International schools in The Hague, compared

The Hague has more international schools per head than anywhere else in the Netherlands, and they fall into two groups separated by a factor of three in price.

Understanding which group a school belongs to, and whether your family is eligible for the cheaper one, is the first decision and the one that shapes everything after it.

The cheap group is partly funded by the Dutch state.

The expensive group is not.

Both are called international schools and the difference is almost never explained in the prospectus.

The subsidised schools, and who is allowed in

Dutch international education, usually abbreviated DIO, is a group of schools that receive government funding and therefore charge in the thousands rather than the tens of thousands.

Because public money is involved, the admission rules are set by Dutch legislation and the schools enforce them carefully.

A child qualifies on any one of three grounds.

Non-Dutch nationality with a parent working in the Netherlands or a Dutch border region for a limited period.

Dutch nationality, having lived and been schooled abroad for at least two years because a parent was posted there.

Or Dutch nationality with a parent who will be posted abroad within two years, for at least two years.

If none of those apply to you, the subsidised schools are closed and the private ones are not.

That single sentence is why two families living on the same Hague street can face school bills an order of magnitude apart.

The schools in this group serving The Hague region are the European School The Hague, the International School of The Hague, HSV, the International Waldorf School The Hague, International School Delft, International School Leiden, Het Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest International School, Het Rijnlands Lyceum Wassenaar International School and Elckerlyc International School.

What the subsidised schools charge in 2026-2027

The International School of The Hague, at Wijndaelerweg in Kijkduin, takes children from early years to 18 and runs the IB throughout: the Primary Years Programme, then the Middle Years Programme, then the Diploma Programme or the Career-related Programme.

Fees run from 8,500 euro for pre-early-years, early years and Year 1, through 9,000 euro for Years 2 to 4, 9,100 for Year 5 and 9,200 for Year 6, to 10,300 euro for Years 7 to 9 and 10,900 for Years 10 and 11.

The final two years cost between 11,200 and 12,800 euro depending on whether the child takes the Diploma or the Career-related Programme.

Add a non-refundable application fee of 300 euro and a refundable deposit of 1,000 euro.

The European School The Hague runs a primary campus on Houtrustweg and a secondary campus on Oostduinlaan, both in the International Zone, and teaches children from 4 to 18 in separate language sections.

Primary has Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish sections; secondary teaches in Dutch, English, French and German.

The leaving qualification is the European Baccalaureate.

For 2026-2027, early years and primary cost 8,585 euro for Category I and continuing Category III pupils and 9,440 euro for new Category III pupils, with secondary at 12,875 euro.

Lunchtime supervision in the younger years is 315 euro.

Category I places are reserved for children of staff of the European institutions; Category III is everybody else who meets the Dutch eligibility rules, subject to places being available.

HSV, the Haagsche Schoolvereeniging, runs an international primary department and charges the same fee for every year group: 6,800 euro for 2026-2027, plus 190 euro for lunchtime supervision and a non-refundable 150 euro registration fee.

Fees are prorated if you join mid-year, from 6,990 euro for a September start down to 1,750 euro for May or June.

There is no sibling discount.

The International Waldorf School The Hague charges 7,200 euro for the full 2026-2027 year with a non-refundable registration fee of 250 euro, and offers an education in which handwork, art and time outdoors carry the same weight as literacy and arithmetic.

It suits some children extremely well and others not at all, and it is worth visiting rather than reading about.

The private schools

The British School in the Netherlands is the largest of them.

It runs four campuses: junior schools at Leidschenveen and Vlaskamp for ages 3 to 10, and senior schools at Leidschenveen and in Voorschoten for ages 11 to 18, teaching the English system through Key Stages and offering the IB alongside it.

The school describes itself as non-selective and accepts applications year-round.

For 2026-2027 the fees are 20,400 euro for Years 1 and 2, 21,000 euro for Years 3 to 6, 27,498 euro for Years 7 to 9, 28,500 euro for Years 10 and 11 and 28,998 euro for Years 12 and 13.

On top sits a one-off enrolment fee of 2,500 euro per pupil and an annual capital fee of 2,200 euro for juniors and 2,800 euro for seniors, with around 250 euro for the initial uniform and separate charges for transport, meals and learning support.

Tuition does include compulsory trips, residentials and exam entry fees, which is not true everywhere.

The American School of The Hague is in Wassenaar, on two campuses, taking children from preschool to Grade 12.

It is IB-accredited and also offers Advanced Placement courses.

Roughly 30% of its pupils are American and more than 70 nationalities are represented.

Annual tuition for 2026-2027 is 20,325 euro for Pre-K, 23,910 euro for Kindergarten to Grade 4, 27,150 euro for Grades 5 to 8 and 29,000 euro for Grades 9 to 12, with an annual capital fee of 4,810 euro across all divisions, a 280 euro application fee and a one-off enrolment fee of 2,500 euro for Pre-K or 7,115 euro from Kindergarten upwards.

The English requirement rises with age at ASH, which matters if you are arriving with a teenager.

Kindergarten to Grade 6 needs none.

Grades 7 and 8 need beginner to intermediate English.

