Doshisha International School Kyoto vs Kyoto International School

	D Doshisha International School Kyoto Kyoto, Japan	K Kyoto International School Kyoto, Japan
Snapshot	Snapshot
Fees / year	Fees / year ¥1,700,000 - 1,850,000	Fees / year ¥1,530,000 - 1,916,000
Age range	Age range 14 - 18 years	Age range 3 - 16 years
Type	Type Co-educational	Type Co-educational
Curriculum	Curriculum IB (DP)	Curriculum IB (PYP), IB (MYP), IB (DP)
Pupils	Pupils 150	Pupils 130
Typical class size	Typical class size 10	Typical class size 11
Instruction language	Instruction language English	Instruction language English
Opened	Opened 2011	Opened 1957
Bus service	Bus service Yes	Bus service No
Essentials	Essentials
Location	Location The school is located at 7-31-1 Kizugawadai, Kizugawa City, Kyoto Prefecture, 619-0225, Japan. The campus sits in the Keihanna Hills within the Kansai Science City region, conveniently nestled between Kyoto, Osaka and Nara Prefectures. It is connected to nearby train lines via DISK's scheduled bus service from Shin-Hosono/Hosono and Nara-Tomigaoka stations.	Location Kyoto International School is located in Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It operates on two campuses in central Kyoto: Juraku Campus at 317 Kitatawara-cho, Kamigyo-ku 602-8247, and Taiken Campus at 536-1 Waraya-Cho, Kamigyo-ku 602-8144. The school describes itself as being in the heart of Kyoto, reflecting its central city location. The Juraku and Taiken campuses are both in Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto.
Stages	Stages Middle School Programme; IB Diploma Programme	Stages KIS provides the International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum from Early Years through Secondary. It currently serves Early Years through Grade 10 and is expanding to complete Grade 12 by 2026, with Grade 11 planned to open in 2025 and Grade 12 in 2026. This makes KIS Kyoto's Rostered K–12 IB school once the expansion is complete.
School type	School type IB World School offering a comprehensive international curriculum delivered in English	School type The school is co-educational and operates as a day school. It is a not-for-profit institution.
Pupil nationality mix	Pupil nationality mix —	Pupil nationality mix Public information indicates approximately 130 students in the school, representing around 20 countries. The exact distribution of nationalities, the most common nationality, and the local-to-international ratio are not publicly published.
Additional learning support	Additional learning support The health office is located on the 2nd floor of DIA; the bilingual school nurse is on duty from 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday. A part-time bilingual counselor (clinical psychologist) provides psychological support to parents and students. A University Advisor supports tertiary education planning, and a School Chaplain leads weekly worship services focused on Christian values.	Additional learning support KIS provides a dedicated student wellbeing and support team to address student needs. The school also maintains a Child Safeguarding Policy. Specific SEN accommodations are not publicly detailed on the main pages.
Country affiliation	Country affiliation Japan	Country affiliation There is no formal country affiliation stated for Kyoto International School; it is described as an international IB World School.
Religious affiliation	Religious affiliation Christian	Religious affiliation Kyoto International School does not indicate any religious affiliation.
School day structure	School day structure —	School day structure The school publishes Saturday session hours: 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. The nearest bus stop is 堀川中立売, served by Kyoto City Bus routes 9, 12, and 50. The campus entrances are on the east side during visits. Weekday start and end times are not publicly published on the main pages.
Bus service details	Bus service details There are two bus routes for commuting students. Route 1 (Shin-Hosono / Hosono) departs Hosono at 7:35am, 7:55am, 8:10am and 8:15am; departs DIA at 3:40pm and 4:00pm. Route 2 (Nara-Tomigaoka) departs Tomigaoka at 7:25am, 7:40am and 8:05am; departs DIA at 3:40pm and 4:00pm. The buses are green city buses operated by Seika Town; ICOCA is accepted; each bus has 30 seats with space for up to 50 standing; routes run to and from DIA with designated pickup/drop-off locations.	Bus service details The school provides bus-access information for international families. The nearest bus stop is 堀川中立売 (Horikawa Nakadachiuri) and bus routes 9, 12, and 50 stop there. There is nearby coin parking around the campus, and visitors are advised to park in nearby facilities if needed.
