is no clearly published official rule covering short-term or temporary-resident foreign families who wish to continue an accredited home/online curriculum from their home country — anecdotal guidance suggests some flexibility may be negotiated case-by-case with the local school or the Ministarstvo znanosti i obrazovanja, but this is not something we could confirm from an official source, so nomad families should verify directly with the Ministry or a local school principal before relying on it.
Local Homeschooling Community
- Name
- Udruga Homeschooling Hrvatska (Homeschooling Croatia Association)
- Exists
- Yes
- Contact
- homeschooling.hr / info@homeschooling.hr; also on Instagram (@homeschooling_hrvatska) and Facebook (Homeschooling Hrvatska)
- Based In
- Zagreb
- Description
- A nationwide umbrella association, based in Zagreb, that networks homeschooling parents and shares home-education practices while advocating for the legal regulation of home education in Croatia — its own stated mission (advocating for a law that does not yet exist) itself confirms homeschooling is not currently a legally established option.
International Bilingual School Enrollment
- Overview
- Zagreb's international/bilingual schools (AISZ, BISZ, Deutsche Internationale Schule Zagreb/DISZ, École Française Internationale de Zagreb, Bright Horizons) are all private and function as their own admissions authorities — there is no centralized city-wide application system for foreigners. Each school runs its own online application, interview, and document-review process, and admission and enrollment procedures vary from school to school with space often limited.
- Waitlist Realities
- Applicants are commonly placed on a waiting list immediately after submitting an online application, with final placement decisions following the spring re-enrollment cycle. Admission preference criteria can also work against newly-arriving expat families: at AISZ, for example, expatriate or host-country students transferring from another local or international school in the greater Zagreb area sit in a lower admission-priority tier than staff-affiliated or currently-enrolled families, so a family arriving mid-year should expect a real possibility of being wait-listed for a specific grade even if the school overall has capacity.
- How Far In Advance To Apply
- Because continuing students get re-enrollment priority, several schools only confirm how many new spots exist for the coming year after that process closes — Deutsche Internationale Schule Zagreb (via its admissions committee cycle) contacts new-applicant families by the end of April, once returning students have re-enrolled and vacancies are known. Practical implication for nomad/expat families: apply as early as possible (ideally 6–12 months ahead, and before spring of the intake year) for the best chance, since vacancies genuinely depend on how many current students re-enroll rather than on a fixed new-student quota.
School Specific Notes
American International School of Zagreb (AISZ)
- Notes
- Online application plus a one-time non-refundable application fee; admission is organized in priority tiers, with expatriate/host-country transfer students in a specific (not top) priority category. Families are encouraged to book an admissions appointment in advance, including online if not yet in Zagreb.
British International School of Zagreb (BISZ)
- Notes
- No online-only process — families are asked to contact the school directly by phone or email to arrange an interview and campus tour with the Director/Principal/Coordinator before any documents are reviewed. A defined document checklist must be fully submitted before a child is officially accepted, and BISZ states it cannot admit students with certain physical, psychological or emotional needs.
- School
- Deutsche Internationale Schule Zagreb (DISZ) / École Française Internationale de Zagreb (Eurocampus)
- Enrolment Fee
- €500
- Notes
- Waitlist-based process: applicants go on a waiting list after the online application, and the school confirms outcomes by end of April once continuing students have re-enrolled. Admission for the German school centers on essays and a personal interview rather than entrance testing. A non-refundable enrolment fee of EUR 500 is due at registration once accepted.
Typical Process Steps
- Submit an online application form through the school's admissions platform and pay a one-time, non-refundable application fee (required at AISZ regardless of outcome).
- Schedule an introductory call or in-person meeting/interview with the admissions office — several schools (BISZ, AISZ) explicitly recommend contacting them ahead of time and, for families not yet in Zagreb, offer to do this by video call.
- Provide required documents for the Admission Committee to review (this typically takes only a few days once submitted).
- If offered a place, complete registration: sign the enrolment agreement and pay a registration/enrolment deposit (at Deutsche Internationale Schule Zagreb this is a non-refundable EUR 500 enrolment fee).
- Wait for a start date: children accepted before roughly mid-August can start on the first day of the school year; if accepted mid-year, they can only start once all admission steps are fully completed.
Required Documents Common
- Completed online application form
- Previous school records/transcripts (official, and translated/certified if not in English or Croatian)
- Birth certificate and passport copies for the child
- Health/vaccination records
- Proof of residence/visa status in Croatia
- For the youngest grades at some schools (e.g. British International School of Zagreb, Kindergarten/Year 1), a pediatrician's certificate stating the child is ready for school
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
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Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.