International Schools in Da Nang 2026: Fees and Entry

Da Nang has about five international schools, and the choice comes down to curriculum, budget and the commute. Published 2026-27 tuition runs from about $8,000 to $25,500 a year at the schools that list prices, and every school adds one-off enrolment fees on top.

I handle visa paperwork for expat families in Da Nang, so school paperwork is a question I hear a lot. Figures come from each school’s own pages where they exist and two fee directories for the rest. St. Nicholas and UK Academy do not publish firm figures, and I say so.

Schools bill in dong. I converted published list prices at 26,000 dong per $1 and rounded, so ask each school for its current schedule.

Which curriculum fits which Da Nang school?

Five schools cover four curricula. SIS Da Nang teaches Singapore primary and Cambridge IGCSE and A Levels. Odyssey is an IB candidate school. APU and The St. Nicholas School follow US-style programmes, and UK Academy runs a British programme alongside the Vietnamese curriculum. Hoi An International School, 30 minutes away, adds a Cambridge option with a class cap of 16 children.

What does SIS Da Nang offer, and what does it cost?

The 2026-27 International Programme at Singapore International School Da Nang runs from about $10,200 in Nursery 2 to about $25,500 in Year 12. The school takes children from 1.5 to 18 years, Pre-Nursery to Year 12. Primary follows the Singapore curriculum, then Cambridge Primary, IGCSE in Years 9 and 10, and AS and A Levels in the last two years. Teaching is in English with Mandarin and Vietnamese lessons.

Years 1 to 3 cost about $20,300 and Year 11 about $24,400. One-time costs are a placement test of about $110, registration of about $830 and a refundable deposit of about $580. Families pay yearly or in four terms of 35%, 25%, 25% and 15%, due 30 days before the first day of school.

Choose SIS for Cambridge exam results and a Singapore-style primary, with classes capped at 25 children. It lists the highest tuition in the city at the top year groups.

Is Odyssey International School a real IB option?

Not yet fully: Odyssey is a candidate school for the IB Primary Years and Middle Years programmes, and candidacy does not guarantee authorisation, a point the school itself makes. It sits in Sentosa City, Dien Ban Dong, between Da Nang and Hoi An. Stages run Early Childhood 3 to 6, Primary 6 to 11 and Secondary 11 to 16, taught in English with EAL support.

Official 2026-27 tuition starts at $8,000 for Junior Kindy and $9,300 for Senior Kindy. A fee directory puts Years 1 to 3 at about $13,700 and Years 11 to 12 at about $24,000, although the school’s own stages stop at 16, so ask what happens after Year 10. Application and enrolment fees total about $960, and the annual campus and development fee is of similar size.

Odyssey publishes its discounts: 7.5% off tuition for a second child, 20% for a third, 5% for annual payment and a cap of 20% per student. Admission has four steps: inquiry form, campus visit, application with an assessment or observation session, then a decision. Mid-year entry is allowed when a class has space. Choose Odyssey for an IB-style programme with the lowest entry price among the three big names.

Who is APU American International School for?

APU suits families who want an American transcript with AP, SAT and ACT preparation. APU American International School Da Nang, at 299 Tran Dai Nghia and open since 2015, teaches a US-style programme from kindergarten to Grade 12 for ages 3 to 18. It runs an international track and a bilingual track. Its own page lists Cognia accreditation and Council of International Schools membership.

List tuition for 2026-27 runs from about $9,600 for KG1 to KG3 to about $23,000 for Grades 11 and 12, with Grades 6 to 8 near $19,000. Testing, application and enrolment together are about $230, plus a refundable deposit of about $1,150. Another listing quotes APU about 5% lower, possibly an early-payment price.

Admission starts with an online application and an English proficiency test, which decides whether a child enters the ELD programme or mainstream classes.

What can you confirm about The St. Nicholas School?

The curriculum and location, but not firm prices. The St. Nicholas School, at 458 Nguyen Huu Tho in Cam Le, offers an American curriculum plus the Vietnamese programme for ages 2 to 18 and is described as a Texas Tech University partner school. Its tuition is the hardest to pin down: one fee directory lists 2026-27 from about $6,500 for nursery to KG, while other listings quote higher figures.

The school’s own website would not load when I checked, so I give no full price list. Ask for the fee schedule, admission steps and accreditation documents in writing before you pay the application fee, which the directory lists at about $115, and consider the school mainly if price decides and you can verify the numbers.

Is UK Academy Da Nang the British option?

Yes. UK Academy Da Nang Campus, founded in 2016 and run by Nguyen Hoang Group, teaches the Oxford International Curriculum with IGCSE and A Level exits alongside the Vietnamese curriculum, bilingual, for roughly ages 3 to 18. The school does not publish tuition and I found no public description of its admission steps, so request a fee quote directly. Choose it for a British programme with a bilingual Vietnamese track.

Is Hoi An International School worth the commute from Da Nang?

It is worth it for Cambridge in small classes, if a daily bus ride suits your family. Hoi An International School, about 30 minutes from Da Nang, teaches Cambridge Primary, IGCSE and A Levels with an optional Vietnamese track and bilingual Early Years, for ages 1.5 to 18. Classes cap at 16 children, against 25 at SIS. Tuition lists from about $8,300 to $19,600 depending on the track.

Admission includes an assessment of about $40 for every child except Early Years, and the school uses waitlists. Leaving is expensive: the school keeps 30% of annual fees if you withdraw by 30 September, 60% by 31 December and 85% by 31 March, so read the contract terms before the first payment.

What documents do schools ask for, and does my child need a visa?

Schools ask for the same core paperwork: the child’s passport, a birth certificate, previous school reports, immunisation and health records, passport photos and a parent’s passport copy. Some also want proof of a valid visa or temporary residence card, and SIS requires an original health check certificate. Admissions are rolling, so apply several months ahead.

The paperwork that stalls families is the right to stay. A visa or e‑visa carries an end date, and when it runs out mid-term the options are an extension, a border run during lessons or an overstay. Which visa category a child qualifies for depends on the parent’s own status, so check the current rules with the Immigration Department and see how to stay longer in Da Nang without overstaying.

This is the part BestBus Vietnam handles. You can file on the e‑visa portal yourself, with a $25 state fee for single entry or $50 for multiple entry, if the portal accepts your card and you are comfortable with the form. If it rejects the card or you would rather not watch dates, I pay the fee with a card the portal takes, pick the entry point and plan a border run or an extension around the school calendar. Send me your child’s visa end date on WhatsApp and I will tell you what fits before term starts.

How do the Da Nang school fees compare at a glance?

SIS Da Nang is the most expensive at the top end, APU and Odyssey sit close together, and The St. Nicholas School is listed lowest, but only one source backs its figures. The table shows published 2026-27 tuition per year in dollars. Ranges run from the youngest to the oldest year group, and one-off fees come on top at every school.

Which Da Nang international school should you choose?

Start from the curriculum your child needs for university or a return home, then check the fee table and the daily commute. Visit two schools in person, get The St. Nicholas School and UK Academy figures in writing, and set your visa dates around the mid-August term start.

Tuition is only one line of a family budget. The guide to moving to Vietnam with kids covers insurance and monthly costs, and where to live in Da Nang matters because Odyssey and Hoi An International School both sit outside the city.

The visa dates are the one part of a school move you can fix on your own: the e‑visa portal and a calendar are enough if the dates line up. But if you would rather not track end dates against a term that starts in mid-August, I can plan the visa side with you. Tell me your dates on WhatsApp.

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