How to Apply to FIS

FIS has firm age requirements for those applying to our First Steps through Grade 1 program.

• First Steps: Student must be three years old before 1 September of that school year.

• Pre-Primary: Student must be four years old before 1 September of that school year.

• Primary: Student must be five years old before 1 September of that school year.

• Grade 1: Student must have turned six before 1 September of that school year.

FIS has limited resources for students with special needs and by policy, can only assist students with mild disabilities.

To learn whether your child qualifies for learning support – and if space is available – please submit an early application along with a recent psycho-education evaluation and other documents related to the student’s special needs and services.

If your child has any special medical, support or testing needs, it is important that you share this information on the application.

If your child is in need of extra English support, FIS accepts beginning English speakers through Grade 8.

Beginning in Grade 9, FIS requires an intermediate level of English skills and offers an ELA placement test to assess a student’s English proficiency.

Our school's status as a supplementary school (Ergänzungschule) offering the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) has certain consequences for students holding only a German passport.

German students need a special permit to attend FIS and parents must submit a form (Ausnahmegenehmigungsantrag) that requests authorization from their local school office (Schulamt) for their child to enroll at FIS.

For more information about the special permit, please read the Information über die Ausnahmegenehmigung.

This information, as well as the special permit application form and list of local school offices, can be downloaded from this page or requested by contacting the school’s admission office.

If you have a current Grade 1–8 FIS/FISW student and would like to transfer from one FIS campus to another, please submit this form with a signature from your division principal. Please understand that such transfers may only happen at the end of a given school year.

All transfer requests must be submitted before 1 April in order to be considered for the following school year.

FIS has a Corporate Partnership Program with a select number of companies and diplomatic missions that share its vision of providing a world-class education in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main area. These entities often support the school by offering advisory support on critical issues, extending internship opportunities to students, and providing speakers for FIS Career Day and other special events.

The minimum period for an FIS Partnership is four years, although most Partners choose to extend well beyond this period. Each Partner also makes an annual investment in the school and is granted a limited number spaces to admit families within their organization, with the understanding that these applicants must have an early application and meet the FIS admission standards.

The Corporate Partnership Program is not managed by the admissions office, but companies and diplomatic missions can make inquiries directly to the Head of School's office. For more information, please contact Dr. Paul Fochtman at Paul_Fochtman@fis.edu