International School Costs in Portugal: 2026/27 Fees and the First-Year Budget

If you are relocating with children, published 2026/27 yearly tuition at the five schools we checked runs €9,530–€29,970, from the lowest band at Oporto British School (OBS), before any applicable VAT, to St. Julian’s Year 12. That is not a Portugal-wide range, and it is not the amount to put in your first-year budget.

St. Julian’s publishes a one-off €5,000 jóia — the school’s own term for its capital levy — in its 2026/27 fee document. TASIS Portugal publishes a €5,000 campus fee from Kindergarten upwards, in a current section that carries no academic-year label. For Pre-Kindergarten at TASIS, families pay a €3,000 deposit from the same undated section, applied towards tuition, or may elect the €5,000 campus fee instead.

Oeiras International School (OIS) publishes a €5,000 capital levy for one new student, also in a current section with no academic-year label. It is the school our editor’s family chose, and the editor’s three children attend it or have graduated from it. That is why it sits alongside the other schools in our directory, and its costs below come from its own published fee page, under the same standard as every other figure here. We checked the undated TASIS and Oeiras charges on 16 September 2026.

The method is the same wherever you apply: shortlist by curriculum, language, support and commute, then price the whole first year from the school’s own documents. An application fee does not mean your child has a place.

How do you build a shortlist?

Start with four filters before you compare a single fee.

1. Curriculum and likely exit point. Decide which route fits your child’s previous schooling and likely university destination. Then confirm, on the school’s own pages, which programmes and examinations it offers in the years your child would attend.
2. Language. Ask for the language of instruction in your child’s exact year group, and for the language support that comes with it. Do not infer either from the word “international”.
3. Commute. Plot each school against the neighbourhoods you could live in. Our Lisbon, Cascais and Porto guides give you the location context; the school’s transport price and route still need separate confirmation.
4. Learning support. Ask whether the relevant programme has space, what assessment is required, and whether support costs extra. An unpublished support fee is an unknown cost, not a zero.

Our international schools directory held four Lisbon-area schools when we checked it on 16 September 2026. Use it to start a shortlist. The fee schedule and the admissions office settle the money and the availability.

If the school will decide where you live, move this decision towards the top of your Portugal relocation plan. Choosing a home first can leave you with the wrong commute, or no suitable place nearby.

What do international schools charge on top of tuition?

The names are inconsistent. A “registration fee” can be due with the application at one school, after an offer at another, or already counted inside an annual figure at a third.

Timing	What to look for	Examples from the five schools
At application	An application-stage fee, under whatever name the school gives it	€100 to €250 across the five, depending on school and year group: 2026/27 charges at St. Julian’s, TASIS and OBS, and current undated charges at CAISL (€100†) and OIS (€250†); TASIS’s Kindergarten fee is unresolved between two of its own pages
On acceptance	Registration, capital levy, campus fee, acceptance fee or deposit	St. Julian’s €750 registration plus its €5,000 levy, 2026/27; TASIS €5,000 campus fee† from Kindergarten; OBS €475 acceptance fee, 2026/27, plus a one-term deposit
Timing not stated	A one-off entry charge with no payment date in the school’s material	OIS’s €5,000 capital levy† for one new student: the captured material does not say when it is payable
Every year	Tuition and any recurring building, capital, insurance or re-enrolment charge	CAISL’s €1,953 building fee for five years from Grade 1, in its 2026/27 fee schedule; OBS’s €745 capital and maintenance charge† plus €55 pupil insurance†
If you use it	Meals, buses, activities, trips and after-school care	CAISL publishes yearly lunch and transport prices; OIS publishes bus zones and a per-meal price; TASIS includes lunch and two snacks in tuition, and CAISL includes lunch for EC3&4–Kindergarten
If your child reaches a relevant stage or needs support	Examination fees, EAL and learning support	Examination fees sit outside tuition at all five schools. CAISL lists PAL and EAL language support as included in tuition; St. Julian’s says it may charge for EAL or learning support, and its captured fee document gives no amount

† marks a current published charge, undated: the school publishes it without an academic-year label of its own, in an undated section or on an undated page, and we checked it on 16 September 2026. Do not read it as a dated 2026/27 figure. The marker carries that same meaning everywhere below.

