For school leaders
Leadership
Intelligence, analysis and practical tools for the people who run the world's international schools — heads, principals, governors and senior leadership teams.
Get The BriefingStrategy & Governance
Board relationships, school strategy and the decisions that shape an institution.
Basile MorinThe revolving door at the top of international schools
A fresh wave of headship changes for 2026-27 has put a familiar problem back in focus: international-school leaders rarely stay long, and the churn is costly for the schools they leave behind.
1 July 2026
Alexas FotosThe consolidation era: the school groups still buying
The world’s largest international-school operators kept expanding through 2026, buying campuses across new continents — and roughly two in five international schools now sit inside a group.
12 June 2026
Albert BettannierWellbeing moves from perk to board-level priority
Under pressure to keep staff and students, international schools are treating wellbeing as a strategic issue — investing in support systems, local talent pipelines and leadership development rather than one-off initiatives.
5 June 2026
People & Talent
Recruiting, developing and retaining the teachers and leaders your school depends on.
Wikimedia CommonsThe Gulf keeps winning the race for teachers
New applicant data shows the Middle East tightening its grip on internationally mobile teachers, as international schools everywhere compete for a limited pool of experienced staff.
26 June 2026
Albert BettannierThe retention fight: keeping teachers, not just hiring them
With the world short millions of teachers and burnout widespread, international schools are learning that recruitment is the easy part — holding on to good staff is the real contest.
8 June 2026
Derivator2017The UAE dangles long-term residency to keep its teachers
The UAE has opened its Golden Visa to teachers, offering long-term, self-sponsored residency — a potentially powerful retention lever in the market already winning the recruitment race.
14 May 2026
Policy & Compliance
Regulation, accreditation and safeguarding across the jurisdictions you operate in.
Tangerines at English WikipediaUK private schools shed international pupils as VAT and visa costs bite
Eighteen months after Britain applied VAT to private school fees, the latest census shows independent-school rolls — and overseas enrolment — still falling, with knock-on effects for the international sector that recruits the same families.
15 July 2026
cogdogblogPhone-free classrooms become the rule, not the exception
More than half the world’s education systems now restrict smartphones in schools, and from September England makes it statutory — the clearest sign yet that the global mood on classroom phones has turned.
29 June 2026
Tim Reckmann from Hamm, DeutschlandDubai holds its inspection pause — and the ratings that set fees
Dubai's schools regulator has carried its pause on full inspections into a second year, freezing the ratings that determine what schools may charge and leaving parents to weigh cost certainty against fresh, public quality data.
18 June 2026
Admissions & Growth
Enrolment trends, market demand and the economics of running a school.
Derivator2017British school brands race into Vietnam and the Gulf
A run of new campus openings for 2026-27 shows where international-school demand is growing fastest — Vietnam and Saudi Arabia — as famous British names plant flags in booming local markets.
8 July 2026
Tim Reckmann from Hamm, DeutschlandLong waits, high stakes: the scramble for a school place
In the busiest markets, families are discovering that the hardest part of international schooling is not the fees — it is getting a place at all.
30 June 2026
Tran Van NgocThe international school’s new majority: local families
The families filling international-school desks are increasingly local rather than expatriate — a shift that is remaking how these schools teach, position and describe themselves.
22 June 2026