International School Fees in Athens: A Complete Cost Guide for Expat Families (2026)

International school fees in Athens represent a significant household budget line for expat families. The headline tuition figure is rarely the whole picture: registration fees, development fund contributions, examination costs, transport, and uniform add up to a total that can be 20 to 40 per cent higher than tuition alone. This guide gives you the full picture so you can plan accurately.

Tuition Fees: School by School

Campion School (British Curriculum, IGCSE, IB Diploma)

Fees are payable in two instalments: the first on 1 September, the second on 2 February. A 5% discount is available for full payment by 31 July preceding the school year. A 20% sibling discount applies to the third and subsequent concurrent enrolments from the same family.

St. Catherine's British School

St. Catherine's charges additional one-off fees at enrolment (see below) and offers sibling discounts of 2.5% (second child), 7% (third child), and 10% (fourth child).

International School of Athens (ISA — Full IB)

ISA operates on the International Baccalaureate curriculum across all three programmes (Primary Years, Middle Years, and Diploma). For 2026–2027 (note: 2025–2026 fees were approximately €5,980–€13,000 depending on year group; the 2026–2027 schedule shows higher rates), tuition ranges from approximately €8,700 at nursery/pre-kindergarten level to €15,000 at Grades 11–12. A one-time registration fee of €1,700 applies to all enrolments. IB examination fees for Grade 12 are charged separately at approximately €1,200.

Fees at ISA are quoted at the 2026–2027 level above; always confirm current fees directly with the school as ISA has been updating its fee schedule.

Athens College / Psychico College (HAEF)

HAEF does not publish a full public fee schedule online. Annual tuition is broadly in line with the British schools above. A one-time initial enrolment fee of €500 applies. A 4% discount is available for full upfront payment of annual fees. For current fee information, contact the HAEF admissions office at 15 Stephanou Delta St., Psychico.

Doukas School (IB Diploma)

Doukas School does not publish fees publicly. Contact the admissions office directly. An application/assessment fee of €50 applies (deducted from tuition if the candidate is accepted).

One-Off Enrolment Fees

Beyond annual tuition, most Athens international schools charge several one-off fees at enrolment. Plan for:

These are typically non-refundable. At St. Catherine's, for example, the total of application fee (€150), registration fee (€1,000), development fund (€1,500), and reservation deposit (€2,000) comes to €4,650 before the first day of school.

Annual Extras

Transport

School buses are widely used in Athens, particularly for schools in outlying suburbs such as Campion (Pallini) and St. Catherine's (Lykovrissi). Annual transport costs vary by distance and pick-up point but typically range from €1,200 to €2,500 per child per year.

Uniform

Most Athens international schools require uniform. Initial outfitting costs — including PE kit, winter and summer uniform, and branded items — typically run €300 to €600 per child. Annual replacement costs are lower.

Lunch and Catering

Where a canteen is not included in fees, school lunch programmes typically add €1,000 to €1,500 per child per year. At some schools this is included; at others it is optional.

Examination Fees

For students sitting IGCSE, A-Level, or IB examinations, external examination registration fees apply. These are set by Cambridge Assessment International Education (for IGCSE/A-Level) or the IB Organisation and are passed through to families by the school. Expect €600 to €1,200 per year for IGCSE years, and up to €1,500 for IB Diploma year groups. See GCSE and A-Levels in Athens and IB schools in Athens for more detail.

Private Tutoring

Athens has an active private tutoring market (known as "frontistírio" in Greek). Some internationally mobile families use tutors for additional support, particularly where children are transitioning from a different curriculum or learning Greek. Budget €30–€70 per hour for qualified subject tutors, depending on level.

Total Annual Cost Estimate

For a family with one secondary-age child at Campion or St. Catherine's, the realistic total annual spend — tuition, transport, uniform allowance, lunch, and examination fees (in qualifying year groups) — is approximately:

This is per child. Families with two secondary-age children at the same school should factor in sibling discounts, which meaningfully reduce the second enrolment.