Each school also writes its own refund rules. “One-time” does not mean refundable, and “deposit” does not always mean an extra cost: TASIS applies its non-refundable Pre-Kindergarten deposit towards tuition, while Oporto British School describes its one-term deposit as refundable when the pupil leaves, provided a full term’s written notice was given (or the pupil is a Form 12 leaver) and provided there is no outstanding debt.

Compare these charges by when you pay them, not by what the school calls them.

What does the first year cost at five schools we checked?

These figures come from each school’s own current material, checked on 16 September 2026. Each one is labelled 2026/27, from the school’s own dated document, table or section, or marked † as a current published charge, undated.

The year-group systems are not equivalent. A British Year, an American Grade, an OIS Year and an OBS Form cannot be treated as the same age without confirming placement with the school. What follows illustrates fee structures. It is not a ranking, and not a same-child price comparison.

School	Published yearly tuition or annual figure	Application and entry charges	Recurring charges and important extras
St. Julian’s, Carcavelos	€12,693 for Nursery and Reception to €29,970 for Year 12; Year 13 is €19,708 for two terms, 2026/27	€250 application, €750 registration and €5,000 capital levy, 2026/27	Lunch €1,017–€1,459 a year depending on year group, 2026/27; transport, uniforms and any EAL or learning-support charge sit outside tuition and were not priced in the captured material
CAISL, Linhó	€12,128 for EC3&4–Kindergarten, lunch included, to €23,532 for Grades 9–12, 2026/27	€100 application†; €600 registration per child and €1,953 yearly building fee for the first five years from Grade 1, both 2026/27	Optional, 2026/27: Grades 1–12 lunch €1,212 yearly; AM or PM bus €1,816 yearly, or both for €3,632, charged per route. Tuition includes PAL and EAL language support and sports uniforms for team sports; other uniform costs were not captured
TASIS Portugal, Sintra	€13,007 for Pre-Kindergarten to €24,308 for Grades 11–12, 2026/27	Application €150 for Pre-K and €100 for Grades 1–12, 2026/27; Kindergarten is unresolved, because two school pages conflict. Campus fee €5,000† from Kindergarten; Pre-K deposit €3,000†, non-refundable and applied towards tuition, or the campus fee instead	Lunch and two snacks are included. Bus and external examinations are not, and their prices were not published on the fee page. Ask whether the €750 annual re-enrolment fee† applies in a new family’s first year
Oeiras International School	Published “Year” figure €13,980 for Years 1–4 to €22,406 for Years 12–13, 2026/27; it already contains registration, by our arithmetic	€250 application† and €5,000 capital levy† for one new student	Round-trip bus €770–€880† a term where used, or €2,310–€2,640† for three terms by our arithmetic, depending on a zone definition the page does not publish; meals €7 each†. The page does not state whether its annual insurance of €20 per student† and its yearbook of €40 per family† are compulsory
Oporto British School, Porto	€9,530 for Pre-Prep, Prep and Reception to €17,570 for IBDP under the single annual option, 2026/27, before any applicable VAT	€160 application-stage “Registration Fee” and €475 acceptance fee, 2026/27, plus a deposit equal to one term’s fee, refundable when the pupil leaves, provided a full term’s written notice was given (or the pupil is a Form 12 leaver) and provided there is no outstanding debt; the deposit amount is not confirmed	Capital and maintenance €745† for each pupil and pupil insurance €55†, both charged every year, before any applicable VAT. The school had not confirmed its final 2026/27 meal prices when we checked

What do the worked first-year totals look like?

The totals below are our arithmetic from the schools’ published lines, for one new child, before any discount. They use different school year groups, so they are not price comparisons for the same child.

