International schools in Zimbabwe

Are you looking for an international school in Zimbabwe? Search for the best international schools in Zimbabwe; you can find a list of selected schools at the bottom of this page. Use the search filters to select only girls' or boys' schools, prep schools, senior schools or sixth forms; or you can search for schools that offer a particular curriculum, such as the International Baccalaureate, the UK or US national curriculum or the International Primary Curriculum.

Zimbabwe has a thriving English-medium independent education sector modelled on the British system that includes prestigious, long-established schools, many of which offer boarding. 

The independent schools, which are clustered around Harare and Marondera, a town some 50 miles south east of the capital, include many Christian religious foundations, while both single-sex and coeducational schooling are widely available. 

There is one IB World School: Harare International School, which teaches in English and offers all three stages of the International Baccalaureate programme blended with an American-style curriculum.  

The coeducational day school is funded by the US Department of State to provide education for the country’s diplomatic community, including both foreign staff and returning Zimbabwean diplomats, and has some 450 students of more than 60 nationalities enrolled.

The Heritage School in Harare, which is coeducational and follows the English national curriculum, provides separate boarding houses for girls and boys aged 10 to 18. It is one of many independent schools in Zimbabwe that offer Cambridge international GCSEs and A-levels.

Under colonial rule, education was racially segregated. After independence in 1980, the Zimbabwean government launched major education reforms that included making primary education free and compulsory from age six to 12. 

Student numbers soared, thousands of teachers were trained to meet demand and the education system expanded rapidly in the 1980s. However, hyper-inflation and economic decline from 2000 to 2009 caused an exodus of more than 30,000 teachers abroad and most state schools closed for a period in 2008.

State secondary schools charge fees and run from age 13 to 18, offering national O-levels and A-levels. Early childhood education from age three to five is being rolled out across the country. In 2019, the gross enrolment ratio was 72 per cent at pre-school, while the net enrolment rate was 84.5 per cent at primary school, according to UNESCO. Net enrolment in secondary education was 49 per cent in 2013, the latest year for which figures are available.

If you are looking specifically for International Baccalaureate World Schools in Zimbabwe, you can find selected schools on our sister website: www.ibyb.org.