International School of Luxembourg

Admissions Culture at ISL

ISL does not position itself as a highly selective institution in the conventional sense. There is no competitive entrance examination, and the school's stated policy is open enrollment across all grade levels, subject to available space. However, this openness is structured: each grade band has its own age-appropriate assessment process designed to ensure students can access and benefit from the IB curriculum.

Grade-by-Grade Assessment

• Kindergarten (Early Years, ages 3–5): Individual or group play-based interviews. These observe social readiness, communication, and curiosity — not academic attainment.
• Grades 1–5 (Lower School, ages 6–10): School reports and transcripts are required. Assessments may include MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) testing or English placement components.
• Grades 6–10 (Middle School and early Upper School, ages 11–15): Applicants sit the CAT4 (Cognitive Abilities Test, Fourth Edition) and complete online English and Mathematics placement tests. Non-native English speakers are assessed for language support needs.
• Grades 11–12 (IB Diploma, ages 16–18): Admissions handled individually; applicants are advised to contact the school directly.

Application Timeline (2026–2027)

• Applications open: 1 September 2025
• Group interviews (Early Years): From 10 November 2025
• Decisions issued: By mid-March 2026
• School year begins: 25 August 2025 (for 2025–26)

Fees at Application Stage

A one-time application fee of €300 is payable at the time of application submission. Upon acceptance, a €3,000 enrollment deposit is required to secure the place.

Waitlist Policy

ISL acknowledges that popular grade levels may be oversubscribed. Accepted applicants for whom no immediate place exists are placed in a waiting pool, with offers made as vacancies arise. This transparency is valuable for families planning relocations to Luxembourg.

English Language Expectations

As an English-medium school, ISL expects age-appropriate English proficiency for entry into the mainstream programme, particularly at secondary level. Placement testing is used diagnostically rather than as a bar to entry, allowing the school to direct appropriate EAL (English as an Additional Language) support to students who need it.

Co-Curricular Life and Unique Features at ISL

Beyond its IB academic programme, ISL offers a rich and structured co-curricular environment that reflects its commitment to holistic development. The school's activities span competitive sport, performing arts, global citizenship, academic enrichment, and international service.

The Full IB Continuum

One of ISL's most significant structural features is that it offers the complete IB continuum: PYP (Primary Years Programme), MYP (Middle Years Programme), and DP (Diploma Programme). This means students who join at Kindergarten can progress through a coherent, philosophically consistent educational journey all the way to age 18 without switching curricular frameworks. The MYP is currently running as a Candidate programme (with PYP and DP fully authorised), indicating the school is developing towards full authorisation across all three programmes.

Duke of Edinburgh's Award (Mérite Jeunesse)

ISL is a participating centre for the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, known in Luxembourg as Mérite Jeunesse. Available to students in Grades 9–12, this globally recognised award requires participants to complete sections in physical activity, skill development, voluntary service, and (at Gold level) an adventurous journey. It is particularly valued by university admissions offices as evidence of character and sustained commitment beyond the classroom.

Model United Nations (MUN)

ISL's MUN club (Grades 7–12) gives students experience in international diplomacy, research, public speaking, and negotiation. Luxembourg's position as a European capital gives the programme added resonance, with proximity to real international institutions.

Global Issues Network (GIN)

The GIN club engages students in identifying and addressing real-world issues through student-led projects. This connects directly to the IB's CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) requirement and to ISL's core values of positive change and community.

Competitive Sport via NECIS

ISL competes in NECIS (Network of European and Central International Schools) fixtures across multiple sports including football, rugby, athletics, and swimming for students from Grade 4 upward. This regional competitive network allows ISL students to represent their school against peers from other international schools across Europe.

Performing Arts

ISL maintains a strong performing arts tradition with choir, concert band/orchestra, drama productions, and visual arts. These programmes are available school-wide and feed into the IB Arts group 6 subjects at Diploma level.

Language Learning

In addition to English as the medium of instruction, ISL formally teaches French, German, and Spanish — all offered at IGCSE and IB DP levels. Given Luxembourg's trilingual national context, French in particular has strong practical relevance for students living in the country.

Community and Diversity at ISL

Few schools in Europe can match the demographic diversity of the International School of Luxembourg. With students from 57 different nationalities enrolled across a community of over 1,300, ISL has organically become a microcosm of the international world its graduates will inhabit.

Who Attends ISL?

Approximately 91.5% of ISL's students are international — children of expatriates, diplomats, EU officials, and multinational corporate employees based in Luxembourg. Only 8.5% of students are Luxembourg nationals. This unusually low local percentage reflects Luxembourg's unique position as host to major EU institutions (the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Auditors, the European Investment Bank) and international financial firms, which draw professionals from across the globe.

The Luxembourg Context

Luxembourg City is one of the world's most international capitals. It is already trilingual at a national level (Luxembourgish, French, German are all official languages), and English is widely spoken in business and diplomatic circles. ISL students therefore live and study in an environment where multilingualism and cross-cultural interaction are normalised — not exceptional.

Staff Diversity

With over 250 staff members supporting more than 1,300 students, ISL maintains an approximate staff-to-student ratio of around 1:5 — generous by international standards, though this figure encompasses all staff rather than teachers alone. The teaching faculty itself reflects the school's international character, bringing pedagogical traditions and perspectives from across the world.