Worked example	Published-line first-year total	What the total excludes or leaves unresolved
St. Julian’s, new Year 7–9 pupil	€25,323, all 2026/27: €19,323 tuition + €250 application + €750 registration + €5,000 levy	Lunch, transport, uniforms, optional activities and any additional EAL or learning-support charge. The 2026/27 yearly lunch option would take it to €26,782
CAISL, new Grade 6–8 pupil	€20,409: 2026/27 charges of €17,756 tuition + €600 registration + €1,953 building fee, plus the current, undated €100† application fee	Optional lunch and bus. Adding the 2026/27 yearly lunch and both the AM and PM bus would make the published-line total €25,253, still including the undated €100†
TASIS, new Grade 6–8 pupil	€25,128: 2026/27 charges of €20,028 tuition + €100 application, plus the current, undated €5,000† campus fee	Bus, and the unresolved €750† annual re-enrolment fee. Lunch and two snacks are included
OIS, first Year 7–9 pupil in a family new to the school	€23,813: €18,563 published 2026/27 “Year” figure, plus the current, undated €250† application fee + €5,000† levy	Meals, transport, and two charges whose compulsory status the page does not state: annual insurance of €20 per student† and a yearbook of €40 per family†. Registration already sits inside the “Year” figure
OBS, new Secondary Forms 6–8 pupil paying annually	€14,320, before any applicable VAT: 2026/27 charges of €12,885 tuition + €160 application-stage fee + €475 acceptance, plus the current, undated €745† capital charge + €55† insurance	A cash requirement, not net cost if refunded: a deposit equal to one term’s fee, amount unconfirmed, refundable when the pupil leaves, provided a full term’s written notice was given (or the pupil is a Form 12 leaver) and provided there is no outstanding debt. Also meals, trips, activities and later examination fees

To build the same figure for another school or year group, work through the lines in this order. Steps 4 and 5 are not added to the total:

1. Tuition for your child’s assessed year group, under the payment plan you would use.
2. The application-stage fee, whatever it is called. OBS calls its one a “Registration Fee”, so do not count it again below.
3. One-off fees that are neither credited nor refunded: registration, levy, campus fee or acceptance fee. These are cost. Check first that the fee is not already inside the annual figure, as OIS’s registration is.
4. Deposits credited against tuition. Count them once, inside tuition, never on top. TASIS applies its non-refundable €3,000† Pre-Kindergarten deposit towards tuition; a family that elects the €5,000† campus fee instead pays a fee of the kind in step 3.
5. Refundable cash requirements. This is cash you must find, but not net cost if it is refunded. At OBS, first-year cash for the worked example is €14,320, from the 2026/27 and † lines above and before any applicable VAT, plus a deposit equal to one term’s fee. That deposit is refundable when the pupil leaves, provided a full term’s written notice was given (or the pupil is a Form 12 leaver) and provided there is no outstanding debt. The page shows its amount as variable, so confirm it with the school.
6. Recurring charges: any building, capital, insurance or re-enrolment line the school confirms for the first year.
7. The extras you would use: meals, transport, examination fees, uniforms and support, at the published price.
8. Unknowns. List every item with no published price as a question for the school, never as zero.

Two Oporto British School 2026/27 places at €9,530 each, the lowest published yearly figure in this five-school sample, would be approximately €1,588 a month before any entry charge, extra or applicable VAT. That is our arithmetic, rounded, from two annual-payment places divided across 12 months, and it is why the schooling row in a general Portugal cost-of-living budget cannot replace a school-specific quote.

Which fee terms change what you actually pay?

The headline number moves with the payment plan, the child’s year group, the number of bus routes used and the notice you give.

• Oporto British School charges different totals by payment plan. Paying termly or monthly costs more than the single annual option in every 2026/27 tuition band, before any applicable VAT.
• CAISL’s building fee lasts five years. The 2026/27 yearly charge of €1,953 is mandatory and non-refundable for the first five years a pupil is enrolled from Grade 1. Once payment begins, the school says the amount is fixed for those five years.
• OIS’s “Year” column already contains registration, by our arithmetic. In its 2026/27 table, each “Year” figure equals the registration column plus three terms, so adding registration again would double-count it.
• St. Julian’s Year 13 is billed differently. Its 2026/27 figure of €19,708 covers two terms, not the three-term pattern used elsewhere in the same table.
• CAISL transport is charged per route. Under its 2026/27 schedule, a family that needs reserved places on different routes pays the fee for each route.
• OIS publishes a 10% discount on the capital levy† for families already at the school. Its page says current OIS families enrolling a new student are charged the levy “benefiting from a 10% discount”, without stating the resulting amount, so confirm it rather than working out the invoice yourself.

