The cheapest international school in Copenhagen costs only 3,665 US dollars per year in fees, according to International Schools Databasewhich puts it on par with the amount typically demanded by a British private school in the early 1980s.
Between 1991 and 2016, private school fees in the UK rose by 550 per cent, far outstripping the 201 per cent rise in the cost of living and the 217 per cent rise in average earnings.
All this means that Copenhagen offers an incredible loophole for Brits and other internationals who want their children to have a privileged education (perhaps similar to the one they had) but realistically cannot afford it in their home countries.
Made possible by the huge government subsidies given to almost all schools, it is a curiosity around Copenhagen in direct contrast to the overall cost of living, which is extremely high.
In December 2022, Copenhagen was found to be the tenth most expensive city to live in. according to the annual survey by the Economist Intelligence Unitand the 16th favorite for internationals in 2021, according to Mercer.
Average is much cheaper than the rest
That International Schools Database ranks Copenhagen as the cheapest for international schools based on an assessment of 31 cities in Europe.
Only Valencia, Alicante, Berlin and Sofia were able to undercut the cheapest price of US$3,665 per year, but Copenhagen’s median price of US$4,501 was over 1,500 cheaper than the next on the list, Valencia.
However, Copenhagen has an outlier that counteracts the trend. According to the report, the fees for Copenhagen International School are $18,999 per year. Had the ranking been based on the most expensive price a school charges, Copenhagen would have been ranked 20th.
“For the third year in a row, Copenhagen remains the cheapest city for international education, despite its reputation as a high-cost destination,” the report noted.
“Although this may come as a surprise to some due to the Danish capital’s high cost of living, most public and private schools in Denmark actually receive government support, which keeps costs down.”
other than that Copenhagen is the 73rd cheapest city in the worldout of 76 respondents.
Swiss schools charge the most
Switzerland, meanwhile, was the most expensive country in Europe for international tuition fees, with Zurich, Lausanne-Vaud and Geneva filling out the top three spots. Zurich’s median is six times higher than Copenhagen’s.
It is almost amusing to note that Switzerland and Denmark are often neck and neck in the most expensive surveys, but in this one they are first and last. In August, Copenhagen beat Bern to second place in a survey ranking Europe’s most expensive capitals for espresso!
Of the bottom ten, four cities were located in Spain and three in Eastern Europe.
The report is based on the cost of educating six-year-olds, so fees for older children may be higher.
“To calculate the prices of international schools, we used the full price of a full term for a six-year-old child, excluding one-off costs such as enrollment fees, application fees etc and not including independent schools,” it explained.