How School Fees Interact with the Golden Visa

Some families considering Greece's Golden Visa residency programme plan to combine a property investment with long-term family relocation. The Athens investment threshold is €800,000 (Attica region, as of 2026) for a single residential unit of at least 120 sq m. Families planning to use schooling in Athens as part of their long-term Greece plan should cost in international school fees across the school-age period — typically a significant multi-year commitment — alongside the property and legal costs.

For a family of four with two primary-age children progressing through international schools over ten years, total school costs in Athens could range from €250,000 to €400,000 at current fee levels, making it a household budget decision of comparable scale to the property itself.

The Cost of Keeping Options Open

The one-off charges set out above have a characteristic that catches families out: they are largely non-refundable, and they fall due at the point of acceptance rather than at the point the child starts school.

That has a direct consequence for anyone applying to more than one school. Holding two offers open — a reasonable thing to want to do when a relocation date is uncertain or a preferred school has yet to confirm — means paying two sets of application, registration and deposit charges, and expecting to recover none of them from the school you eventually decline. It is not necessarily the wrong decision; certainty about a place can be worth paying for when the alternative is arriving in Athens without one. But it should be a deliberate purchase of optionality rather than an accidental cost discovered after the event.

Note too that where a reservation deposit is charged annually rather than once, as it is at one of the schools above, the cost of holding the place recurs every year. A family thinking about a possible move at the end of a school year should know when that charge falls and whether it is payable before they will realistically have made the decision.

Timing and Cash Flow

The instalment dates and the early-payment discount described above matter more than their size suggests, because of when they land relative to everything else in a relocation.

The one-off enrolment costs, the first tuition instalment, a rental deposit and several months' rent in advance, and the cost of the move itself tend to arrive within the same few weeks. Families who have budgeted the annual figures accurately can still find the first quarter uncomfortable simply because so much of the year's spending is front-loaded. Build a month-by-month cash flow for the arrival period, not just an annual budget.

The discount for early payment is worth weighing rather than assuming. It requires committing a year's fees before the school year begins — and, if you are converting from another currency, converting a larger sum at a single exchange rate. Against that, it removes the fee from the household budget for the year and fixes the cost. Which way that balance falls depends on whether the money would otherwise be earning anything, on your view of the currency, and on how confident you are that the child will still be at the school in the summer.

Arriving or Leaving Mid-Year

Relocations rarely respect the academic calendar. Two questions are worth settling in writing before you accept a place.

For an arrival part-way through the year: is tuition charged pro rata from the joining date or by the whole term or instalment period, and are the one-off charges reduced at all for a partial first year? Practice varies, and the answer materially changes the cost of a January start.

For a departure part-way through the year: what notice does the school require, what is payable if you give less, and is any part of an instalment already paid refundable? Schools contract with parents rather than with employers, and a term already begun is commonly payable in full regardless of what has happened to the assignment behind it. Where an employer is meeting the fees, check whether their obligation ends on the same date as yours does.

Getting a Definitive Number

Several of the schools above do not publish a full fee schedule. Do not treat that as an obstacle to budgeting — treat it as a reason to ask for the schedule in writing early in the conversation, before you are emotionally committed to a school.

What to request: the complete list of charges for the specific year group your child is entering, marked to show which are one-off and which recur; the school's recent history of annual increases and the date on which the following year's fees are announced; whether examination entry fees, learning support, English-language support and transport are billed separately; and the refund and notice terms in full. A school that answers all of that promptly and clearly is telling you something useful about how it will handle the next several years of your relationship with it.

For how these figures compare with the qualification pathways on offer, see GCSE and A-Levels in Athens and British schools in Athens; for the practical steps and timelines, see applying to international schools in Athens.

How Global Investments Can Help

Global Investments works with internationally mobile families who are planning long-term moves and need to understand the full cost landscape — property, schooling, healthcare, and tax. Our advisers can discuss property in Greece suited to your timeline and budget, and connect you with trusted professionals for legal and tax guidance in Greece. Browse current listings or contact our team to start a conversation.

This guide is for information purposes only. Fees are subject to change; always verify directly with schools. Investment values can fall as well as rise. Seek professional tax and legal advice before making investment or residency decisions.