Founded
2005

Started with 35 students; now reports 1,500+ learners

Curriculum
IB continuum

PYP + MYP + DP, KG–Grade 12

Accreditation
CIS · MoE

Council of International Schools; MoE licensed

Students
Primarily Saudi

Local private-school licence, not expat-only

Gender
Split from G4

Co-ed KG–Grade 3; separate sections Grades 4–12

Fees
Not published

Aggregators list SAR 61,000–75,000

The short version

The short version

Advanced Learning Schools (ALS) is a private, English-medium IB World School founded in Riyadh in 2005 — one school across three campuses in the centre of the city, teaching the full IB continuum (Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma Programmes) from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

It is accredited by the Council of International Schools and licensed by the Saudi Ministry of Education, and describes itself as one of the first schools in the Kingdom to offer the full IB continuum.↗↗

For an expat family, the practical summary is this: ALS is a proven IB pathway in Riyadh — but it is not primarily an expat school.

Its student body is overwhelmingly Saudi, it operates under a local private-school licence with permission to deviate from the national curriculum, and it does not publish its fees (aggregators list SAR 61,000–75,000 for 2025/26 and 2026/27).

If you want the IB in Riyadh, also read the profiles of the British International School Riyadh (IB at its DQ campus) and the American International School – Riyadh before deciding.↗↗

What the school is

A Saudi school with an IB passport — the Article 5 angle

Most Riyadh schools in this series are expat-facing international schools; ALS is something structurally different.

Under Article 5 of the Ministry of Education’s International Schools Regulations, Saudi nationals generally may not attend international schools — yet WhichSchoolAdvisor describes ALS’s student body as overwhelmingly Saudi, including (in an older review we treat with caution) a substantial contingent of Al Saud family children.

The resolution is licensing: ALS is one of the few local independent schools given permission to deviate from the Saudi National Curriculum, teaching in English with about 20% of curriculum time in Arabic Language, Arabic Social Studies and Islamic Studies.↗↗

For expat families this cuts both ways. The school states it is open to international families, and an IB environment steeped in Saudi culture can be exactly what a long-posting family wants.

But your child would be a minority in a way they would not be at BISR or AIS-R, and the school’s rhythms — admissions priorities, calendar, community language — are tuned to its Saudi majority.

A 2018 leadership-recruitment brief described ALS as “serving primarily Saudi national students”, with nearly all graduates going on to universities in Saudi Arabia, the UK, the US and Canada.↗

Gender structure: co-educational from KG1 to Grade 3, then separate boys’ and girls’ sections from Grade 4 to Grade 12 — worth knowing early, since it differs from the co-ed IB schools many expat families are used to.

The school reports growth from 35 students at founding to over 1,500 learners today; recruiter and aggregator figures (1,200; ~600 in older reviews) vary by date, so treat any single number as approximate.↗↗

Academics in practice

Two decades of IB — and an evidence gap on outcomes

The IB continuum is the product. ALS has offered the PYP, MYP and DP for over two decades — a depth of IB experience that none of Riyadh’s newer IB providers can match, with CIS accreditation as the external quality marker.

The school’s identity explicitly blends the IB with Islamic values and Arab traditions, which it presents as its distinguishing feature rather than a compromise.↗↗

The evidence gap is real, though: we found no published IB Diploma results, no university-destination list with numbers, and no public inspection report beyond the CIS accreditation cycle.

For a school of this age that is a choice, and it means the burden of verification shifts to you — ask for the last three years of DP scores with cohort sizes, the pass rate, and the destinations list. A school confident in its outcomes will hand them over.↗

Admissions and cost

Admissions and the fee-opacity problem

ALS does not publish a current fee schedule — International Schools Database states the school has not made 2026/27 fees public.

WhichSchoolAdvisor lists SAR 61,000–75,000 for both 2025/26 and 2026/27; a lower-authority aggregator gives SAR 57,000–63,000 and an entrance assessment fee of SAR 5,000 plus VAT, with decisions within 2–3 working days of assessment and a free retest after six months if declined.

None of these figures is first-party: treat them as a budgeting range and get the current schedule, in writing, from the admissions office before you plan.↗↗↗

The VAT rule still applies: non-Saudi families pay 15% VAT on tuition, Saudi nationals are exempt.

Given the school’s majority-Saudi enrolment, expat families should also ask whether any fee categories or discounts are structured with local families in mind — sibling policies, payment plans and corporate seats are all negotiable-adjacent at schools that do not publish prices, which is another reason to get everything in writing.↗

The family experience

What parents can actually verify

Parent-sentiment data on ALS is thin and mixed. A city guide records a Google rating of 3.3 out of 5; the small set of reviews on International Schools Database is uniformly positive, praising the IB programmes and CIS accreditation — but those samples are tiny and partly staff-authored.

We found no substantial English-language forum record. That is the honest state of the evidence; anyone claiming a settled reputation either way is guessing.↗↗

The school sits in the An Nakheel district of northern Riyadh — a different map from the Diriyah and eastern-arc campuses of the new-wave British schools, and convenient to some of the city’s established northern neighbourhoods. As everywhere in Riyadh, test the school run at school-run time before committing to housing.↗

Our readConfidence: Limited

A genuine IB pioneer — with too little public evidence to grade

Our confidence is Limited, and that is the honest headline rather than a criticism. The structural facts — 2005 founding, full IB continuum, CIS accreditation, MoE licence, majority-Saudi enrolment, gender separation from Grade 4 — are well supported across the school’s own site and independent sources.

But the things a relocating parent most needs — current fees, DP results, inspection findings, leaver destinations — are not published, and we will not fill that gap with forum rumour.

ALS suits families who specifically want an IB continuum education in a culturally Saudi environment, who plan to stay long enough to benefit from it, and who are willing to do direct diligence: request the fee schedule, the last three years of DP results with cohort sizes, the CIS accreditation letter, and the destinations list, all in writing.

Families who want an expat-majority community, transparent published fees, or a British GCSE/A-level route should look at BISR, AIS-R or the new-wave British schools instead.

Take these to the school

Questions that move beyond the tour script

Admissions and community fit

  1. What proportion of students in my child’s grade are expatriates, and how are non-Arabic-speaking children supported in and out of class?
  2. Is there a waiting list for our year group, and how are places prioritised between local and international families?
  3. How does the gender separation from Grade 4 work organisationally — shared campus, shared staff, shared activities?

Academics and evidence

  1. May we see the last three years of IB Diploma results with cohort sizes, pass rates and average scores, plus the university-destination list?
  2. When was the most recent CIS accreditation visit, and may we read the report or letter?
  3. How is the 20% Arabic/Islamic component timetabled, and what does the MYP look like in practice for a child arriving from a British or American curriculum?

Cost

  1. What is the complete current fee schedule for our year group — tuition, application, assessment, registration, deposits, transport and exam fees — in writing?
  2. Are there sibling discounts, payment plans or corporate arrangements available to expatriate families?
  3. What are the refund and withdrawal terms if our posting ends mid-year?

Continue your research

Choose your next step

Sources and further research

Where to verify and keep reading

We favor direct links to the exact page or document a family may need next. Access dates matter because admissions, tuition, leadership, and programs change.