International schools in Accra

Why the school decision comes first

For most diaspora families we meet, the move home stands or falls on schooling. Parents will happily wrestle with land, shipping and paperwork, but the question that keeps them up at night is simpler: will the children settle, and will their education carry on without a gap? As a Kasoa-based team who help returnee families every week, we spend a lot of time driving parents from one school gate to the next, and the pattern is clear. Get the school right and the rest of the move tends to fall into place.

Accra has a genuine range of international and private schools, from long-established names to newer campuses in the eastern suburbs. That choice is a good thing, but it also means the marketing can blur together. This guide is meant to cut through it: what the main curricula are, how terms and admissions work, what really drives cost, and the questions worth asking before you transfer a deposit from abroad.

One honest caveat up front. Fees, term dates and admissions rules change from year to year, and every family's needs differ. Treat this as orientation, then confirm the current detail directly with each school and, where money or contracts are involved, with your own adviser. If you are still weighing the whole move, our moving back to Ghana checklist puts schooling in the context of everything else.

The main curricula, and why it matters

The first fork in the road is curriculum, because it shapes what your child studies now and which exams they sit later. In Accra you will mainly find four routes. The British system runs through IGCSEs and then A-Levels, and suits families who expect to head to the UK or a country that recognises those qualifications. The American system, with high-school credits and often the SAT, fits families oriented towards US colleges.

The International Baccalaureate is offered by a smaller number of schools and is portable across many countries, which appeals to families who are not sure where they will end up. Finally, several strong Ghanaian private schools follow the national curriculum with added international elements, and these can be an excellent, better-value choice if your child will continue their education in Ghana.

The practical point is continuity. A child moving mid-way through UK GCSEs is best kept on a British track; switching systems at the wrong moment can cost a year. Map out where your child is likely to sit their next set of exams, then let that steer the shortlist rather than the prospectus photos.

Knowing the landscape

It helps to know the kinds of schools people talk about, purely as neutral examples of what exists rather than as recommendations from us. Long-standing names such as Ghana International School and Lincoln Community School are often mentioned by parents, alongside SOS-Hermann Gmeiner, Roman Ridge, Galaxy International, Tema International School and a number of newer British-curriculum campuses in East Legon and the Spintex corridor.

We deliberately do not rank them. The right school for one family is wrong for another, and reputations lag reality by years in both directions. A school that was oversubscribed a decade ago may have changed; a newer campus may now be excellent. What matters is fit: curriculum, distance from your home, class sizes, the feel of the place when you walk in, and how your particular child is likely to do there.

Whatever names you gather from friends and WhatsApp groups, treat them as a starting list to go and verify in person, not a decision. The visit almost always reorders the shortlist.

Term calendars and start dates

Term structure trips up more relocating families than anything except traffic. Schools following the British and American calendars typically run a three-term year starting around September, with the long break over the summer. Some Ghanaian schools historically ran a different rhythm, though many international-facing schools now align closely with the northern-hemisphere year. The mismatch matters if you are moving mid-year.

If your child finishes a UK or US school year in the summer and you arrive in August or September, the transition is clean. Arrive in, say, January and you may be slotting in mid-year, which some schools accommodate and others do not, depending on year group and space. Ask each school directly how they handle mid-year entry and whether they can bridge any curriculum gap.

Holidays are worth checking too, especially if the family plans to travel back to the diaspora during breaks or if grandparents will visit. Line the school calendar up against flight seasons early. It is a small piece of admin that saves a lot of expensive last-minute booking later, and it is exactly the sort of detail that gets overlooked in the rush of a big move.

How admissions usually work

Admissions vary by school, but the shape is broadly consistent. You submit an application, usually online, and provide records from the current school — recent reports, sometimes reference letters. Many schools then assess the child, either through a test appropriate to the year group or an interview, and younger children may have an informal observation session instead.

Popular schools maintain waiting lists, and places in certain year groups fill well ahead. That is the single biggest reason to start early. If you know your move-home window, begin the school conversation months in advance, not weeks. Applying to more than one school is sensible, so you are not left without a place if a first choice is full.

Have your documents ready in digital form before you start: passports, immunisation records, the last two years of school reports, and any assessment or special-needs paperwork. If your child holds Ghanaian heritage, our note on dual citizenship in Ghana is worth a read, as status can affect enrolment paperwork and, at some institutions, fee categories.

What drives the cost

We do not quote school fees here, and you should be wary of anyone who gives you a confident figure second-hand, because fees change annually and differ sharply between schools and year groups. What we can do is explain what drives the number, so you can ask the right questions and read a fee schedule properly.

