The Rankings — 2026/27

World's Top Schools, Ranked.

Every ranked and candidate school in the directory, one continuous list from #1 down. Use this view when you want the full picture without switching between tiers.

This ranking is locked. The next ranking update will be on September 1, 2027. How the ranking cycle works · Why this ranking exists

Alumni league

Penny's picks

Ages
Places
Type
24 schools in Netherlands
1

Netherlands · South Holland

The British School in The Netherlands

Since 1931, a Voorschoten campus near The Hague where sixth formers choose freely among A-Levels, BTEC, IB Diploma or IB Career Programme.

DayAges 3–18British
13vs 25/26

76.0

Score

2

Netherlands · North Holland

International School of Amsterdam

Just outside Amsterdam, this 1964 founding became the first school anywhere to run the full IB continuum from age two to eighteen.

DayAges 3–18IB
13vs 25/26

75.6

Score

3

Netherlands · South Holland

Erasmiaans Gymnasium

Rotterdam's 1328 categoriaal gymnasium — secondary-only, classics-steeped, and unapologetically academic.

DayAges 3–18Dutch Gymnasium
New

74.4

Score

4

Netherlands · Limburg

UWC Maastricht

On a green campus outside Maastricht, roommates from over 100 nationalities share every floor of this Dutch state-subsidised IB college.

BothAges 11–18IB (Diploma, MYP, PYP)
New

74.2

Score

5

Netherlands · North Holland

Barlaeus Gymnasium

Latin and Greek still anchor the timetable inside a neoclassical 1885 monument facing Paradiso on the Weteringschans.

DayAges 3–18Dutch Gymnasium
New

74.0

Score

6

Netherlands · South Holland

American School of The Hague

Near The Hague's courts of international justice, a Peace and Diplomacy strand turns Model UN into fieldwork in Nepal and Thailand.

DayAges 3–18American · IB
New

73.5

Score

7

Netherlands · South Holland

Gymnasium Sorghvliet

A stone's throw from the Dutch PM's residence, this Protestant gymnasium sends fifth-formers to Rome each year to live Latin and Greek.

DayAges 3–18Dutch Gymnasium
New

73.3

Score

8

Netherlands · North Holland

Vossius Gymnasium

Set in a landmark 1930s Amsterdam School building, this classics gymnasium consistently posts some of the Netherlands' top final-exam results.

DayAges 3–18Dutch Gymnasium
New

72.4

Score

9

Netherlands · North Holland

Het Amsterdams Lyceum

The Netherlands' oldest lyceum, its landmark Amsterdam School building sends every class to a century-old forest retreat each year.

DayAges 3–18Dutch Gymnasium · VWO
New

71.5

Score

10

Netherlands · Utrecht

Stedelijk Gymnasium Utrecht

Founded in 1474 as a Latin school, this Utrecht gymnasium still pairs Greek and Latin with robotics and philosophy.

DayAges 3–18Dutch Gymnasium
New

70.9

Score

11

Netherlands · North Holland

The British School of Amsterdam

Canal-named houses and a monument-listed Havenstraat campus anchor Amsterdam's only full British nursery-to-sixth-form pathway.

DayAges 3–18British
New

67.9

Score

12

Netherlands · South Holland

Sint-Adelbert College

Founded in 1954 by Wassenaar parents seeking a Catholic school, pairing gymnasium rigor with sport, art and world-focused talent tracks.

DayAges 3–18Dutch VWO · Dutch Gymnasium
New

67.8

Score

13

Netherlands · South Holland

The International School of The Hague

In the Kijkduin dunes, this IB day school runs MUNISH, Europe's second-largest student Model UN conference.

DayAges 4–18IB
15vs 25/26

67.3

Score

14

Netherlands · South Holland

Nord Anglia International School Rotterdam

Born from a 1959 American community, this Hillegersberg school pairs IB rigor with MIT-designed STEAM and Juilliard arts training.

DayAges 3–18American · IB
12vs 25/26

65.4

Score

15

Netherlands · North Holland

Amsterdam International Community School

A public alternative to Amsterdam's private international schools, running the full IB continuum from a climate-neutral campus.

DayAges 4–18IB
13vs 25/26

63.1

Score

16

Netherlands · Flevoland

International School Almere

A full IB continuum, ages two to eighteen, on one shared campus in the Netherlands' fastest-growing city

DayAges 11–18IB
New

62.4

Score

17

Netherlands · South Holland

Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest

One of five schools worldwide that piloted the IB Middle Years Programme, pairing Dutch rigor with a bilingual, Leiden-rooted campus.

DayAges 11–18Dutch · IB
New

59.4

Score

18

Netherlands · Groningen

Praedinius Gymnasium

A 14th-century Latin school in Groningen, renamed for Renaissance reformer Praedinius, still pairs Greek and philosophy with a technasium track

DayAges 11–18Dutch
New

58.6

Score

19

Netherlands · South Holland

Gymnasium Haganum

Tracing its roots to 1327, this Hague gymnasium still drills Latin and Greek behind a 1907 neo-renaissance facade.

DayAges 11–18Dutch
New

57.1

Score

20

Netherlands · Overijssel

International School Eerde

A moated 1715 castle that once sheltered Jewish refugee children now anchors an IB boarding community of 25-plus nationalities.

BothAges 10–19IB
New

56.8

Score

21

Netherlands · South Holland

Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden

Tracing its roots to a 1323 charter in Leiden, this gymnasium still makes Latin and Ancient Greek compulsory for every pupil.

DayAges 11–18Dutch
New

55.5

Score

22

Netherlands · Utrecht

International School Utrecht

State-subsidised IB continuum from age four to nineteen, relocating to a purpose-built Utrecht Science Park campus by 2027.

DayAges 2–18IB
New

50.7

Score

23

Netherlands · South Holland

Rotterdam International Secondary School

Steps from Rotterdam Central Station, this state-subsidised IB day school draws students from over eighty nations without trading on exclusivity.

DayAges 11–18IB
New

49.8

Score

24

Netherlands · South Holland

International School Delft

Set on the TU Delft campus, an IB continuum where design-thinking and engineering rigor shape every classroom

DayAges 4–18IB
New

48.9

Score

Methodology

How we rank

Our composite weights eight categories. Each is scored 0–100 by our editorial panel and audited against 30 sub-criteria drawn from school records, university placement audits, alumni surveys, campus visits and parent interviews. Schools cannot pay for placement or preview scores.

Weighting

  • Academic Outcomes20%
  • University Placement17%
  • Prestige & Heritage13%
  • Alumni Network13%
  • Facilities13%
  • Transparency & Communications8%
  • Peer & Industry Review10%
  • Admissions Selectivity & Demand8%

Score key

Reading the scores

Every category, sub-criterion and composite total across this issue uses the same six-band editorial palette. Bands are calibrated against the full 300-school cohort — a "Distinguished" mark is meaningfully harder to earn than a "Strong" one.

  • Exceptional
    90–100

    Top of cohort

  • Distinguished
    80–89

    Elite tier

  • Strong
    70–79

    Consistently high

  • Solid
    60–69

    Reliable performer

  • Average
    50–59

    Room to grow

  • Below par
    < 50

    Underperforming

The same colour bands are used inside each school profile, on category chips, radar charts and the annual score-history line — so a colour glimpsed on the Rankings page always means the same thing everywhere else.