The British School Warsaw: British curriculum, IB and A-levels

The British School Warsaw is worth considering for English-medium education from age 2.5 to 18, with a choice of IB Diploma or A-levels in the final two years. It is a co-educational day school in the Nord Anglia Education group. Early Years is in Upper Mokotów; Primary and Secondary are in Sadyba.

The main decisions are the child’s year of entry, language and support needs, and eventual qualification. Years 11 and 13 are normally closed to new entrants because they fall midway through two-year examination courses. Fees also need careful reading: the published annual column already assumes an advance-payment discount whose deadline has passed.

Programmes and class sizes

Stage	Programme and published class limits
Early Years, ages 2.5–5	Pre-Nursery, Nursery and Reception. Maximum 16 in Pre-Nursery, 18 in Nursery and 20 in Reception. Pre-Nursery fees cover five full days.
Primary, ages 5–11	International Primary Curriculum (IPC), alongside British schooling. Year 1 has a maximum of 20; the general Primary maximum is 24.
Secondary, ages 11–18	British curriculum leading to International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations, then IB Diploma or A-levels at ages 16–18. The published maximum is 24.

The school describes itself as Poland’s only IPC-accredited school. Each Early Years and Primary class has one or two teaching assistants. These staffing statements do not establish individual specialist support for a particular child.

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme combines a range of subjects; A-levels allow a more specialised subject selection. Both have the same Year 12–13 tuition rate here. A preparatory Pre-IB option is available to eligible candidates at the Year 11 rate. Ask about eligibility and subjects rather than assuming it overrides the usual Year 11 entry restriction.

English teaching and Polish certificates

English is the main teaching language. The school says teachers hold teaching qualifications, such as a teaching degree or the UK’s postgraduate teaching qualification, PGCE, or a home-country equivalent. It reports that most are native English speakers.

For native Polish pupils, a programme based on the Polish national curriculum, the Podstawa Programowa, runs from Year 2 to Year 11. Pupils receive annual Polish school certificates, świadectwa. The school says this arrangement meets Polish Ministry requirements. Those annual certificates are not automatically the Polish matura, the final secondary qualification. Ask the counsellor how the chosen leaving qualification meets the requirements of the intended universities.

Non-Polish pupils study Polish as an additional language from Year 1. From Year 4, pupils can choose French, German or Spanish. Polish and Spanish language clubs also appear among the activities.

English as an Additional Language (EAL) support is offered to newcomers with little or no English. Intensive provision has a separate fee. Discuss the child’s current language level, the hours proposed and which help is included in tuition before accepting an offer.

Campus and daily school life

Site	Address and contact
Early Years Centre	ul. J. Dąbrowskiego 84, 02-571, Upper Mokotów; +48 22 646 77 77
Primary and Secondary	ul. Limanowskiego 15, 02-943, Sadyba; +48 22 842 32 81

The contact page gives office hours of Monday–Friday, 08:00–16:00, and british@thebritishschool.pl. The email uses the older domain, while the official website is on Nord Anglia. The operating company is The British School Sp. z o.o., a Polish limited-liability company.

Early Years has green outdoor space, imaginative play equipment, a mud kitchen and a small garden. Sadyba has computer and science laboratories, music-technology and art rooms, two libraries, three indoor sports halls, an all-weather pitch and a dance studio. It also has a separate Year 2 playground and an IB College area for senior pupils.

Visit both sites if your children will be split between them. The school does not provide boarding; school transport and accommodation need separate planning.

Each pupil belongs to Bison, Bear, Lynx or Wolf, the school’s four Houses. These are school community groups, not residences. The school describes more than 70 extracurricular options, including ballet, rock band, enterprise activities, robotics and martial arts. Most of its LEAP clubs are free from Nursery onwards; specialist external providers may charge. The selection changes, so request the current term’s list.

Nord Anglia collaborations include MIT for science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics projects, Juilliard for performing arts, and UNICEF. The published wider programme includes student council and house leadership, reading, creativity, wellbeing and environmental roles. Events and trips include concerts, art exhibitions, a prom, Christmas Fair, Green Camp, Tanzania and MIT visits. Participation, availability and costs should be checked separately from the general list.

Early Years uses class newsletters and Tapestry, an online learning journal; Primary uses Seesaw for communication. Families also receive a weekly school newsletter, reports each term and parent meetings. The parent–teacher association organises coffee mornings, book swaps, an International Fair, Burns Night, quizzes and charitable activities.

Published 2026/27 calendar

Event	Dates
New-pupil orientation	24 August 2026
Term 1	25 August–16 December 2026
Term 2	7 January–25 March 2027
Term 3	12 April–25 June 2027

Admissions and transfer limits

Applications are accepted throughout the year, with assistance in English and Polish. The school promises an initial response within 24 hours, not an admissions decision in that time.