Grades 9 and 10 need intermediate to advanced with an assessment, and Grades 11 and 12 need advanced fluency with an assessment.

The Lycée Français Vincent van Gogh teaches the French national curriculum to the baccalauréat.

Its Hague fees for 2026-2027 are 8,643 euro for maternelle and elementaire, 11,968 euro for the collège years and 12,436 euro for the lycée years, with a first-registration fee of 500 euro, an international American section available for 250 or 1,000 euro depending on age, and exam charges in the final years.

The Deutsche Internationale Schule Den Haag sits in the International Zone near the coast, admits children from the age of 2 and teaches up to four languages, German, Dutch, English and French, leading to the Mittlerer Schulabschluss, the Fachhochschulreife or the German International Abitur.

It does not publish its fees online; you have to ask.

Who actually pays

A large share of Hague school fees are paid by employers rather than families, and the tax treatment is unusually favourable.

International school fees count as extraterritorial costs, and an employer may reimburse them tax-free separately from the 30% ruling rather than out of it.

The two do not have to compete for the same allowance.

That is worth raising in a salary negotiation before you accept a posting, especially with the international organisations, several of which treat education allowances as a standard part of the package.

How to choose between them

Three questions do most of the work.

How long are you staying?

A family here for three years with a child in Year 9 should weigh curriculum continuity above everything, because dropping into a Dutch or IB system mid-secondary and back out again is genuinely disruptive.

A family staying indefinitely has the opposite problem and should read the case for a Dutch education properly rather than defaulting to international.

Where will the child go to university?

The IB Diploma, A-levels, the European Baccalaureate, the French baccalauréat and the German Abitur are all accepted at Dutch universities and widely accepted abroad, but each is a smoother fit with some systems than others.

Where will you live?

The subsidised schools cluster around the International Zone, Kijkduin and the towns north of the city; the private schools sit in Wassenaar, Voorschoten and Leidschenveen.

A school run twice a day shapes which Hague district makes sense, and most families pick the school first and the neighbourhood second.

The practical advice

Apply earlier than feels necessary.

The European School asks for current-year applications by 1 April and takes two to three weeks to process them; others take applications year-round but fill specific year groups quickly.

Register interest before the posting is confirmed if the school allows it.

Budget for the extras rather than the headline.

Application fees, deposits, capital fees, lunchtime supervision, uniform, transport and trips can add several thousand euro a year on top of tuition, and they are not consistently presented between schools.

Ask each one for a total annual cost for your child’s specific year group.

And have a plan B that is not another international school.

If the places are not there, putting a child into a Dutch state school is free, works better than most arrivals expect, and is what a great many international families in this city end up doing.

International schools in The Hague are one option among several rather than the only serious one.

Sources

• The Hague International Centre, government funded international schools: the three statutory eligibility criteria and the list of subsidised schools serving the region
• Dutch International Schools, admissions: the same criteria in full, and the additional havo or vwo requirement for entry to the Diploma Programme
• International School of The Hague, school fees and admissions: 2026-2027 fees by year group from 8,500 to 12,800 euro, the 300 euro application fee, the 1,000 euro refundable deposit, the Wijndaelerweg address and the PYP, MYP, DP and CP programmes
• European School The Hague, fees and admissions: 2026-2027 fees of 8,585 euro for Category I and continuing Category III pupils in early years and primary, 9,440 euro for new Category III pupils, 12,875 euro for secondary, 315 euro lunchtime supervision, the Category I and III definitions and the 1 April application date
• EURSC and European School The Hague: the Houtrustweg and Oostduinlaan campuses, ages 4 to 18, the language sections and the European Baccalaureate
• HSV international department, school fees and payment: 6,800 euro for 2026-2027, 190 euro lunchtime supervision, 150 euro registration fee, prorated joining rates from 6,990 to 1,750 euro and no sibling discount
• International Waldorf School The Hague, fee policy: 7,200 euro for 2026-2027 and a non-refundable registration fee of 250 euro
• The British School in the Netherlands, annual fees and admissions: 2026-2027 fees from 20,400 to 28,998 euro, the 2,500 euro enrolment fee, capital fees of 2,200 and 2,800 euro, around 250 euro for uniform, the four campuses and their age ranges, and inclusion of compulsory trips and exam fees
• American School of The Hague, tuition and fees and admissions: 2026-2027 tuition from 20,325 to 29,000 euro, the 4,810 euro capital fee, the 280 euro application fee, enrolment fees of 2,500 and 7,115 euro, the Wassenaar campuses, the IB and AP offer, and the English requirements by grade
• Lycée Français Vincent van Gogh, frais de scolarite: 2026-2027 fees of 8,643, 11,968 and 12,436 euro for the Hague campus, the 500 euro first registration fee and the international section supplements
• Deutsche Internationale Schule Den Haag: admission from age 2, four languages taught, and the Mittlerer Schulabschluss, Fachhochschulreife and German International Abitur
• Belastingdienst kennisgroep publication KG:041:2023:12 and Salaris Vanmorgen: international school fees as extraterritorial costs reimbursable tax-free separately from the 30% ruling