The Oporto British School payment-plan difference is large enough to belong in the budget. Every figure in this table is a 2026/27 figure before any applicable VAT:

2026/27 OBS band	Single annual payment	Three termly payments in total	Ten monthly payments in total
Pre-Prep, Prep and Reception	€9,530	€9,825 — €295 more	€10,250 — €720 more
Primary, Forms 1–5	€11,105	€11,460 — €355 more	€11,950 — €845 more
Secondary, Forms 6–8	€12,885	€13,290 — €405 more	€13,800 — €915 more
IGCSE, Forms 9–10	€15,315	€15,780 — €465 more	€16,450 — €1,135 more
IBDP, Forms 11–12	€17,570	€18,090 — €520 more	€18,750 — €1,180 more

Those plan totals and the differences between them are our arithmetic from the published instalments in the OBS 2026/27 fee table. The same page says VAT at the legal rate in force is added where applicable, without saying which items attract it. A pupil who starts or leaves during the academic year can use only the monthly option, according to the same page, checked 16 September 2026.

When do you have to pay after an offer?

These terms come from each school’s 2026/27 fee documents or current pages, checked on 16 September 2026.

• St. Julian’s: the registration fee and capital levy are due within 10 working days of a formal offer. Tuition is invoiced three times a year, and the 2026/27 fee document publishes two alternatives: an annual invoice on request, with a 1% discount, and ten monthly instalments, available only by direct debit. A payment-plan agreement is a separate route: the fee policy calls the school’s agreement to accept instalments concessionary, and requires a separate agreement confirmed in writing and signed by both parties.
• CAISL: a new Grade 1–12 pupil paying quarterly reserves the place with the €600 registration fee, the €1,953 building fee and the first quarter’s tuition, all 2026/27 charges. For the Grade 6–8 example, that is €6,992 at registration by our arithmetic. Failure to pay the first quarter by the due date loses the place, and the invoiced amounts are still due.
• TASIS: the €5,000 campus fee† for Kindergarten and above is payable on accepting an offer, to secure the spot. The published section gives no separate offer-relative deadline.
• OIS: the fee page says a student is enrolled once the registration process has been completed. The captured material does not define that process, does not identify which payment completes it, does not say when the €5,000 capital levy† is payable, and gives no offer-relative deadline. Ask the school to confirm each of those points in writing.
• OBS: the 2026/27 acceptance fee of €475 is due within two weeks of an offer. The one-term deposit is due within five weeks of a firm written offer, and a pupil cannot start school until it is paid. Its refund conditions are in the next section.

What happens if you withdraw?

Refund and notice terms are school-specific. Those below come from each school’s 2026/27 documents or current fee pages, checked on 16 September 2026.

• At St. Julian’s, all admission fees are described as non-refundable. One exception sits in the new-enrolment clause of its parent agreement: if another student takes the place, the term fees are not due and the capital levy is refunded. Leaving families must give an academic term’s written notice, using the Leaving Form on the Parent Portal, or a term’s fees are charged. Withdrawing from a new enrolment has its own three-month notice rule in the 2026/27 parent agreement.
• At CAISL, first-quarter tuition and the building fee, where applicable, are not refundable under any circumstances. Missing a published withdrawal deadline, or attending during any part of a quarter, makes the full quarter due.
• At OIS, the application fee is not refundable. If the child does not attend after registration, the registration fee is not refunded and Term I fees are still payable. Withdrawal needs one term’s warning, in writing to the principal.
• At OBS, the application-stage fee and the acceptance fee are non-refundable. The one-term deposit is refundable when the pupil leaves, provided a full term’s written notice was given (or the pupil is a Form 12 leaver) and provided there is no outstanding debt.
• TASIS describes its application, campus and re-enrolment fees as non-refundable. Its withdrawal terms were not in the material we captured.

Read only the tuition table and the penalty can be a term or a quarter of fees.

Does applying guarantee a place?

No. We cannot tell you whether any particular year group has space now, and the schools’ own pages, checked on 16 September 2026, warn against assuming it.

