Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam’s international-school boom is a policy artefact. Decree 86/2018/ND-CP (effective 1 August 2018, replacing Decree 73/2012) raised the ceiling on Vietnamese-citizen enrolment at foreign-invested schools from 0–20% (varying by phase) to just under 50% of total enrolment. The change unlocked local demand and a wave of school openings and acquisitions in HCMC and Hanoi. ↗

The classification trap. Many schools marketed as “international” in HCMC are legally Vietnamese-owned private bilingual schools — exempt from the 50% cap, and commonly enrolling 80–95% Vietnamese students. The branding looks identical; the regulatory regime, curriculum obligations (Vietnamese language and culture requirements differ), and classroom mix do not. Ask every school a direct question: are you a foreign-invested school under Decree 86, or a Vietnamese private school with an international programme? ↗

Licensing is multi-stage. Foreign-invested schools hold an Investment Registration Certificate, an Establishment Registration Certificate and an education-operation licence, overseen nationally by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) and locally by the Department of Education and Training (DOET). Foreign-invested schools enrolling Vietnamese students must also deliver Vietnamese language and culture instruction to them. ↗

The market spans roughly VND 196 million to nearly VND 1 billion a year (2026/27), with the premium British and IB schools at the top. Premium-tier fees rose around 4–5% in the 2025–26 cycle; budget for compounding uplifts across a multi-year posting.

British International School HCMC (BIS, Nord Anglia): 2026/27 tuition of VND 679–759 million (primary) and VND 875–999 million (secondary). Its 2025/26 schedule ran VND 238.1 million (F1 half-day) to VND 956.3 million (Years 12–13), an average 4–5% rise year on year. ↗

International School Ho Chi Minh City (ISHCMC): the city’s most expensive — 2026/27 tuition of VND 702.4 million (Grades 1–2) to VND 987.8 million (Grades 11–12), plus a VND 25 million admission fee. Families entering Grades 1–12 must also choose between an Annual Development Fee of VND 67.5 million per year or a one-time Certificate of Entitlement of VND 337.5 million — a capital-payment structure worth modelling before you commit. ↗

The rest of the named market (2026/27): Saigon South International School VND 730–782 million (elementary) to VND 832–924 million (middle/high); Australian International School VND 597–689 million (primary) to VND 749–908 million (secondary); European International School up to VND 814 million (secondary); Canadian International School VND 558–641 million (primary) to VND 641–865 million (secondary); Renaissance International VND 522–656 million (primary) to VND 734–856 million (secondary); The American School (TAS) VND 638–767 million. ↗

The bilingual discount. British Vietnamese International School (BVIS, Nord Anglia’s bilingual British-Vietnamese school) charges VND 489–513 million (primary) and VND 614–708 million (secondary) for 2026/27 — roughly a third below sister school BIS, reflecting the bilingual model rather than a quality difference. For families comfortable with a dual-language track, it is the market’s clearest value gap. ↗

ISHCMC is the pioneer. Founded in 1993, it was Vietnam’s first IB World School and still teaches the full IB continuum (PYP/MYP/DP) to 1,500-plus students across two campuses in Thao Dien/An Phu. It is now owned by the Cognita schools group. ↗

BIS HCMC is the British anchor — three campuses in the same Thao Dien/An Phu pocket, English National Curriculum to IGCSE with the IB Diploma in the sixth form, and the deepest waitlist history in the city. Its bilingual sibling BVIS offers the same Nord Anglia infrastructure on a dual-language model at lower fees.

SSIS is the American alternative — a not-for-profit American-curriculum school (with AP and IB options in high school) anchored in Phu My Hung, District 7, serving the south-side expat community. Around them sit AIS (Australian curriculum plus IB Diploma, Thao Dien), EIS (IB “education village” campus), CIS (Ontario curriculum, Binh Chanh), Renaissance (British, District 7) and a long tail of bilingual schools.

Thao Dien / An Phu (Thu Duc City, the former District 2) is the default expat enclave: BIS, ISHCMC and AIS all sit within a few minutes of each other, surrounded by the international restaurants, compounds and serviced apartments that house their families. Living here makes the school run a walk or a short drive; living anywhere else makes it a bus ride across the Saigon River bridges.

Phu My Hung (District 7) is the planned, Korean-and-Taiwanese-influenced new town to the south, home to SSIS, Renaissance and several bilingual schools. Families based here get newer infrastructure and less congestion — but a long commute to the Thao Dien schools.

The practical rule: pick the district first. HCMC traffic has improved with metro construction but the morning bridges and the Hanoi Highway remain chokepoints, and a cross-city school run for a five-year-old is the most commonly regretted decision in HCMC expat forums. Both poles have complete ecosystems — school, housing, healthcare, groceries — so very few families genuinely need to cross between them daily.

The year starts in late August, and most international schools accept rolling admissions through the year — genuinely useful in a posting-driven city. Popular year groups at BIS and ISHCMC can still fill; applying a full cycle ahead remains the safe pattern for early-years and Grade 6–7 transitions.

Vietnam imposes no nationality restriction on foreign children attending international schools, and no visa category peculiar to students complicates the process for dependent children of work-permit holders. Public schooling is a theoretical alternative only: instruction is in Vietnamese, and foreign enrolees face mandatory Vietnamese-language preparation — which is why essentially all expat families use the international sector. ↗

Three honest caveats. First, fee rises of 3–5% compound brutally over a primary-to-secondary arc — model the full journey, not year one. Second, capital structures differ (ISHCMC’s ADF/COE choice, registration fees elsewhere), so compare first-year and steady-state costs separately. Third, teacher recruitment in Vietnam tightened after COVID; ask each school about staff turnover and how long its current leadership has been in post — the answer varies more than the brochures suggest.

Recurring themes from expat-parent forums and community groups — reported experience, not verified fact:

“Thao Dien is a bubble — decide if you want it.” Families split between those who love the walkable, all-English convenience of the former District 2 and those who find it insulating and choose District 7 or even District 1 with a bus commute. Almost nobody regrets living near the school; many regret the reverse.

“The fee conversation never stops.” Annual uplifts land every spring, and parents of multiple children describe actively re-running the BIS-versus-BVIS-versus-bilingual math every few years — especially as children hit the secondary fee steps.

“Check the classroom, not the campus.” HCMC has spectacular facilities across the premium tier; forum veterans steer newcomers toward asking about teacher tenure, EAL provision and actual class nationality mix on a school tour instead.

1. Decide the district first — Thao Dien/Thu Duc City or Phu My Hung — then shortlist inside it.

2. Set the curriculum pathway with our IB vs British vs American guide.

3. Ask the classification question at every school: foreign-invested under Decree 86, or Vietnamese private bilingual? Then ask for the current nationality mix.

4. Model fees across the whole posting — current schedule plus 4% a year, plus capital fees (ADF/COE or registration) and transport.

5. Compare the region: Hanoi, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Singapore — or browse the school directory and guides.