Bali

Bali’s international schools now serve two distinct populations. The established expat and mixed-marriage community — anchored in Sanur and Denpasar, where Bali Island School has operated since 1986 — and the remote-working wave that has arrived since 2020, clustering in Canggu, Pererenan and Ubud. The second group changed the market’s economics: new schools opened (ProEd’s Nuanu campus, Uluwatu School, a string of micro-schools), established ones filled, and fees at the top now rival regional capitals. ↗

The regulatory frame is Jakarta’s. Bali’s schools are SPK-licensed under the same national rules — no school may call itself “international” officially, Indonesian-citizen students take national subjects and exams, and schools run as yayasan (foundations). Bali Island School’s handbook is explicit: it is run by Yayasan Bali International School, a non-profit foundation under Indonesian law. Read our Jakarta guide for the full SPK explainer. ↗

The price map, in one paragraph: Green School sits alone at the top (US$18,000-30,000+); CCS and Bali Island School form the US$12,000-20,000 international tier; AIS and ProEd cover US$8,000-14,000; and a real value tier — Dyatmika, Gandhi Memorial, Montessori School Bali, Sanur Independent — runs US$2,000-9,000. Registration, capital and deposit charges add roughly 20-30 per cent on top of headline tuition. ↗

Green School Bali is the reason many families know Bali has schools at all: an open-air bamboo campus on the Ayung river at Abiansemal, founded by John and Cynthia Hardy and opened in 2008, teaching about 500 students from 40+ nationalities on a sustainability-led curriculum. Two facts the mythology skips: it is now owned by EiM, a Singapore-based education group, and it is a day school with a hard 12-month minimum enrolment. Many of its families moved to Bali specifically for it; the school even runs an on-campus co-working space for remote-working parents. ↗

The official 2025-26 schedule: IDR 40,000,000 in non-refundable admissions fees (IDR 4M application + IDR 36M registration, invoiced on acceptance or to join the waitlist pool) plus a refundable deposit of IDR 30,000,000 per child — forfeited if you withdraw before the 12-month minimum. Annual tuition: IDR 177,800,000 (early years), IDR 210,140,000 (Kindy), IDR 240,370,000 (Grades 1-3), IDR 278,440,000 (Grades 6-8), IDR 295,600,000 (Grades 9-10) and IDR 319,030,000 (Grades 11-12). ↗

The mechanics reward commitment and punish flexibility: sibling discounts of 5/10/15 per cent; semester payment adds 5 per cent for the year; new families paying by semester carry a 20 per cent first-semester loading; the Diploma Programme requires a two-year commitment. Admissions run in two batches — 15 August and 15 December deadlines — with later applicants pooled into a waiting list. September is the age cut-off. ↗

The honest fit question: Green School’s progressive model — thematic learning, no conventional exam track until the IB Diploma years — suits families who chose it deliberately. Families needing a conventional academic structure, or a portable mid-posting exit, should look hard at CCS or BIS before paying a IDR 70,000,000 up-front commitment.

Canggu/Pererenan is the nomad-family cluster. Canggu Community School (CCS) is its anchor: founded 2001, CIS- and WASC-accredited, about 600 pupils, IGCSE then IB Diploma (2025 average: 32 points across 29 candidates). Its 2026-27 compulsory charges: IDR 2.5M application, IDR 17M registration (IDR 14M for siblings), and an annual capital levy of IDR 21.5M (Early Years-Year 5) or IDR 26M (Years 6-13) for the first two children; tuition runs roughly IDR 110M-257M by year group, with 3/7/10 per cent sibling discounts and 5 per cent off annual payment. The Good Schools Guide calls community its foundation — and notes SEN provision is case-by-case. ↗ Nearby: ProEd Global School (Umalas and the new Nuanu campus; British curriculum, IGCSE, A-Level, ASDAN; a SEN-friendly personalised model; enrolment fee IDR 10.5M, fees about US$4,950-11,750), Montessori School Bali (Berawa, US$8,150-10,900), Sunrise School and the Lycée Français de Bali (US$3,300-8,800) for French-speaking families. ↗

Sanur is the established family town. Bali Island School (BIS), founded 1986, is the island’s oldest international school and runs the full IB continuum. Its published 2026-27 schedule spans US$4,300 (half-day preschool) to US$18,500 (Grades 11-12) including the capital levy — billed in US dollars, with IB exam fees of US$185 per subject, a 5/10/20 per cent sibling discount ladder, and an 8 per cent multi-year lock-in for early payment. ↗ Sanur Independent School (US$1,250-4,400) covers the value end of the same town.

