International schools in Cyprus

Search for the best international schools in Cyprus; 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 national curriculum, a US-style model or the International Primary Curriculum.

Cyprus has a large and well-established international school sector that includes many distinguished and long-standing institutions. Clusters of schools can be found in the coastal cities of Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos, as well as the capital Nicosia. 

The predominance of English-medium international schools, most of which offer the English national curriculum, IGCSEs and A-levels, may owe some debt to the island’s long history of British colonial rule and administration.  

Many schools attest to their British-style education with titles including the words “grammar”, “English” or “senior”, while the American Academy schools in Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol follow the English national curriculum in defiance of their names. St John’s School and King Richard School serve the children of British military personnel. 

However, the French-medium Ecole Franco Chypriote de Nicosie offers the national curriculum of France, while trilingual education in Armenian, Greek and English is offered by a network of publicly-funded schools for Armenian children.  

There are four IB World Schools authorised to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma, which all teach in English and offer the IB Diploma. They are the American International School in Cyprus, the Pascal English schools of Larnaka and Lefkosia, and The English School of Kyrenia. 

Parents are advised to check that schools are accredited with a body such as the Council of International Schools or the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. 

Cyprus has an advanced, high-income economy and government spending on education amounted to 6.1 per cent of GDP in 2020, compared to the average for European Union member states of five per cent. Education is compulsory from age five to 15 and free up to first degree level in the public system.  

Net enrolment was 73 per cent in kindergartens, 97 per cent in primary schools and 96 per cent in secondary schools in 2019, while gross tertiary enrolment was a staggering 88.5 per cent – and 91 per cent among women.