Fees	Fees
Fee details	Fee details Fees (published for the 2025/26 academic year) Application & Registration Fees - Entrance (entrance test) fee: ¥20,000 per child — non-refundable. - Registration fee (one-time, paid on acceptance): ¥250,000 per child — non-refundable; payment by bank transfer required within seven days of notification of admission. Remittance/transfer fees must be paid by the sender so the exact amount is received. Tuition and Academic Fees (Grades 9–12) - Annual tuition: ¥1,700,000. - Educational enrichment fee: ¥150,000 per year. - Total annual academic fee (tuition + enrichment): ¥1,850,000. - Academic fee billing by term (per-semester/term amounts): - Fall term: ¥740,000. - Winter term: ¥555,000. - Spring term: ¥555,000. Billing Schedule & Payment Terms - Academic fees are automatically deducted from a designated bank account three times per year (September, January, and April). Academic fees are non-refundable. - Entrance and registration payments must be made by bank transfer; detailed domestic and international remittance instructions (including bank names, SWIFT code, and reference numbers) are provided for those transfers. Remittance/transfer charges should be paid by the sender so the school receives the exact fee amount. Boarding - Doshisha International School, Kyoto is not a boarding school; students must live with a parent or legal guardian. There are no boarding fees. Other Costs and Typical Additional Fees - Emergency supply items (Grades 9–12): ¥3,000 per academic year (included as a listed other fee). Excursions, expeditions and study-trip costs are not included in the academic fee and are charged separately when applicable. - Uniform / PE kit (middle school only): DISK does not require school uniforms for daily wear, but all middle school students must purchase a full Physical Health Education uniform set costing approximately ¥13,000 (inclusive of tax). The PE set includes short pants, short-sleeve T-shirt, long-sleeve T-shirt, long pants, and a zip-up parker with approximate item prices listed. Payment for uniform orders operates by cash-on-delivery; a cash-on-delivery fee (approx. ¥440) and a transportation fee (approx. ¥770) are added to each order. Customized uniform items cannot be returned or exchanged. Refund Information - Academic fees are non-refundable. - The entrance test fee is non-refundable. The registration fee is non-refundable. Customized uniform items cannot be returned or exchanged. Fee Payment Options (published methods) - Automatic direct debit from a designated bank account for academic fee instalments (September, January, April). - Bank transfer for entrance-test payments and registration fee payments (domestic and international bank transfer instructions and required reference numbers are provided). Remittance/transfer charges are to be borne by the payer. - Cash-on-delivery for uniform orders (COD and transportation fees apply).	Fee details Application and one-time enrolment fees - Application fee (new students): ¥31,500. - Registration / Admission (enrolment) fee (one-time, payable on acceptance): ¥220,000. - Emergency kit (one-time): ¥5,500. Tuition fees by year group (annual amounts) - Early years / Pre‑K and Primary (Pre‑K to Grade 5): annual tuition is reported in the range of approximately ¥1,262,000 to ¥1,287,000 in current public fee listings. - Middle / Lower secondary (Grades 6 to 10): annual tuition is reported in the range of approximately ¥1,626,000 to ¥1,659,000 in current public fee listings. (Several publicly available school-fee summaries present these amounts as the annual tuition for the relevant school sections; amounts published by different school-information services are consistent to within a small range.) Annual / recurring additional fees - Building & facilities / capital fee (annual): approximately ¥181,000. - EAL (English as an Additional Language) support fee (annual, where applicable): approximately ¥100,000. - PTA dues (per family, annual): ¥3,000. - Other possible recurring charges noted in public fee summaries: technology / program charges, excursion costs, and optional co‑curricular activity fees (amounts vary by activity and year group). Boarding fees - Boarding is not applicable. The school does not offer boarding facilities. Billing schedule and payment terms - Public fee summaries list annual tuition amounts but do not publish a detailed, single, public term-by-term billing schedule in the school-fee summaries that are widely available. The school's admissions information and published fee overviews show annual tuition amounts and the one-time fees above, but explicit term dates, invoice issue dates, and installment due‑date schedules were not present in the publicly accessible fee listings reviewed. Refunds and non‑refundable items - Public fee summaries identify application/one‑time fees as one‑off charges; a clear, detailed public refund policy (for application fees, registration fees, and tuition in the event of withdrawal) was not found in the fee summaries reviewed. No explicit, full refund timetable for tuition or one‑time fees was located in the publicly available fee summaries. Uniforms and other school-supplied items - Uniforms and branded school items are available through the school shop; uniform and merchandise costs are charged separately (prices vary by item). Fee payment options and methods - Application and admissions payments are handled through the school's OpenApply application portal. OpenApply supports multiple payment methods including credit card, PayPal/Flywire integrations, and bank transfer; these payment channels are commonly enabled for admissions and invoicing. This means application and invoice payments may be made by credit card or bank transfer where those methods have been enabled by the school through OpenApply. Summary of what was found and where public information was limited - Publicly accessible school-fee listings and independent school‑information services consistently list a ¥31,500 application fee, a ¥220,000 registration/admission fee, an emergency kit charge (¥5,500), building & facilities fees (around ¥181,000), and the recurring tuition bands shown above for Pre‑K/Primary and Middle school. - The publicly available materials reviewed do not present a detailed, itemised term-by-term invoice schedule, nor a clearly published, line‑by‑line refund timetable for every listed fee. The school's admissions information confirms that boarding is not offered. If you will include these figures in an external database, use the annual fee amounts and the one‑time fees above. The principal public references used to compile these figures include the school's admissions pages and current independent school‑directory fee summaries.