Denpasar holds the quietly excellent value tier: AIS Bali (Australian Curriculum plus IB Diploma, preschool to Year 12, about US$4,600-14,200; official 2025 terms include 5/10 per cent sibling discounts and a 2%-per-month late charge) ↗, Dyatmika (bilingual Cambridge IGCSE/A-Level, US$2,650-8,250 — regularly cited by parents as the island’s value-for-outcomes pick) and Gandhi Memorial Intercontinental School in Renon (Cambridge plus IB, US$4,250-9,900). Ubud offers The British School of Bali (English National Curriculum, Pre-Nursery to Year 7; US$12,900-15,150, classes capped at 16-20; governed by The Schools Trust), Pelangi School and a Montessori layer — plus proximity to Green School, 20 minutes south. ↗

This is the section nomad blogs bury. Visa-agency and school sources are consistent: foreign children need a student KITAS (E31, sponsored by the school) or a dependent KITAS (E31E, tied to a parent’s work or investor KITAS) to enrol officially. Tourist visas, visa-free entry and C1/C12/D12 visit visas are not valid for school enrolment, and each child needs their own individual permit — there is no family grouping under Indonesian immigration law. ↗

The mechanics: for a student KITAS the school acts as immigration sponsor — Bali Island School’s handbook confirms it sponsors student KITAS where parents cannot provide one, and requires every student to document legal status. Agents advise starting 4-8 weeks before term; one relocation guide prices the student KITAS around IDR 14,000,000 per child per year plus admin (dated figure — confirm current costs with the school and a licensed agent). The student KITAS covers the child only: parents need their own basis to stay. ↗

The family strategies agents describe: one parent on a work or investor KITAS with children as dependents (most stable); the Second Home Visa (5-10 years, requiring roughly €120,000 in an Indonesian bank) for settled families; and — the fragile norm — parents rotating B211A social visas (60 days, extendable to 180, generally not convertible in-country) around a child on a student KITAS. Rules and enforcement shift frequently; treat everything in this section as a September 2026 snapshot and verify with the school’s own visa agent before you commit to a lease. ↗

Bali’s schools stack four charges on top of tuition, and each school stacks them differently. Green School: IDR 40M admissions + IDR 30M refundable deposit. CCS: IDR 17M registration + IDR 21.5-26M annual capital levy. BIS: capital levy inside the headline, sibling ladder outside it. AIS: textbook deposit (IDR 4.05M, refundable) and per-course IB certification fees in Year 12. The first year at any of them costs materially more than the second. ↗

Two market-specific traps. Payment terms carry loadings: Green School adds 5 per cent for semester payment and 20 per cent on a new family’s first semester; AIS and CCS discount annual payment instead (5 per cent). Ask for the annual figure and the instalment figure before comparing schools. Currency mismatch is real: BIS bills in US dollars; most others bill in rupiah. A dollar-earning family faces opposite exposures at the two schools — and a euro- or sterling-earning family can watch rupiah fees rise in real terms even when the published number is flat. ↗

The school run is the island’s weak point. Canggu’s road network was built for a village; the Berawa strip gridlocks at 5-7pm, when 2 km can take 35 minutes by car, and villa rents have roughly doubled since 2020. Relocation guides are blunt: shortlist the school first, then live within 5 km of it, and test-drive the route at school hours — a “15-minute” map estimate can become 90 minutes when a temple ceremony or a flooded drain intervenes. Many families solve it with scooters; note that riding without an Indonesian licence voids most travel insurance. ↗

Infrastructure is catching up, unevenly. September 2025 brought deadly flash floods and landslides, with further localised flooding in February 2026 — overdevelopment and blocked drainage made it worse, and rainy-season disruption is now a planning assumption, not a freak event. Healthcare has genuinely improved: BIMC, Siloam and Hydro Medical operate in or near Canggu with English-speaking doctors. But guides still insist on expat-specific insurance with dengue and evacuation cover — private hospital stays run to US$5,000, medical evacuation past US$40,000. ↗

Parent ground truth, attributed as reported experience: CCS families describe a school “not too big, so the kids do not get lost”, with real teacher relationships; Green School families describe a community that self-selects — “it takes a unique profile of family to decide to leave everything to move to Bali” — and advise visiting before committing; and every experienced family repeats the same three warnings: sort the visa before the villa, the school before the neighbourhood, and never trust a rainy-season commute estimate. ↗

Every fee figure and policy claim above traces to our research dossier. Primary sources: the Green School 2025-26 fee schedule, the CCS fee page, the BIS 2026-27 tuition schedule and parent handbook, and AIS Bali’s fee terms. Cross-school comparisons come from The British School of Bali’s published 2026 table and property-industry guides (medium confidence — one is a competitor’s publication). Visa content synthesises visa-agency guidance and school handbooks; it is a snapshot, not legal advice — confirm with the school and a licensed Indonesian immigration agent.

Fees, visa rules and policies expire. This page was researched on 2 September 2026 and is re-verified each academic year — see our research standard for how claims are graded, and corrections if you spot something stale.