Key points:
- Nairobi, Kenya, had the highest median cost of any African city in our analysis for international schools in 2025
- Kampala, Uganda, had the lowest median cost in Africa for international schools in 2025
- South Africa had significant differences in international school costs across cities
At the International Schools Database, we help local and expat parents choose the perfect international school for their children. Our database allows parents to find, research and compare international schools around the world. Naturally, this means that we gather and analyse a huge amount of information about international schools.
Starting in 2019, we began using this data to evaluate the prices of international schools across the globe. In this article, we share and analyze the prices of international schools in Africa updated to 2025.
Below, we have analysed price data from 6 cities in 5 African countries, in graph and table forms. While we have used all price data available to us as of Dec 31st 2025, there may be additional schools and prices not included in each city. This is because they do not make their price data available or because it is unknown to us. Links to additional research focusing on each world region individually and globally can be found at the bottom of this article and here can be found the results of the previous year 2024.
Prices of International Schools in Africa, Per Year
The graph below is known as a box plot graph. It shows a comprehensive view of the range of prices in each city, instead of just an average. A single average price may not necessarily represent the full picture of prices in each destination. Since there is a lot to unpack in this graph, we have also provided a little explanation on how to read the graph easily at the end of the article.
Highlights and takeaways from the research findings
International schools are becoming more popular across Africa. In 2025, Nairobi in Kenya was the most expensive African city for international schooling in our research. It had a higher median cost in 2025 ($8,633) than some of the biggest cities on the continent, including Johannesburg in South Africa (median cost $6,699), Casablanca in Morocco ($6,108), Cape Town in South Africa ($4,566), Mauritius ($4,407) and Kampala in Uganda ($4,153).
Further highlighting this is the fact that the median cost of an international school in Kampala, Uganda was less than half that of Nairobi. In Kampala the median cost for an international school in 2025 was $4,153 per year versus $8,633 in Kenya’s capital. It not only had the lowest median cost in Africa - it was also the city with the second lowest median cost worldwide.
As with many other places around the world, our data on international schools in Africa showed that costs can vary quite a lot between cities in the same country. This could be seen in South Africa - the median cost of an international school there in 2025 was $6,699 in Johannesburg compared with $4,566 in Cape Town. That’s a significant difference of 32%.
Compared with other world regions however, the median cost of an international school in Africa in 2025 was lower. The continent was the only world region where median costs did not exceed $10,000 - in fact they remained significantly under that amount. The same is true of maximum costs also - they did not exceed $40,000 in any African city included in our research.
You can find a breakdown of exact prices for each African city in the table below. But if Africa isn’t enough, we have also compiled price data for other regions and cities around the world; you can find links to this additional research at the bottom of this article. If you require any further information or have additional questions, don't hesitate to contact us at andrea@international-schools-database.com.