Diving deeper	Diving deeper
Boarding arrangements	Boarding arrangements —	Boarding arrangements —
Uniform requirement	Uniform requirement —	Uniform requirement —
Food options	Food options —	Food options —
House system	House system —	House system —
Governance and ownership	Governance and ownership —	Governance and ownership —
Academics	Academics
Curriculum details	Curriculum details IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) framework used for grades 9–10; Middle School Programme (MSP) for ages 11–16; eight subject groups; inquiry-based, concept-based learning; Personal Project in grade 10; develops approaches to learning and prepares students for further education. The school offers the IB Diploma Programme (DP) with six subject groups, language study of at least two languages, and core components including the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge, and Creativity, Activity and Service; DP can lead to the IB Diploma, IB Certificate, or a High School Certificate; maximum DP total score is 45.	Curriculum details Kyoto International School is an IB Continuum World School in Kyoto, delivering the IB framework from Early Years through Upper Secondary and planning to complete the full K-12 continuum by 2026, with Grade 11 launched in August 2025 and Grade 12 expected in 2026. Instruction is conducted in English, and the school operates an English-immersion program, including a Saturday English class for ages 3–12. Early Years (ages 4–6) use the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) with a play-based, constructivist approach designed to develop learners' thinking and learning skills. Primary School implements the IB PYP as its curriculum framework, emphasizing inquiry-based, meaningful learning across subjects. Lower Secondary follows the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) with a broad, structured subject set (Language & Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals & Societies, Sciences, Mathematics, Arts, Physical Health Education) and a well-being and social-emotional learning component. Upper Secondary offers the IB Diploma Programme (DP) for 16–19 year-olds, including the DP core (Creativity, Action, Service; Extended Essay; Theory of Knowledge) and six subject options typically arranged as three Standard Level and three Higher Level subjects, with the DP hours specified (150 SL, 240 HL).
Student teacher ratio	Student teacher ratio —	Student teacher ratio —
Exam results	Exam results —	Exam results —
Higher education progression	Higher education progression University Advisor provides a part-time service to prepare students for tertiary education, evaluate options, assist with applications, and answer questions for students and their parents.	Higher education progression —
Gifted and talented	Gifted and talented —	Gifted and talented —
Academic calendar	Academic calendar —	Academic calendar —
Wellbeing & support	Wellbeing & support
Social & emotional learning	Social & emotional learning —	Social & emotional learning —
Special educational needs (SEN)	Special educational needs (SEN) —	Special educational needs (SEN) —
English as an additional language	English as an additional language —	English as an additional language —
Mental wellbeing	Mental wellbeing —	Mental wellbeing —
Safeguarding	Safeguarding —	Safeguarding —
Safeguarding policy	Safeguarding policy —	Safeguarding policy —
Facilities	Facilities
Facilities overview	Facilities overview —	Facilities overview —
Sports facilities	Sports facilities —	Sports facilities —
Academic facilities	Academic facilities —	Academic facilities —
Extra curricular facilities	Extra curricular facilities —	Extra curricular facilities —
Parent experience	Parent experience
History	History —	History —
Community	Community —	Community —
Parent teacher association	Parent teacher association —	Parent teacher association —
Extra-curricular	Extra-curricular
Academic & intellectual	Academic & intellectual —	Academic & intellectual —
Arts & creative	Arts & creative —	Arts & creative —
Cultural & language	Cultural & language —	Cultural & language —
Social & hobbies	Social & hobbies —	Social & hobbies —
Community & service	Community & service —	Community & service —
Leadership & professional	Leadership & professional —	Leadership & professional —
Lifestyle & wellbeing	Lifestyle & wellbeing —	Lifestyle & wellbeing —
Language provision	Language provision
Language provision	Language provision —	Language provision —
Bilingual teaching	Bilingual teaching —	Bilingual teaching —
Immersion programs	Immersion programs —	Immersion programs —
Reputation	Reputation
Awards	Awards —	Awards —
Accreditations	Accreditations —	Accreditations —
Admissions	Admissions