School	What its published material says about availability	What secures the place after an offer
St. Julian’s	Demand often exceeds available spaces, a full year group means a waiting list, and the school’s current admissions page says there are usually very few places remaining after March	Pay the €750 registration fee and the €5,000 capital levy, both 2026/27, within 10 working days. Check the St. Julian’s admissions process for the current application, interview and assessment requirements
CAISL	Once a class is full, no new enrolments are accepted until a place opens; the school says it is impossible to predict when or if one will	At registration, pay the €600 registration fee per child, the €1,953 building fee from Grade 1, both 2026/27, and the first quarter’s tuition. Check the CAISL application page for the current admissions steps
TASIS Portugal	The school says spaces fill quickly, and keeps an unranked wait pool for classes that are full	From Kindergarten, pay the €5,000 campus fee† on accepting the offer; Pre-K families pay the €3,000 deposit† applied towards tuition, or elect the campus fee. Check the TASIS application process for its interview and assessment steps
OIS	The school says it is over-subscribed in most year groups	Its material says a student is enrolled once the registration process is complete, but does not identify the securing payment or a deadline. Confirm both directly, and read the OIS admissions policy
Oporto British School	Its 2026/27 application-stage fee of €160 is non-refundable and does not guarantee a place	Pay the 2026/27 acceptance fee of €475 within two weeks, and the one-term deposit within five weeks of a firm offer. Check the OBS admissions overview for its interview and assessment process

Apply early where the school advises it, but do not manufacture certainty from a submitted form, a paid application fee or a place in a wait pool.

What must a private school publish?

Private schools covered by Portugal’s Estatuto do Ensino Particular e Cooperativo — the Private and Cooperative Education Statute — must make information about fees and other charges owed by students publicly available. The statute also says charges for services outside tuition may be billed only where they are clearly set out in the school’s published internal rules.

That makes the published fee schedule and the internal regulations a verification tool. Ask for both when a quoted extra does not appear in the material you already hold.

The statute has a limit. It does not apply to schools that meet all three conditions together: they were regularly instituted, are maintained by foreign states, and do not adopt the Portuguese education system. We have not checked which legal regime applies to any of the five schools in this article, so we are not claiming the statute covers a named school.

You can read the current consolidated text of Decreto-Lei n.º 152/2013 in the Diário da República. The record was in force and showed its last amendment as 14 June 2021 when we checked it on 16 September 2026.

What should you ask a school before you commit?

Ask for one written first-year quote for your child’s assessed year group, then work through this list.

• Which year or grade would your child enter, and which published tuition band applies?
• What is due with the application, what after an offer, and what before the first day?
• Which charges are one-time, recurring, refundable or non-refundable?
• Does a capital, building, campus or maintenance charge continue after the first year?
• Does a re-enrolment fee apply to a new family during its first year?
• Are meals included, optional or compulsory, and what is the confirmed annual cost?
• Is transport available for your address, which zone or route applies, and is the price per child or per route?
• What do uniforms cost, including any required sports kit?
• Are EAL or learning-support places available, and do they carry an extra fee?
• Which examination charges could fall in the year you are pricing?
• Does the payment plan change the total, and could VAT apply to any quoted item?
• What written notice prevents another term or quarter becoming due?
• Which payment actually secures the place, and what is the deadline after an offer?
• Can the school revise its fees during the academic year?
• Which quoted prices carry an academic-year label, and which are current undated charges?

All five schools’ fee pages published sibling discounts when we checked them on 16 September 2026, but the ordering, the stacking and the conditions that cancel them differ. Ask the school to apply any discount to its written quote rather than deducting a percentage yourself.

What should you do next?

• Build the first shortlist from our international schools directory, then replace every directory-level impression with the school’s own current written quote.
• Put tuition, entry fees and transport beside the rest of your Portugal cost-of-living budget before you commit to a neighbourhood.
• Considering the Lisbon coast? Use the Cascais guide to compare the places you could realistically commute from.
• Looking beyond Lisbon? The Porto city guide gives you the local context for the Oporto British School example.
• Moving from the United States? Follow the broader USA-to-Portugal checklist, so the school application sits in the right place among the visa, housing and money steps.

This article is general information, not financial, legal or admissions advice. St. Julian’s 2026/27 fee policy says its fees are reviewed annually, and CAISL’s 2026/27 schedule says all its school fees are subject to revision during the school year in unusual or unforeseen economic conditions. Confirm the current schedule, the availability, the payment deadlines and the full first-year quote directly with the school before you commit.