International School Fees in Cascais and Lisbon: 2026/27 Guide

If you’re moving to the Cascais coast with children, school fees are probably the biggest number on your spreadsheet. They’re also the hardest to pin down.

Each school publishes its fees differently. Some use one clear table. Some split costs across three or four documents. A few don’t publish them at all.

This guide puts the 2026/27 figures side by side for all 29 schools and nurseries in our Cascais schools guide: 22 international schools, plus 5 bilingual Portuguese colégios and 2 nurseries in a separate section, because they usually price by the month. Every number comes from the school’s own website, and we link to the page so you can check it yourself.

Last checked: 21 October 2026. Schools review fees every year, so treat this as a starting point, not a quote.

The short answer

For 2026/27, published annual tuition at international schools along the Cascais–Lisbon line ranges from €8,200 to €27,500 a year. That runs from Kairos Montessori’s lower fee band (Band I, ages 3–12) up to King’s College School, Cascais in Years 12–13. The amount depends on the school and on your child’s age.

Younger children usually cost less. Fees rise as children move into secondary school and exam years.

Schools that follow another country’s national curriculum often cost less. Deutsche Schule Lissabon publishes €8,385–€8,615 for 2026/27, the French lycée publishes 2026-2027 tuition from €6,098, and Svenska Skolan i Lissabon lists €7,900 a year (€7,426 for families the school gets a Swedish state grant for).

On top of tuition, most schools charge one-off entry fees when your child first joins. These can add several thousand euros to your first year.

Tuition by school, 2026/27

Annual tuition only, as published by each school, lowest to highest year group.

Two notes on the newer additions. Kairos has two fee bands and says it wants about half of families on each, so ask which band applies to you. Svenska Skolan’s fee table has no year heading; the 2026-2027 label comes from its payment notes (45% in the autumn term, 55% in the spring term).

A quick note on IB status. King’s College School, Cascais: IB Diploma authorised (IB school finder, since 15 May 2026). The school’s own website still describes it as a candidate school (checked 21 October 2026). Redbridge International School and The Lisboan say on their own sites that they are IB Diploma candidate schools, which means authorisation has not been granted yet. Ask them where that process stands before you plan around it. Our guide to IB schools in Lisbon and Cascais compares every IB school in the area.

Bilingual colégios and nurseries

Portuguese private colégios and nurseries usually publish a monthly fee (mensalidade), not an annual one. The number of payments varies: 10 (September to June) or 11 (September to July) are both common, and pre-school is often billed over 11 months. On top of that there’s usually an enrolment fee (matrícula) and sometimes insurance. So compare the monthly fee and the number of payments, and only multiply where the school tells you how many months it charges.

Several of these schools hadn’t published 2026/27 prices when we checked. Where a link labelled 2026/2027 opens an older price list, we don’t copy the old figures; we just link to the school’s page.

Maple Bear also says families may qualify for Ministry of Education support (contratos simples and contratos de desenvolvimento), and lists a 5% discount for paying the year in one go.

The fees nobody mentions first

Tuition is only part of the bill. Most schools add one or more of these, and the names vary:

• Application fee. Paid when you apply, usually non-refundable. For 2026/27, OIS lists €250 and ISS Lisbon lists €200.
• Registration or enrolment fee. Paid once your child is offered a place. King’s Cascais lists €3,000 (Early Years 1 to Year 6) and €5,250 (Year 7 to Year 13). Redbridge lists €4,000. IPS Cascais lists a one-time €4,000 registration fee on acceptance. Kairos lists a one-off €2,350. Svenska Skolan charges €200 to join the waiting list and €300 to confirm a place, both non-refundable.
• Capital levy or building fee. A one-off or multi-year contribution to the campus. St. Dominic’s lists €5,250 for one new student. OIS lists €5,000. Prime lists €3,800 per family. CAISL charges a €1,953 building fee each year for the first five years from Grade 1.
• Annual registration or re-enrolment fee. Charged every year to hold your child’s place. St. Dominic’s charges €1,178 to €2,316 depending on grade. TASIS charges €750. IPS Cascais charges a €950 enrolment fee each year (insurance included). Kairos charges €925.

All figures above are for 2026/27 and come from each school’s linked fee page.

For your first year, add the entry fees to tuition. For later years, add only the annual ones.

What’s included, and what isn’t

This is where schools really differ. Read the small print on each fee page for:

• Lunch. Included at TASIS (lunch and two snacks) and at Svenska Skolan (home-cooked lunch and snacks). At CAISL it’s included only for Early Childhood and Kindergarten. Elsewhere it’s often extra. Prime lists €1,800 a year for meals. Kairos is unclear: its admissions page says food is included, but its 2026-27 Fees Policy lists lunch separately at €1,330 (Band I) or €1,600 (Band II) a year, so ask the school.
• School bus. Almost always extra, and priced by zone or route.
• Exam fees. IGCSE, A Level and IB exam entries are usually billed separately in exam years.
• Devices. Some schools provide a laptop or iPad. Others ask you to bring your own from a certain year.
• Trips, uniforms, after-school clubs. These vary a lot.

Discounts worth asking about

Many schools publish sibling discounts, and some offer a discount if you pay the whole year upfront. For example, St. Dominic’s lists 5% for annual payment before 1 July 2026. Redbridge refunds 2% of yearly tuition if paid before 15 July. Prime lists 15%, 25% and 40% for the second, third and fourth child.

Check the exact conditions on each school’s page. They change from year to year.

Paying fees from abroad

If your income or savings are outside the euro, the exchange rate and transfer fees can quietly add hundreds of euros a year. It’s worth comparing your bank’s rate with a specialist transfer service before the first invoice arrives.

How to budget for your first year

A simple way to estimate it:

1. Find your child’s year group on the school’s fee table.
2. Add every one-off fee (application, enrolment, capital levy).
3. Add the annual extras you’ll actually use (lunch, bus, insurance).
4. Add exam fees if your child is in an exam year.
5. Leave a small buffer for uniforms, trips and devices.

Do this for two or three schools and the real differences show up quickly. Sometimes the cheaper tuition isn’t the cheaper school.

Before you decide

Fees are only one part of the choice. The school run, the curriculum and how your child feels on the day you visit matter just as much.

So use these numbers to narrow your list, not to make the final call. Then visit. Most schools run open days or private tours. Our guide to international schools in Cascais lists each school with a link to its profile.

What matters most to your family right now: the budget, the curriculum, or the commute? Start there, and the rest gets easier.