Language as Community Glue

While English is the primary language of instruction, ISL actively teaches French, German, Spanish, and other languages, both as curriculum subjects and as a reflection of its multilingual community. Non-native English speakers receive placement assessments and support to ensure integration into the academic programme without language acting as a barrier.

Supporting Mobile Families

ISL is particularly attuned to the needs of internationally mobile families. Its admissions process is designed to be accessible mid-year where space permits, and its pastoral culture prioritises helping newly arrived students settle quickly. The school's five core values — particularly community and listening — are operationally important in a school where students frequently arrive from and depart to different countries.

Educational Philosophy at ISL

The International School of Luxembourg has built its identity around a clear and publicly articulated set of beliefs that shape every aspect of school life. Rather than framing its philosophy in purely academic terms, ISL situates learning within a broader human context — one in which relationships, curiosity, and responsibility are as important as academic achievement.

The Five Core Values

ISL's five core values are not abstract aspirations; they are behavioural commitments expressed in plain language:

• Listening — "We believe in the power of listening to each other." This value underpins respectful dialogue between students, staff, and families in a community of 57 nationalities.
• Lifelong Learning — "Learning should happen in and out of the classroom." ISL encourages intellectual curiosity beyond formal instruction, reflected in its wide extracurricular and CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) programme.
• Positive Change — "Change is almost always a force for good." The school embraces innovation and adaptability, qualities essential in an internationally mobile student population.
• Teamwork — "We achieve more if we work as a team." Collaborative project work, group activities, and co-curricular programmes reinforce this value at every level.
• Community (Caring) — "Looking after each other like family." With students from across the globe, ISL deliberately cultivates a warm, inclusive atmosphere that mitigates the challenges of frequent transitions faced by expat families.

Mission and Vision

ISL's official mission is: "We ensure that everyone in our community becomes inspired, resilient and passionate about achieving what matters, anywhere in the world." The three adjectives — inspired, resilient, passionate — capture the school's holistic ambition: academic success is insufficient without the inner resources to pursue it across different cultural contexts.

The vision statement extends this outward: "ISL is a leader in international education, known for academic excellence, personal development, extraordinary teaching, and diverse learning experiences. Our school shall bring to life the best of Luxembourg and international education — creativity, innovation, inclusion, global-mindedness and sustainability."

IB as Pedagogical Framework

The IB continuum (PYP, MYP, DP) provides the structural backbone for these values. The IB learner profile — inquirers, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, reflective — maps naturally onto ISL's core values. Inquiry-based learning is not merely a teaching method at ISL; it is the practical expression of a belief that students learn best when they are active participants in constructing knowledge.

Global-Mindedness in Practice

With over 91% of students coming from outside Luxembourg and 57 nationalities represented, ISL's philosophical commitment to global-mindedness is enacted daily. The school's location in Luxembourg — a multilingual, multicultural European capital and home to major EU institutions — reinforces this orientation, giving students direct exposure to international governance, commerce, and cultural exchange.

Academic Culture and IB Results at ISL

ISL has established itself as one of Europe's stronger IB Diploma providers, with a track record of results that significantly outperform global benchmarks. The school's academic culture is characterised by rigorous expectations, personalised support, and a breadth of subject choice across the IB continuum.

IB Diploma Pass Rates

• 2021: 96% pass rate (101 candidates); average score 35/45; 3 students scored 45 (perfect); 15.4% scored 40 or above; 43% scored 36 or above; 83% scored 30 or above.
• 2022: 98% pass rate; average score 36.4/45; 4 students scored 45; 27% scored 40 or above.

For context, the global IB Diploma pass rate typically sits between 79–85%, and the global average score is approximately 29–30/45. ISL's average of 35–36 places it consistently in the upper tier of IB schools worldwide.

Subject Breadth

ISL offers a full suite of IB Diploma subjects across all six groups:

• Group 1 (Language A): English A Literature, French A, German A
• Group 2 (Language B/Ab Initio): French B, German B, Spanish B, English B/ESL
• Group 3 (Individuals & Societies): History, Geography, Economics
• Group 4 (Sciences): Biology, Chemistry, Physics; IGCSE Coordinated Science at MYP level
• Group 5 (Mathematics): Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches (AA), Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation (AI)
• Group 6 (Arts): Visual Arts, Music, Theatre

At MYP level, students sit Cambridge IGCSE examinations, providing an internationally recognised secondary credential before entering the Diploma Programme.

University Destinations

ISL graduates access highly selective universities across multiple continents. The Class of 2022 included placements at:

• UK: Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick
• USA: Stanford, Harvard (Ivy League), Duke
• Canada: McGill
• France: Sciences Po

Oxbridge admissions totalled 2 students (Oxford and Cambridge) and Ivy League admissions 1 student (Harvard) from the 2022 cohort alone — notable outcomes for a school of ~1,300 students.

Teaching and Assessment Approach

ISL's approach integrates IB-mandated internal assessments with external examinations, alongside formative assessment practices aligned with the IB learner profile. The inquiry-based model encourages students to develop conceptual understanding alongside factual knowledge, preparing them well for the extended essay, theory of knowledge, and CAS requirements of the Diploma Programme.

Accreditation Quality Assurance

ISL has been an authorised IB World School since December 1994. It holds dual accreditation from the Council of International Schools (CIS) and Middle States Association (MSA), with a joint review visit in September 2023 resulting in a positive outcome — providing external validation of its academic standards.