International Schools in Valencia: The Real Budget for 2026-2027

Budget €5,800 to €10,000 a year per child (roughly £4,900 to £8,500, or $6,600 to $11,400, at mid-July 2026 rates) for an international education in Valencia in 2026-2027, on top of enrolment fees (often €900 to €3,250 in the first year) and extras like lunch or transport. Costs climb with the year group, and for anglophone families, curriculum matters as much as price: British families usually look at the British School of Valencia or Caxton College, American families at the American School of Valencia, and only one of the three currently offers the IB Diploma as an official option. Here are the real figures, school by school, with the school year specified each time, because fees move from one intake to the next.

If you're already settled in Valencia, or seriously weighing the move, this line item is a heavy one and needs planning well ahead. We give you the official figures where we could read them directly, and we flag honestly where the information is missing.

How much do Valencia's main international schools cost in 2026-2027?

Here's the comparison of base tuition and enrolment fees. Note that the schools don't all bill the same way: Caxton College, the American School and the Lycée français quote annual amounts, while the British School of Valencia quotes monthly fees. GBP/USD figures are rough benchmarks (€1 ≈ £0.85 ≈ $1.14, mid-July 2026); check a live converter before you commit to a number.

British curriculum, US curriculum, or IB: which fits your family?

For anglophone families, the real choice usually comes down to curriculum rather than the school's home country. The British School of Valencia and Caxton College both follow the National Curriculum for England, with IGCSEs at 16 and A-Levels at 18; as things stand, neither offers the IB Diploma. The American School of Valencia teaches towards a US High School Diploma and, since 2004, has also offered the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma as an alternative track from Grade 11, making it the only one of the three where IB is an official, confirmed option. If IB provision is a deciding factor for you, confirm the current offer directly with the school, programmes can shift between intakes. The Lycée français international de Valencia, in Paterna, teaches the French curriculum only, a natural fit if you're coming from a French-medium background, but not the default choice for a British or American family. We keep it in the comparison below because its fee structure is the clearest benchmark on the local market.

British School of Valencia: budget month by month, not year by year

The British School of Valencia (BSV), in Ruzafa, bills monthly. For 2026-2027 (official site): €760/month in Early Years (age 2-5), €830/month in Primary (age 5-11), €960/month in Secondary (age 11-16), and €995/month in Sixth Form (age 16-18). The page doesn't confirm exactly how many monthly instalments are billed per year, so we're not giving you a firm annual total, keep these monthly figures as they are and check the number of instalments at enrolment.

Initial admission fees are €3,250, reduced to €1,600 for a sibling already enrolled and for any entry from Year 7 to Year 13, with the option to split the payment (€1,250 deposit, then €2,000 in April). On top of that: a compulsory annual renewal fee of €445, a compulsory canteen from Pre-Nursery to Year 4 at €210/month, optional transport at €210/month, and school materials at €242/term.

Worth flagging: some aggregators quote much higher brackets at the top of the school (up to €13,500 in Sixth Form at Caxton, up to €14,000 in A-Level year at BSV), but these figures aren't confirmed by an official source and shouldn't be taken at face value.

Caxton College: the other British option, and how selective it is

Caxton College, in Puçol (around 30 minutes by car from the centre), doesn't have a live-verified official fee page for this article: the figures below come from an international schools comparator citing Caxton College for the 2025-2026 school year. They range from €7,056/year in Nursery to €10,046/year in Grade 11-12, with intermediate steps of €8,986/year (Kindergarten 3 to Grade 5) and €9,566/year (Grade 6-8). Enrolment (first year): €900, plus a €446/year technology resources fee. General entry isn't selective, but Sixth Form requires solid GCSE results and entrance tests for pupils arriving from another education system.

American School of Valencia: US diploma, IB, or both?

The American School of Valencia (ASV), also in Puçol, publishes its 2026-2027 fees on its official site: €7,427/year in Early Years, €7,878/year in Grades 1-5, €9,291/year in Grades 6-8, €9,516/year in Grades 9-10, and €9,862/year in Grades 11-12. Watch out for entry costs, which stack up: a €150 non-refundable application fee, an annual enrolment fee of €289 for shareholder families or €1,250 for non-shareholders, a one-off €1,500 capital fee per new pupil, and a one-off €2,500 ASV "share" covering the whole schooling. A large-family discount exists once you have more than two children enrolled at the same time, but it generally applies only to base tuition.

