Schooling / Education

Belgium offers a huge range of choices for children’s education. The choice can be bewildering but often expat families opt for the easier route of reviewing the limited availability of schools to cater for their own language and offering similarities to the home schooling programme. For example, in and around Brussels, there are schools that cater specifically for Americans, Germans, Britons, Scandinavians and several other nationalities. As a result, families often choose to live close to the school of their choice which also enables the children to settle into the locality better and be close to their new friends.

State Schools are effectively free of charge although contributions are required for school-trips and other extra-curricular activities. Fees for private schools can be extremely high. At times there are waiting lists for particular grades at a particular school, so make your choice and apply early

Primary education normally starts at the age of six and lasts for a period of 6 years. Secondary education lasts up to the age of 18 and most curricula offer the choice to specialise in preferred subjects.

Many of the international schools offer curricula close to that available in the home country and some offer the International Baccalaureate Programme.

For example the British School of Brussels offers the National Curriculum (England) to students from 3 - 18 years of age. At 16 years of age students sit GCSE examinations and then have the option to move on to A Level examinations or the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

The curriculum at the St Johns International School in Waterloo is more allied to the American system but they are very conscious of the importance of continuity of instruction and are able to accommodate students with diverse scholastic backgrounds from various national educational systems

Links:

The British School of Brussels
The British Primary School of Brussels
The International School of Brussels
St Johns International School, Waterloo
Antwerp British School
The Antwerp International School
Scandinavian School of Brussels
World International School
British Junior Academy of Brussels
The Japanese School in Brussels
German School of Brussels
Dutch School - Prinses Juliana
French School - Lycee Francais
Le Verseau

Time Zones