Cost is shaped by curriculum and how internationally the school benchmarks itself, the year group (senior years usually cost more), the depth of facilities, and the mix of local and expatriate staff. Beyond the headline tuition, ask specifically about one-off costs — application, assessment, registration and sometimes a refundable or non-refundable development levy — and recurring extras such as transport, meals, uniforms, exam entry, trips and technology.

Ask for the full fee schedule in writing, including the payment plan and what happens if you withdraw. A qualified accountant can help you plan the cash flow of a full year, particularly if you are paying from abroad and exposed to exchange-rate swings, so build that professional advice into your budgeting rather than guessing.

Location and the school run

Where a school sits will govern your family's mornings, and Accra traffic is unforgiving. A campus that looks a short distance away on a map can be forty-five minutes each way at 7am. Many international schools cluster in East Legon, Cantonments, Airport Residential, Labone, Tema and along the Spintex Road, so families often choose a home with a specific school run in mind rather than the other way round.

Think about the daily reality: who does the drop-off and pick-up, whether the school runs its own buses and how long those routes take, and what the return leg looks like after activities. If both parents work, a school bus or a driver can be the difference between a workable routine and a daily grind. Our guide to getting around Ghana sets out the transport options honestly.

It is also worth driving the route at the actual times you would do the run, not at a quiet midday hour. We often take parents out at 7am specifically so they feel the real commute before they sign a lease near a school. It changes decisions more often than you would think.

Questions worth asking before you enrol

When you visit, go beyond the tour script. Ask about class sizes and the actual teacher-to-pupil ratio, not the advertised one. Ask how many teachers stay year on year, since high staff turnover is a warning sign. Ask what happens academically for a child arriving mid-year or switching curricula, and how the school supports a settling-in period.

For senior years, ask about recent exam results and, crucially, where leavers actually go on to study, because that tells you whether the school delivers the outcome you are paying for. Ask about pastoral care, safeguarding, and how the school handles a child who is homesick or struggling to adjust after a move. Ask about extracurriculars, since these help diaspora children make friends fast.

Finally, ask the boring but vital administrative questions: the full fee schedule, the withdrawal policy, and what documents they need. Get the important answers in writing. A confident, transparent school will not mind a thorough parent; hesitation or vagueness on fees and outcomes is itself useful information.

Early years, boarding and looking beyond Accra

Your options shift with the age of the child. For nursery and early years, proximity and warmth of care usually matter more than curriculum branding, and there are many good early-learning options across the city, so you can afford to prioritise a short, easy run and a setting your child takes to. As children get older and exams loom, curriculum and outcomes rightly take over the decision.

Boarding is worth a mention. A number of well-known schools in Ghana, including some outside Accra, offer boarding, which some diaspora families consider — particularly where a child is older, or where parents are still splitting time between Ghana and abroad during the transition. It is a big decision for a child who is also adjusting to a new country, so weigh it carefully and visit before committing.

Do not assume everything worth having is in Accra, either. Strong schools exist in Kumasi, Cape Coast, Tema and elsewhere, and if your move is to another city, plenty of good choices may be closer to your new home than the Accra names everyone repeats. The same principles apply wherever you look: match the curriculum, visit in person, check the outcomes, and talk to other parents. Our guide to a first trip back to Ghana is a useful companion if this is an early, exploratory visit.

Helping children settle after the move

The academic fit is only half of it. Children moving from London, New York or Toronto to Accra face a genuine adjustment — new climate, new accents, new social codes — and how a school handles that first term matters. Look for a place with a visible community of other returnee and international families, because a child who arrives to find peers in the same boat settles far faster.

Give the move a soft landing. Arriving a couple of weeks before term starts, so children can find their feet, see their new home and shake off the jet lag, makes the first day of school much easier. Many families do a short orientation trip first, to visit schools and neighbourhoods together, which also lets the children feel part of the decision.

Reconnecting with heritage is part of the reward. Our guides for families reconnecting with Ghana and on settling here for the long term speak to that wider adjustment beyond the classroom.

How we help diaspora families

Choosing a school from thousands of miles away is hard, and the stakes feel enormous because they are your children. We cannot enrol a child for you, and we would never pretend to advise on the merits of one school over another as though we ran an admissions office. What we can do is get you on the ground efficiently, so you make the decision yourself with your own eyes.

In practice that means a school-visit trip: you send us your shortlist and your dates, and we plan a route that fits several visits into a few days, with an air-conditioned car and a driver-guide who knows the city and its traffic. We handle the logistics; you focus on the schools, the neighbourhoods and how your family feels in each.

Start early, verify everything in person, and lean on the right professionals for fees and contracts. Get the school right and, in our experience, the whole move home settles into place around it.

Questions people ask