The Lycée français: a useful benchmark, not the default pick for anglophone families

The Lycée français international de Valencia, in Paterna, publishes for 2026-2027 on its official site: €5,809/year from Petite Section to CM2 (roughly nursery to Year 6), €6,549/year from 6e to 3e (roughly Year 7 to Year 10), and €7,442/year from 2de to Terminale (roughly Year 11 to Year 13). The one-off enrolment fee is €1,500 (older data, from around 2023, quoted €1,000, suggesting a rise since). Add to that the official half-board rate, €889/year for 4 meals a week or €1,112/year for 5, and a "solidarity fund" of €16 to €25 or more. Large families get a break: the discount runs from 10% for a third child up to 70% for a seventh, with a full enrolment-fee waiver from the third child on. It's the only fully French school in the city, around 2,000 pupils, with strong baccalauréat results (98.3% pass rate across the whole worldwide network of French lycées in 2025, per AEFE). On base fees alone, it remains the cheapest of the four, which is why some anglophone families weigh it purely on cost, even though it means a French-medium education for your child rather than an English-medium one.

Are the waiting lists a real problem?

On this point, only one data point is genuinely sourced. For the Lycée français, parent accounts reported via Expat-Valencia describe a tight entry point into "1re" (roughly Year 12): four classes, all full, and a waiting list, with priority given to French children if a place frees up (the school is still over 80% Spanish-nationality pupils overall). For Caxton College, the American School and the British School of Valencia, we found no public, numbered data on waiting lists, so we're not inventing any. The same reflex applies everywhere: contact admissions well ahead of your target start date.

What's the total bill for an international education in Valencia?

According to one aggregator (take this with caution, it isn't cross-checked against a single official source), the greater Valencia area has around 32 international schools, most charging between €6,000 and €9,000/year, with fees running 30 to 40% below Madrid or Barcelona for comparable schools, and enrolment fees often in the €1,500 to €3,000 range in the first year. To place this line item in your wider budget, our guide to the cost of living in Valencia in 2026 covers the other big-ticket items (rent, groceries, transport).

FAQ

Do I have to pay the enrolment fee every year?

No, the initial enrolment fee is paid once (€1,500 at the Lycée français, €900 at Caxton College in year one, €3,250 at the British School of Valencia). But watch out: the American School of Valencia charges an annual enrolment fee (€289 or €1,250) and the British School of Valencia an annual renewal fee of €445, both recurring costs to keep in your yearly budget.

Is lunch included in the tuition fees?

No. At the Lycée français, half-board costs €889/year (4 meals) or €1,112/year (5 meals). At the British School of Valencia, the canteen is compulsory from Pre-Nursery to Year 4, at €210/month. Always check this line separately, it's never included in the headline tuition figure.

Which curriculum should a British or American family choose in Valencia?

It depends on where you expect to head next as much as on budget. The British School of Valencia and Caxton College both prepare pupils for IGCSEs and A-Levels under the National Curriculum for England, useful if you expect to return to a UK-system school or university. The American School of Valencia leads to a US High School Diploma, with an International Baccalaureate Diploma option from Grade 11, useful for US college applications or if you want a curriculum that travels well internationally. None of the three guarantees a place on demand, confirm curriculum options and admissions directly with the school.

What's the cheapest international school option in Valencia?

On base 2026-2027 fees, the Lycée français international is the most affordable (€5,809/year in the primary years, €7,442/year in the final years), but remember it's a French-medium school, not an English-medium one. Among the anglophone options, the British School of Valencia's Early Years rate (€760/month) is the softest entry point; always add enrolment, canteen and transport before comparing schools like for like.

Sources

• Official sites of the Lycée français international de Valencia (lfval.net), the American School of Valencia (asvalencia.org) and the British School of Valencia (bsvalencia.com), 2026-2027 figures read on 16 July 2026
• AEFE (aefe.gouv.fr), for the Lycée français pupil numbers (1,965 pupils) and the 2025 worldwide network baccalauréat pass rate
• International Schools Database, for Caxton College fees (2025-2026, official page not verified live)
• Caxton College official site (caxtoncollege.com), American School of Valencia official site (asvalencia.org) and British School of Valencia official site (bsvalencia.com), for curriculum and IB/A-Level confirmation
• Parent accounts via Expat-Valencia, for the Lycée français waiting list
• General market context via terretaspain.com (take with caution, not cross-checked)

Information verified in July 2026. Fees and admission conditions change from one intake to the next, and exchange rates move daily: always check the current amount directly with the school, and convert at the live rate, before making a decision. The Daily Valencia is an AI-assisted publication with human review, spotted a mistake? Drop us a line.