The Rankings — 2026/27
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Independent · Unpaid · Editorial
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
Penny's picks
Portugal · Cascais Municipality
St. Julian's School
British curriculum since 1932 on a former transatlantic cable estate steps from Carcavelos beach, teaching bilingually since 1935.
78.0
Score
Portugal · Sintra
Carlucci American International School of Lisbon
The Iberian Peninsula's oldest American school pairs a U.S. diploma with the IB from its Sintra hillside campus.
75.6
Score
Portugal · Setúbal District
St Peter's International School
Between Lisbon and Comporta, twin pathways pair Portugal's national curriculum with British IGCSEs and the IB Diploma
71.1
Score
Portugal · Lisbon
Lycée Français Charles Lepierre
Since 1907, Portugal's first Francophone lycee blends baccalaureat rigor with a bilingual Portuguese track in Lisbon's Amoreiras quarter.
58.7
Score
Portugal · Lisbon District
Deutsche Schule Lissabon
Rooted in an 1848 foundation, this Lumiar campus stands as the Iberian Peninsula's oldest German school, still charting students to the Abitur.
58.4
Score
Portugal · Norte
Oporto British School
Founded in 1894 by Porto's port wine growers, this Douro-side campus remains mainland Europe's oldest British school.
58.2
Score
Portugal
Escola Artística Soares dos Reis
53.5
Score
Portugal · Lisbon District
TASIS Portugal
A 1956 Swiss lineage lands on the Portuguese Riviera, pairing Core Knowledge rigor with an IB Diploma graduating its first class in 2026.
53.4
Score
Portugal · Lisbon District
St. Dominic's International School
Portugal's first full IB continuum school, tracing a Dominican search for truth back to 1954 on the Cascais coast.
52.9
Score
Portugal · Porto District
CLIP – Oporto International School
Where Cambridge IGCSE and the IB run in parallel, and OPOMUN each spring turns Porto into a model United Nations chamber.
52.7
Score
Portugal
Escola Artística António Arroio
52.6
Score
Portugal · Porto
Colégio Nossa Senhora do Rosário
Rooted in an 1871 mission by an Irish schoolmistress and her Sisters of the Sacred Heart, this Boavista convent day school has repeatedly topped Portugal's national secondary exam rankings.
50.2
Score
Portugal · Lisbon District
Oeiras International School
A 17th-century palace estate near Lisbon runs the full IB continuum on a deliberately non-selective, community-rooted admissions model.
47.4
Score
Portugal · Lisbon District
King's College School Cascais
A EUR75 million coastal campus outside Lisbon pairs Cambridge rigor through Year 11 with a choice of IB or A-Levels beyond.
45.0
Score
Portugal · Lisbon
PaRK International School
Bilingual immersion to Grade 4 gives way to Cambridge IGCSE and the IB Diploma, inside Lisbon's global Inspired Education network.
42.8
Score
Portugal · Lisbon District
United Lisbon International School
Blending American rigor with the IB Diploma on Lisbon's Parque das Nacoes waterfront, backed by Microsoft Showcase School status.
38.3
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
Bands out of 100
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.
- Exceptional90–100
Top of cohort
- Distinguished80–89
Elite tier
- Strong70–79
Consistently high
- Solid60–69
Reliable performer
- Average50–59
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.