Admissions	Admissions Admission steps (1–7): 1. Request an Admissions & Enrollment Application Form link by emailing the Admissions Office to receive the digital form. 2. Complete the digital Admissions & Enrollment Application Form, including personal details, identification (passport information page), documentation (academic transcripts from the last two years in English, English-language enrollment certificate), and additional information about educational history and needs, plus a medical disclosure form. 3. Review: after submission is checked, you receive an email with entrance test fee payment details; if not approved, you are notified and application materials are not returned. 4. Entrance Test Fee Payment: pay a non-refundable entrance test fee of 20,000 yen per child before testing; ensure remittance details specify exactly 20,000 yen and include the required reference number. 5. Entrance Test & Interview: the test and interview are conducted in person on campus and take about 4–5 hours; there is no online remote testing option. All applicants take a language and math test; non-native English speakers must be able to read, speak and write English; MAP practice links are provided for practice. 6. Admissions Panel Decision: the final admission decision is communicated by email. 7. Registration Fee Payment: a one-time non-refundable registration fee of 250,000 yen per child is due within seven days of admission notification, with remittance details provided.	Admissions 1. Step 1 – Student Details: Complete the main application form to be considered for admission. Upload a recent passport‑size profile photo and a copy of identification (passport, birth certificate, or health insurance card) to verify date of birth. Enter the student's legal name in English/Roman characters and select the Campus—Juraku Campus or Taiken Campus—and the Enrollment Year (2025‑2026 or 2026‑2027). The general recommendation is to submit this application at least two months before the intended enrollment date; for an August start, the application should be submitted by May 15 of the starting year. Note that KIS does not offer boarding facilities and cannot support student visa applications. 2. Step 2 – Family & Emergency Details: Provide up‑to‑date family contact information and emergency contacts. Include primary contact details, relationships, and any special instructions in case of an emergency. Ensure that all phone numbers and email addresses are active and accessible to the school, and update information promptly if circumstances change. This step is completed within the OpenApply form, which prompts for Family & Emergency details as part of the application flow. 3. Step 3 – Education History: Enter the applicant's education history, listing prior schools and grade levels completed or currently enrolled. If the student is entering after early years, include transcripts or academic records from previous schools. The Education History section is part of the OpenApply process and helps the admissions team assess prior academic coursework. 4. Step 4 – Submit & Pay Application Fee: Review all entered information and submit the application, then pay the online application fee. The system directs applicants to complete payment as part of the submission flow. This step ensures the application is officially submitted for consideration. 5. Step 5 – Provide Supporting Documents: After submitting the form and payment, upload or provide any required supporting documents as requested by the admissions team. Supporting documents may include transcripts, recommendations, or other school records requested by KIS. The OpenApply form specifies this step as part of the application process. 6. You can also find the campus contact numbers on the admissions pages.
Scholarships	Scholarships —	Scholarships KIS offers an IBDP Scholarship for Diploma Programme entrants. The scholarship opportunity is open to students currently in Grade 10 (the first year of Japanese high school). Successful applicants may enter Grade 11 at Kyoto International School and begin the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in August 2025. Application Deadline: May 12, 2025 at 23:59 JST. Application Process: (1) Submit your application online via kyoto.openapply.com and pay the application fee; (2) the admissions team will schedule an interview on May 16, 2025; (3) if you pass the interview, you will receive detailed information about the scholarship exam; (4) take the scholarship exam on May 31, 2025 (online, 17:00 JST); (5) scholarship results will be announced in early June. Exam format is online and no additional exam fee is required. Scholarship details indicate a potential award of up to 100% tuition discount, based on scholarship exam performance, with conditions applied. Scholarships are limited and awarded on a competitive basis. The DP scholarship information is provided on the KIS IBDP Scholarship page and is reflected in the OpenApply scholarship field during the application process.
Waitlist	Waitlist —	Waitlist Waitlist / pool: Public admissions materials do not publish a formal waitlist or pool policy for Kyoto International School. The application process is conducted through OpenApply with explicit campus (Juraku or Taiken) and enrollment year options, and there is no publicly documented waitlist workflow in the available materials. The OpenApply steps and campus/year options support applicants being considered as spaces allow, but no formal waitlist procedure is described.
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