The published process is:

1. Enquire and arrange an in-person or virtual campus tour and a meeting with senior staff.
2. Submit the application and documents. Primary and Secondary applicants need their most recent reports. Identify special educational needs (SEN) and EAL requirements at this stage.
3. Complete the relevant meeting, assessment or interview.
4. Receive the decision. The school aims to process the complete file within two weeks after receiving documents and test results.
5. Accept an offer in writing and pay the required charge and deposit by the pro-forma invoice date.

The school considers reports, availability and, for older pupils, academic ability. A pupil who meets the requirements may be waitlisted if the year is full. New families receive joining information, a pupil buddy and, if requested, an introduction to another family. The published orientation is the Monday before Term 1.

The entry requirements distinguish:

Entry stage	Assessment
Early Years	Meeting with the campus head; no formal assessment
Years 2–6	Interview with the Head or Deputy Head of Primary; no formal assessment
Years 7–8	Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT4) and interview with Secondary staff
Years 9–10	CAT4 and Secondary interview; additional tests for some pupils
Year 12	CAT4 and Secondary interview to consider IB suitability and subjects; an additional language assessment for some pupils

Ask separately about Year 1 and the A-level entry process, which are not detailed in this assessment summary.

Years 11 and 13 are not normally open to new entrants. The published exceptions concern transfers from IGCSE or IB schools with matching subjects. Do not rely on an advertisement for A-level vacancies as evidence that a particular course, subject combination or late transfer is available.

Support must be agreed individually

The learning-support department includes specialist teachers, but the school asks families to contact it to establish whether a child’s needs can be accommodated. Bring current reports and agree what can be staffed, what is included in tuition and what is chargeable.

The fee schedule lists intensive SEN support or speech therapy according to individual needs and arrangements. An inclusive admissions statement is not a guarantee of every type or intensity of support.

Fees for 2026/27

All figures below are in Polish złoty (PLN). The tuition page and fee schedule dated 10 March 2026 give the following rates.

The annual column includes a 4.5% discount for full payment by 30 June 2026. That deadline has passed. If it was missed, the school withdraws the annual invoice and issues termly invoices. The terms represent roughly 40%, 40% and 20% of the full fee; use the actual amounts below for calculations.

Year group	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3	Annual (with 4.5% if paid by 30 June 2026)
Pre-Nursery (5 full days)	22,100	22,100	11,090	52,800
Nursery (3–4)	27,400	27,400	13,750	65,460
Reception (4–5)	32,700	32,700	16,400	78,120
Years 1–2	45,200	45,200	22,700	108,010
Years 3–6	49,300	49,300	24,730	117,780
Years 7–9	51,500	51,500	25,760	122,960
Years 10–11	53,500	53,500	26,730	127,710
Years 12–13	54,400	54,400	27,260	129,940

Annual payment or Term 1 was due on 30 June 2026, Term 2 on 19 November 2026 and Term 3 on 1 March 2027. Ask for the applicable due date when joining later.

Mid-year fees are proportionate under the school’s rules. The document specifically charges an April start at one quarter of Term 2 plus all of Term 3, so do not assume the cost is simply Term 3 tuition.

The sibling discount is 5% for the third and subsequent children. Ask whether it is calculated on the annual or termly rate in the family’s payment arrangement.

New-pupil charges and the deposit

There is no fee labelled registration, but a new pupil pays an additional 4,000 PLN in the first term for assessment and settling in. This is refunded if the place is not confirmed. Confirmation requires the initial assessment and receipt of that charge plus a separate 4,000 PLN deposit by the pro-forma due date.

The deposit is refundable on leaving if the account is settled and school property returned. Missing property is charged at current replacement purchase prices.

For example, full-year Year 7 termly tuition totals 128,760 PLN. Adding the 4,000 PLN new-pupil charge gives 132,760 PLN in fees; the separate 4,000 PLN refundable deposit brings cash required to 136,760 PLN. This calculation excludes meals, transport and support. With the expired annual-payment discount, the equivalent cash total was 130,960 PLN, including the deposit.

Additional costs

Specialist support, where arranged, is charged as follows in PLN:

Support	Term 1	Term 2	Term 3
Intensive English Language Support	3,600	3,600	1,800
SEN intensive support or speech therapy	3,600	3,600	1,800

Examination and competition entry fees are extra, including GCSE/IGCSE, IB and A-level entries and charges from boards such as Pearson and AQA. Trips, including Green Camp, optional after-school care, meals, additional music tuition, other paid activities, transport, uniform and sportswear are also excluded. The sender bears overseas transfer charges. Obtain payment details directly from the school.

Withdrawal requires written termination of the Acceptance Agreement with three months’ notice. Obtain written acknowledgement from the school; sending a message without confirmation is not the full published process.

Our view

TBS Warsaw is a useful choice when a British curriculum, a later IB/A-level decision and a Polish-language programme all matter. It is less straightforward for a transfer halfway through an examination course, or where specialist support has not yet been agreed.

Friendly orientation, not an application. Dates, fees, and programme details move. Confirm everything with the school.