TOP 10 SCHOOLS OF NEPAL
Nepalese education, for most of history, has lagged behind in extracurricular and all-round child development. Most Nepali schools only promote rote learning and do not focus on personal character and skill development. However, that has changed in recent years with the establishment of several international standard schools that promote overall learning in children. If you are interested in an international standard of education right here in Nepal, we have compiled a list of 10 best schools.
Be warned that due to their international nature, most of these schools are very expensive. The ranking has been adjusted to best reflect the balance of fees and offerings.
All fees mentioned are unverified tuition estimates for the school based on sources online, not the actual cost of attendance. It is only meant to be a reference for readers. Please contact respective schools for exact fee details.
10. Malpi International School
Established in 1999, Malpi is the pioneer of residential international education in Nepal. Malpi International School is a mixed residential school with a difference. To ensure child-centered learning, the school limits the number of students in a class to a minimum.
Malpi offers a plethora of skill-based activities like art, PE programs, horse riding, swimming, music and so on. The school compound is very ambient and the teachers are also top-notch.
Approximate fees: Rs 20,000 per month (+residential fees)
Location: Panauti, Kavre
Contact details: + 977-11-440080, [email protected] , official website
9. Lincoln School
Lincoln school is the most expensive school in Nepal. It is also the oldest international school in Nepal. Lincoln School offers a comprehensive academic program with supportive and engaging classroom environments for PK-12 students.
The school has 33 classrooms in 3 buildings, a theater, a gymnasium, and a library/media center, complete with wireless Internet service. It also has an all-weather outdoor field, courts, and athletic areas and rooftop games. Though Lincoln school has amazing facilities as well as stellar academics, it is on the 9th solely because of its extremely high tuition.
Approximate fees: Rs 3 lakh/ month
Location: Lincoln Marg, Kathmandu
Contact details: +977 14270482, official website
8. Shuvatara School
Shuvatara School is a secondary school in Lamatar established in 1989. It has been providing quality international grade education to it students for 31 years.
Shuvatara students engage in the arts and sports from an early age hence helping I their creative and physical development. Shuvatara students move on to top Higher secondary schools like Rato Bangala, Ullens and St Xavier’s Maitighar. They also have a decent number of notable alumni.
Approximate fees: Rs 25,000 per month
Location: Lamatar and Sanepa, Lalitpur
Contact details: 5526783, 5132070
7. The British School
The British school is another international- based school in Nepal. Providing course from the United Kingdom, TBS is a truly international school providing education to more than 40 nationalities.
TBS offers IGCSE as well as A levels from both CIE and Edexcel boards. The school has very good resources with extracurricular activities ranging from photography to fashion. It is known for its inclusivity, variety of cohort, and the care it provides to children.
Approximate fees: Rs 1 lakh 10 thousand per month
Location: Sanepa, Lalitpur
Contact details: 1-5521794, [email protected]
6. Budanilkantha School
Budanilkantha is the first affordable school in this list which can compete with these other elite schools. This is as a consequence of an amazing foundation in extracurricular and child-development. Although it only takes students from grade 4 above, it remains a child-centric education platform.
Budanilkantha is completely residential and boasts a very nice campus and sports opportunities. Consequently, it is among the largest schools in Nepal in terms of area and regular cultural programs keep the students involved. Though it doesn’t have facilities comparable to elite schools, for the price it offers great value.
Edit: “grade 4” above means Budanilkantha takes students who have passed grade 4
Approximate fees: 6,000 per month (+residential fees)
Location: Budanilkantha, Kathmandu
Contact details: 01-4370249
5. Kathmandu International Study Center
KISC is another international-based elite school in Nepal. It was established by the United Nations (mission in Nepal) specifically for foreign citizens.
With exceptional academics and facilities ranging from music classes, P.E to sports lessons, KISC is truly a co-curricular school. It offers IGCSE as well as CIE A level international qualification.
Approximate fees: Rs 1 lakh 50 thousand per month
Location: Dhobhighat, Kathmandu.
Contact details: [email protected]
4. Ullens School
Ullens schoolm founded in only 2006, is the only IB Diploma school in Nepal. Unlike Premier, the Governemnt of Nepal has also accredited its IB degree.
Ullens’ robust academic program has resulted in great college placement as well as child development. All through primary school to its diploma program, Ullens education is centered in child development. Its premises is also complete with facilities that compare with foreign schools. Community service is also a requirement in the school and students engage in a plethora of ECAs.
Approximate fees: Rs 40,00 per month (grade 1-10), Rs 75000/month (grade 10-12)
Location: Khumaltar, Lalitpur
Contact details: 1-5230944, [email protected]
3. St Xaviers School Jawalakhel
St. Xaviers school is the cheapest and the oldest school on this list. It is a missionary international school, the oldest in Nepal. St Xaviers is the pioneer of not just international, but English medium education in Nepal. Nepali students have been receiving quality education from St Xaviers for over 75 years now.
