Academia International School Basel

Excellent college; enthusiastic, excellent staff, you couldn't ask for more!

I am an American parent and I have two daughters in Academia. I have a daughter who will be graduating this year and going to university in the United States. Academia's IGCSE program definitely prepared her for applying for many universities in the United States. She is actually getting to go to college at the age of 17 because of how well the IGCSE program prepared her for applying for college. She is going to Penn State University and actually got early admission as a 16 year old because she completed the IGCSE level of classes and exams. Now she is taking AS level classes in her last year and those will afford her a few extra college credits in the United States. We have been extremely pleased with how this program has prepared her for college. It has been an extremely challenging program that is far harder than the United States high school program. And we moved here from a top high school in Boston, Massachusetts. She has applied to many universities and the IGCSE program made her prepared to do that. The Universities looked very favorably on her IGCSE program as what was needed for an incoming freshman at most universities.Our other daughter is vision impaired, and we have found that Academia has been extremely open and accepting of her needs and meeting her needs at school. We did not find that as some of the other international schools. Academia has made it easy for our daughter to get what she needs and access the cirriculum and be successful.Overall - this is a great school and we have been so pleased on how well prepared our children have become for university whether in Europe or in the United States.

Great school. We moved from a different international school and my daughter improved a lot academically in all subjects only in Academia. Small classes, good attention.After living in 6 countries and having a bad experience in another international school in Basel and then going through all international schools in the area - Academia is the best choice in Basel and one of the best school from my family's travel experience.

We moved to Basel two years ago from California and, as a Swiss-American family, considered the various international schools in the area for our 14 year old son. We were looking for a school that focused both on academics and human relations (emotional intelligence) skills. Upon visiting Academia we were immediately struck by the enthusiasm, open-mindedness and receptivity that we perceived both from the staff and teachers. In particular the Academic Director has continuously impressed us with her dedication to creating a stimulating and positive environment for all involved. She is not only an inspiring English teacher but also works tirelessly to foster deeper connections between students, as well as to reach out to the wider community. Her interest in and knowledge of human development and communication has been instrumental in the evolution of Academia. Together with the Principal she has recruited impressive teachers as well as created and staffed an outstanding Community Relations position to best support the students.The relatively small size of the school proved to be another advantage which affords it a flexibility and nimbleness to adapt and change rapidly. Furthermore suggestions from parents are always welcome and taken into consideration, resulting in improvements when appropriate. In short Academia International College is a school that is full of life and in constant evolution, like our children. I can't think of a better environment in Basel.PS. Bonus! As we are getting ready to move again our son was just accepted into his top choice school.

My review comes as a teacher here, rather than a parent. I taught her for 4 years and it has been such a rewarding and enriching experience. Having previously worked in an ‘outstanding’ school in London, I thought I knew what made a school successful. But Academia’s ethos is different. The school is small enough that all students have their own unique place, and they can be authentically themselves. The teachers know the students well, and the teachers connect with each other across subjects to cater learning for the individuals. Class sizes are small.Students are treated by staff with autonomy, trust and respect, and as a result, students rise to the challenge and are trusted and respectful. I have seen so many students who struggled to ‘fit in’ other school systems find their place and their friends here at Academia. Results are great too, but all the intonational schools have good results. But the wellbeing of the students? That is a priority and this sets the school apart from the others.

This school is fantastic; Why? because we've never experienced such a level of care coupled with really high quality teaching. Their exam results are always outstanding""

A very good school.