Two school systems hide behind one word: international.

HCMC and Hanoi are different-sized markets. A KOTRA survey of Vietnamese education-ministry data counts roughly 33 foreign-curriculum schools in Ho Chi Minh City against 18 in Hanoi, and industry guidance puts the nationwide total above 60. HCMC is deeper at every tier; Hanoi is smaller but holds one of the world’s two UN schools. ↗

Foreign children face no nationality barrier. Vietnam imposes no nationality restriction on foreign children attending international schools — unlike Saudi Arabia’s Article 5 or Singapore’s approval system, any foreign family may apply to any school. Public schools teach in Vietnamese, which makes international schools the default expat route. ↗

Fees top out near VND 1 billion — but the market is mostly mid-tier. The premium names (ISHCMC, BIS HCMC, UNIS, Concordia) run VND 700 million to over VND 1 billion in the senior years, yet city-wide tuition spans from roughly VND 196 million — and bilingual-category schools undercut that. Premium-tier fees rose about 4-5 per cent in the 2025-26 cycle. ↗

Admissions are comparatively gentle. The academic year starts in late August and most Vietnamese international schools accept rolling mid-year admissions. The real pressure points are the handful of premium names — UNIS and BIS Hanoi maintain waitlists at popular year groups — not the market as a whole. ↗

Decree 86/2018/ND-CP (effective 1 August 2018, replacing Decree 73/2012) governs foreign-invested schools teaching foreign programmes. Its headline rule: such schools may enrol Vietnamese citizens up to just under 50 per cent of total enrolment — a major loosening from the old caps of 0 per cent (kindergarten), 10 per cent (primary) and 20 per cent (secondary). ↗

Two obligations ride along. Foreign-invested schools must hold investment, establishment and education-operation licences — a three-step approval — and those enrolling Vietnamese students must provide them Vietnamese language and culture instruction. Expect the timetable to include it. ↗

The classification check that beats any tour. Many schools marketed as “international” are legally Vietnamese-owned private bilingual schools — exempt from the 50 per cent cap and commonly enrolling 80-95 per cent Vietnamese students. Nord Anglia runs one of each in HCMC: BIS (foreign-invested, VND 875-999 million in secondary) and BVIS (bilingual, VND 614-708 million). Ask admissions directly: which legal category is this school? The answer tells you the enrolment mix, the fee logic and the rules the school lives under. ↗

Vietnam’s premium tier is IB-heavy: ISHCMC was the country’s first IB World School (1993) and runs the full continuum, UNIS Hanoi is all-IB, and BIS Hanoi and BVIS HCMC cap British pathways with the IB Diploma. British (English National Curriculum to IGCSE) and American (with AP — Concordia Hanoi, SSIS) fill out the expat mainstream. National-curriculum schools — Korean, Japanese, French, Singaporean — serve their home communities in both big cities. ↗

Curriculum choice drives portability to the next posting — our IB vs British vs American guide walks the trade-offs. Vietnam’s twist: the bilingual category delivers an international-style curriculum at 60-70 per cent of premium fees — a deliberate trade of enrolment mix for price that suits many families on local packages.

The 2026/27 anchors, in VND per year:

• ISHCMC (full IB continuum, Cognita): VND 702.4 million (Grades 1-2) to VND 987.8 million (Grades 11-12), plus a VND 25 million admission fee and either a VND 67.5 million Annual Development Fee or a VND 337.5 million Certificate of Entitlement. ↗
• BIS HCMC (Nord Anglia, British): VND 679-759 million (primary) and VND 875-999 million (secondary); its bilingual sister BVIS runs VND 489-513 million (primary) and VND 614-708 million (secondary). ↗
• UNIS Hanoi (UN school, full IB): VND 459.2 million (K1-K2) to VND 1,048.6 million (Grades 11-12), plus a VND 46 million enrolment fee.
• Concordia Hanoi (American, WASC, AP): VND 558.0 million (Preschool) to VND 1,038.8 million (Grades 11-12) — from its official 2026/27 table. ↗

Watch the one-time stack: application fees of VND 3-25 million, registration or development fees of VND 21.5-70.8 million, and deposits on top. ISHCMC’s Certificate of Entitlement model (VND 337.5 million versus an annual development fee) is Vietnam’s echo of the debenture logic — run the break-even for your expected tenure.

Da Nang — plus Hoi An, 15 kilometres south — has become Vietnam’s third school market on the back of lifestyle-driven expat growth. The International Schools Database lists seven schools, at fees 20-40 per cent below Hanoi/HCMC equivalents: APU American International School (VND 249.5-597.4 million for 2026/27), Singapore International School Da Nang (VND 264.7-663.6 million), The St. Nicholas School (American, VND 168.5-271.0 million) and Hoi An International School (Cambridge, VND 215-510 million). ↗

The caveats are depth and vintage. Senior-years pathways are thinner than in the big two cities — verify the exact IGCSE/A-level/IB offer before committing a teenager. And first-party schedules are harder to come by: SIS Da Nang’s official 2024-25 table (VND 498.4-626.0 million for the international programme) is the only first-party schedule we captured, so treat the aggregator figures as indicative and confirm with admissions. ↗

Every fee figure, statistic and policy claim above traces to our research dossier. Primary sources: the Frasers Law alert on Decree 86, Vietnam Briefing (licensing), and school fee schedules from Concordia Hanoi, BVIS/BIS HCMC (Nord Anglia) and SIS Da Nang. Secondary reporting: VnExpress, the International Schools Database, the B-Company Vietnam Whitebook 2025, and KOTRA’s education-ministry survey.

Fees 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.