St Xaviers hardly competes in terms of physcial facilities with other schoos on this list. However, its graduates have the same amount of values and skills as any other schools, despite the lack of a concrete “international standard” so to say. That is the reason it makes it onto the Top 3 of this list. It is without doubt the best value school in Nepal because of its very cheap fees combined with the quality of education
Approximate fees: Rs 5,000 per month
Location: Jawalakhel, Kathmandu
Contact details: 01-5521050
. Premier International School
Premier is the newest school on this list, established only 12 years ago in 2008. It is the only school offering International Baccalaureate (IB) of Primary and middle school in Nepal.
IB is an internationally recognized all-rounded curriculum, unlike CIE which is more academics focused. The curriculum provided by Premier can hence compete with international schools all around the world, not just in terms of academics, but also co-curricular opportunities.
Approximate fees: Rs 50,000 per month
Location: Khumaltar Height, Lalitpur
Contact details: 5528032, 5549849
1. Rato Bangala School
Rato Bangala tops the list for the Best schools in Nepal. It is also the best A level school in Nepal (Check out that list here). The reason Rato Bangala keeps topping our lists is simply its quality of education
Rato Bangala combines the values of St Xavier’s students, the international standard of Lincoln, TBS, KISC, Ullens and Premier, the extra-curricular involvement of Budanilkantha and an overall standard of education expected from an elite school. Its price, albeit pretty high, is low compared to its other elite counterparts.
Established in 1992, Rato Bangala has the highest number of notable alumni, community leaders and college placement from this list. Moreover, Rato Bangala actively promotes Nepali rather than foreign culture while still providing an international standard of education. Hence, from the schools on this list , Rato Bangala graduates are most likely to go abroad and return to Nepal after higher education and contribute to our country’s economy. It also has the highest Nepali population except Budanilkantha and St Xaviers which promotes cultural development.
Student engage in activities ranging from woodwork, music to sports. Hence, it has a futsal, a music room, two dance rooms, a wood workshop and three basketball courts. For these facilities, they charge a significantly lower price compared to other schools like Lincoln and British school. Hence, for it’s overall package Rato Bangala is kept at the top of this list.
Approximate fees: Rs 30,000 per month
Location: Patandhoka, Lalitpur
Contact details: 5534318, 5542045
PARAMETERS USED
1. Academic achievement and college placement
For Higher secondary schools on the list ( RBS, Budanilkantha, Lincoln, TBS, KISC,MIC, etc), we took the placement of students in reputed institutions around the world as a reference. Most of the graduates from these schools move onto top colleges around the world. There have also been consistent instances where graduates go to schools like Harvard, London School of Economics, Cornell, Stanford and so on. Furthermore, the percentage of secondary school student population appearing SEE retained in their higher secondary program (A level, IB) is considered.
For secondary schools (Premier, Shuvatara), their placement in reputed Higher Secondary programs in Nepal and outside Nepal is taken. High school GPA, overall high achievement statistics in A levels/IB/ AP and availability is a primary factor. As a reference, for A level schools in the list, check the British council list for high achievers in A levels here
Another major factor is uniqueness of their offered education programs. For example, Premier and Ullens are the only 2 IB schools in Nepal, Lincoln is the only AP (Advanced Placement) school in Nepal and so on.
2. Cost
Firstly cost wasn’t a primary parameter for assigning the schools to the list.
However, after picking out schools through other mentioned parameters, we took the balance of the cost with their offerings into account i.e more expensive schools were preferably ranked lower in the list. This is the reason schools like St Xaviers still made the Top 3 of the list, even though it doesn’t have a strong higher secondary school program and lags behind in infrastructure. Please be informed that international education isn’t cheap and sadly fees are proportionate to quality in these schools.
3. Engagement in Extra curriculars
The people from these schools are leaders in more than just academic fields. Rato Bangala graduates include reputed actors like Priyanka Karki and singers like Sushant KC. Budanilkantha graduate Bartika Eam Rai is also a very reputed singer today. Similarly other schools on these list have also graduated national and international entertainers as well as leaders in practically any field, not just traditional white-collar jobs
4. School infrastructure:
I think we can all agree that the schools above have the best possible educative infrastructure. Infrastructure is a necessary part of a comprehensive education and all these schools provide the best possible facilities in Nepal. Again, there are other schools with similar facilities, but fail to perform well in other parameters.
5. Community involvement of students:
Community service is a requiremnt in most of these schools as a part of their curriculum itself This leads to significant development of personality and character in students. Even when CS isn’t a requirement, you can find people from these schools leading community and environment campaigns across Nepal.