Belgium's Best Schools 2026: Top IB & Local Picks

Belgium's role as the de facto capital of the European Union and home to NATO headquarters has produced a genuinely unusual concentration of international schools for a country its size: Brussels alone hosts 27 international schools serving nearly 25,000 students. That density gives Brussels one of the strongest IB and British-curriculum sectors anywhere in this series, serving the diplomatic corps, EU institutions, and multinational corporate community that have made the city their base. Running alongside that international layer is Belgium's own domestic system, split between Flemish-speaking ASO schools in Flanders and French-speaking lycées and collèges in Wallonia and Brussels.

This ranking is merit-based across both: Brussels' strongest IB and British international schools, alongside a selection of Belgium's most reputable Flemish and Francophone secondary schools, rather than filtered to one system alone.

How Belgium's School System Actually Works

Belgian secondary education is compulsory from age 6 to 18 and splits into general secondary education, or ASO, which prepares students academically for higher education, alongside technical, vocational, and artistic tracks. Because Belgium is a federal country with separate Flemish, French, and German-speaking communities each running their own education policy, there's no single centralised national ranking of Belgian schools the way some other countries in this series have, and reputation among Belgian families tends to be regional and community-specific rather than nationally standardised.

Brussels' international school sector, by contrast, is unusually well-documented, with official accreditations from bodies like the Council of International Schools, COBIS, and the IB Organisation giving families a genuinely comparable quality signal across schools. Families weighing that international option against Belgium's domestic system may find our IB vs Cambridge comparison guide useful background.

1. St. John's International School, Waterloo

St. John's has more than 40 years of continuous IB experience, giving it one of the longest-standing IB track records in this entire series. Its graduates regularly gain entry to Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, Columbia, Yale, KU Leuven, and Bocconi, and its average IB Diploma scores of around 35 to 36 points place it among the very top IB institutions in Europe by international rankings. Based in Waterloo just outside Brussels, it also offers boarding, making it a genuinely popular choice for expatriate families with highly mobile parents or students relocating from elsewhere in Belgium or abroad. For families weighing this kind of sustained IB track record, our curriculum comparison guide covers what scores at this level actually mean for university admissions.

2. The British School of Brussels (BSB)

BSB, established in 1969, is explicitly regarded as the leading IB school in Belgium, and it offers a genuinely broad set of pre-university pathways: A-Levels, the IB Diploma, and BTEC vocational courses in Business, Sports, and Hospitality. That combination of academic and vocational routes under one roof gives BSB families flexibility that few other schools on this list can match, appealing both to university-bound students and those seeking a more applied qualification pathway.

3. International School of Brussels (ISB)

ISB's stated mission centres on developing independent learners and international citizens in an environment where all students are included, challenged, and successful. Based in the leafy Watermael-Boitsfort area of Brussels, it delivers the full IB continuum, and its emphasis on independent learning and inclusion gives it a distinct pedagogical identity among Brussels' cluster of major international schools.

4. BEPS International School

BEPS, founded in 1972 near Franklin Roosevelt Avenue in Brussels, has built a genuine reputation for being a school with a human scale and a "family spirit," a description parents consistently use when discussing the school. It welcomes children from 2.5 to 18 years old and follows a curriculum entirely focused on the IB from preschool through to the diploma, giving families full IB continuity without needing to switch schools as their child progresses. For families researching what actually separates a school performing at this level from a strong average institution, our piece on what drives strong exam outcomes covers similar underlying factors around sustained community culture.

5. Montgomery International School

Montgomery, located in the heart of Brussels, offers the IB programme from Primary through to the Diploma level in what it describes as a warm, inclusive, and bilingual environment, aiming to empower students from all backgrounds to grow with confidence and curiosity. Its central Brussels location and bilingual structure make it a genuinely practical option for expatriate families settling directly in the city centre rather than the suburban areas where several other international schools are based.

6. Lycée Emile Max, Brussels

Lycée Emile Max is known specifically for preparing students to become successful leaders, backed by strong student support systems and tutoring designed to ensure no child is left behind. As a Francophone public school, it represents Belgium's domestic system operating at a genuinely strong level within the city that also hosts the country's densest concentration of international schools, giving Brussels families a real choice between the two without needing to relocate.

7. Sint-Jozefscollege, Turnhout

Sint-Jozefscollege offers a comprehensive education with a strong emphasis on personal development and social responsibility, actively encouraging students to become engaged, active citizens rather than focusing purely on academic output. Based in Turnhout in the Flemish region, it represents one of the stronger reputational names within Belgium's ASO academic track, the general secondary stream that prepares students directly for higher education.

8. Collège Cardinal Mercier, Braine-l'Alleud

Collège Cardinal Mercier is recognised specifically for strong academic performance combined with a genuine emphasis on character development, giving it a reputation that extends beyond pure exam results. Based in Braine-l'Alleud in Wallonia, not far from St. John's International School in Waterloo, it gives the wider Brussels-South region genuinely strong options across both the Francophone domestic system and Belgium's international sector.

9. Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Instituut, Antwerp

Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Instituut is known for its nurturing environment and strong sense of community, offering a variety of programmes designed to cater to different learning styles and interests. Based in Antwerp, Belgium's second-largest city, it gives Flemish families in the north of the country a strong domestic alternative without needing to travel to Brussels.

10. Koninklijk Atheneum Redingenstraat, Antwerp

Koninklijk Atheneum Redingenstraat stands out specifically for its commitment to inclusivity and diversity, offering a supportive learning environment for students from a wide range of backgrounds. As a public Flemish school in Antwerp, it rounds out this list with a genuinely accessible option, reflecting Belgium's broader pattern of strong public education existing alongside its well-resourced private and international sectors.

What This List Reveals: A Diplomatic Hub With an Outsized International Sector

The clearest pattern in Belgian education is how disproportionately large Brussels' international school sector is relative to the country's overall population, a direct consequence of hosting the EU's core institutions and NATO headquarters. Twenty-seven international schools serving nearly 25,000 students in one city is a genuinely striking concentration, comparable in density to what we found researching Switzerland's elite boarding sector, though Belgium's international schools lean toward day-school IB and British provision rather than Switzerland's ultra-premium boarding model.

Domestic ASO, British Curriculum, or IB: What the Choice Actually Means

For families planning to remain in Belgium long-term, the domestic ASO track, whether Flemish or Francophone, remains the most direct and typically low-cost route into Belgian and broader European universities. For expatriate families or those planning international university study, St. John's decades-long IB track record or BSB's combined A-Level, IB, and BTEC offering provide considerably more global portability. Families still weighing this decision can work through the specifics in our Cambridge IGCSE parent guide.

Supporting Students Across Belgium's School System

Whether your child is working through the IB Diploma at St. John's, BSB, or ISB, or navigating Belgium's domestic ASO track at a school like Lycée Emile Max or Sint-Jozefscollege, focused subject-specific tutoring outside school hours can make a genuine difference, particularly for students balancing an international curriculum with life in Belgium's uniquely multilingual environment. If you're unsure whether your child needs that kind of targeted support right now, our article on early warning signs is a useful starting point regardless of which curriculum they're following.

Mathrone Academy provides one-on-one tutoring across Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level and the full IB Diploma, delivered online to students anywhere in the world, including international families at Belgium's IB and British schools.

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