3 Tiers of International Schools

Thinking about teaching abroad? Use this brief layout of the general three-tiers of international schools while you are researching where to go!

When it comes to teaching overseas, the process that comes before moving abroad to live and work can be quite daunting for some. There are thousands of schools away from your home country that are looking for educators across subjects and specialties. During my own process of researching recruiting company websites, countries, and schools I soon recognized the range of international schools. Joining and looking through several forums centered around teaching overseas also confirmed this range, particularly, a tiered overview that considers salary, teaching quality, and reputation as some examples. In this post, I will provide a description of the three general tiers of international schools.

Tier 1

• Usually American or British school curriculum and foundation.

  • Can also be Australian, Canadian, French, or German as well.

• High tuition costs for students (relative to location)

• Contains a large percentage of expat (expatriate) students because their parents moved abroad from North America or the UK. Other students are from the local country or region.

• Great, smooth running system from top to bottom.

• Reputable with years of high academic achievement or with who founded and built the school.

• School staff are usually from the country/region the curriculum is based on. American schools may hire American teachers only. Other schools may hire a mix of educators from America, Europe, the UK, and South Africa.

• Salary range is higher range (relative to location).

• School staff may also contain educators from the country or from nearby countries.

Tier 1 schools are generally listed in a few recruiting company websites. Several are in the inexpensive recruiting company websites, all are in the mid-range to expensive websites ranging from $50 to $300.

Tier 2

• A mix of English dominant country-based curriculum - American, British, Canadian, or Australian.

• Tuition for students is mid-range to high (relative to location)

• Contains expat students however, local area children make up a good portion of the student population.

• Have high and average reviews.

• May be reputable or may have had past challenges (past or present).

• School staff can vary with a mixture of nationalities but usually international teachers (which make up about 50% or higher of the school) are from North America, the UK, Europe, and South Africa.

• Salary range is mid to high range (relative to location).

• School staff will also have local hires or from nearby countries.

Tier 2 schools are generally listed in several free to expensive recruiting company websites.

Tier 3

• Any region/country-based curriculum but usually will have American, British, or others.

• Tuition for students is mid-range or low (relative to location).

• Can be a new or established/old.

• Salary range is on the lower end (relative to location and broader international school salaries).

• Had challenges in the past which are ongoing in the present.

• School can have any mix of school staff as stated above

• Less likely to have expat students from English-speaking countries. May have expat students from nearby, neighboring countries.

• The areas for improvement for tier 3 schools are management, organization, and money.

Tier 3 schools are generally listed in free to inexpensive recruiting company websites

- Mide, Miss InterEducation