The real cost of
a school year.
Three published 2026/27 Year 6 examples land at ฿338,400 at El Dream, ฿509,216 at ISC with lunch and Zone A bus, and ฿1,093,500 cash at Rugby including its refundable deposit. Tuition alone misses the entry bill.
Source checked 26 July 2026 · 2026/27 fee PDFs
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Three Year 6
budgets.
// In this hub → Lovell vs ISC ↗ · Rugby vs Regents ↗ · MIS vs TPIS ↗ · El Dream ↗ · ISC Pattaya ↗ · Rugby Thailand ↗ · Start Here primer ↗ · All 34 comparisons ↗
The fairest worked comparison uses the same stage and the same academic year. These are Year 6 day-school examples, but they are not rankings: El Dream uses A.C.E., ISC follows the English National Curriculum through primary, and Rugby is a much larger British day-and-boarding school. The table shows what each school actually publishes, not a modelled market average.
First-year non-refundable cost includes tuition, entry charges and the recurring extras selected in the example. Cash required adds refundable deposits. Keeping those two numbers separate stops a deposit being mislabelled as annual spending while still showing the money needed before the first day.
| School and assumptions | Tuition | One-time, non-refundable | Recurring extras used | Refundable deposit | First-year cost | Cash required |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Dream Grade 6 · lunch + books |
฿250,400 | ฿45,000 | ฿43,000 | Not published | ฿338,400 | ฿338,400 |
| ISC Pattaya Year 6 · lunch + Zone A bus |
฿359,676 | ฿73,000 | ฿76,540 | None listed | ฿509,216 | ฿509,216 |
| Rugby Thailand Year 6 · day school |
฿788,000 | ฿205,500 | Meals, books, trip and standard exams included | ฿100,000 | ฿993,500 | ฿1,093,500 |
El Dream's example includes the school-published Grade 6 lunch and textbook charges. ISC's example uses the published full-year tuition after its 3% annual-payment discount, five-day lunch and the cheapest two-way bus zone. Rugby's example uses standard tuition before its conditional 3% full-year discount. Uniforms and any unpriced services are excluded.
El Dream Grade 6:
฿338,400.
El Dream's 2026/27 sheet separates almost every classroom cost. Grade 6 tuition is ฿250,400. A new Grade 6 pupil also has a ฿2,000 application fee, ฿3,000 diagnostic test and ฿40,000 registration fee. Adding the published ฿28,000 annual lunch charge and ฿15,000 Grade 5–6 textbook charge produces a first-year total of ฿338,400.
| Line item | Amount | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 4–6 tuition | ฿250,400 | Annual tuition |
| Application | ฿2,000 | One-time, non-refundable |
| Grade 3–6 diagnostic test | ฿3,000 | Admissions charge |
| Registration | ฿40,000 | One-time, non-refundable |
| Grade 1–12 lunch | ฿28,000 | Annual published charge |
| Grade 5–6 textbooks | ฿15,000 | Annual published charge |
| First-year total | ฿338,400 | No deposit published |
ESL is a separate ฿60,000 per year when required, which would take this example to ฿398,400. The fee sheet does not price transport, uniforms, trips or external examinations, so none is treated as zero. El Dream's four quarter dates run from 12 June 2026 to 17 March 2027, and overdue fees carry a 2.5% penalty.
Open El Dream's 2026/27 fee PDF ↗ · checked 26 July 2026
ISC Year 6:
฿509,216.
ISC's published Year 3–6 annual tuition is ฿359,676 when the full year is paid in Term 1 before the due date; the document says this figure includes a 3% annual-payment discount. The school then separates the ฿3,000 application fee, ฿70,000 registration fee and ฿2,000 annual insurance.
Lunch and transport are optional. For a five-day Year 6 pupil, the three lunch terms total ฿21,960. The cheapest two-way Zone A bus — Naklua, North Pattaya, Rong Poh or Maprachan within the school's stated distance basis — totals ฿52,580. Those choices bring the first year to ฿509,216.
| Line item | Amount | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Year 3–6 tuition | ฿359,676 | Includes 3% full-year payment discount |
| Application | ฿3,000 | One-time, non-refundable |
| Registration | ฿70,000 | One-time, non-refundable |
| Insurance | ฿2,000 | Annual, non-refundable |
| Five-day lunch | ฿21,960 | Optional; three-term total |
| Zone A transport | ฿52,580 | Optional; three-term total |
| First-year total | ฿509,216 | No deposit listed |
Paying tuition term by term instead raises the tuition component to ฿370,800 and the same worked basket to ฿520,340. Assessed EAL or learning support adds ฿21,000–฿70,000 per year. The bus document also warns that the school decides the applicable zone and that fuel tariffs may be added, so the route must be confirmed in writing.
Open ISC's 2026/27 fee PDF ↗ · checked 26 July 2026
Rugby Year 6:
฿1,093,500 cash.
Rugby's standard 2026/27 Year 4–6 tuition is ฿788,000. The first-year non-refundable entry bill adds a ฿5,500 application fee and ฿200,000 acceptance fee, taking non-refundable cost to ฿993,500. The ฿100,000 student deposit is refundable under the published notice and balance-clearance conditions, but it still raises the enrolment cash requirement to ฿1,093,500.
| Line item | Amount | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Year 4–6 tuition | ฿788,000 | Standard annual tuition |
| Application | ฿5,500 | One-time, non-refundable |
| Acceptance | ฿200,000 | One-time; published as non-refundable |
| First-year non-refundable cost | ฿993,500 | Before refundable deposit |
| Student deposit | ฿100,000 | Refundable under published conditions |
| Cash required | ฿1,093,500 | Includes deposit |
Tuition includes lunches, twice-daily snacks, textbooks, the standard extracurricular programme, the annual residential trip and common internal and external examination fees with one retake per unit. A 3% full-year tuition discount by 13 August 2026 lowers this example's cash requirement to ฿1,069,860.
Boarding is available from Year 6. Part boarding adds ฿285,100 per year, weekly boarding ฿417,700 and full boarding ฿493,800, with a separate ฿20,000 expenses deposit. The school does not publish its general transport or uniform tariff in this fee document.
Open Rugby's 2026/27 fee PDF ↗ · checked 26 July 2026
The budget
formula.
Start with the exact year group and payment method, then add every compulsory and chosen service. Keep three totals: recurring annual cost, first-year non-refundable cost and first-year cash required. That distinction matters most when a school charges a large acceptance fee or refundable deposit.
| Cost | Where it belongs | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition | Recurring annual cost | Exact grade, number of terms and whether the quoted annual figure assumes prepayment |
| Application, registration, acceptance or enrolment | First-year non-refundable cost | Which charges are non-refundable and whether siblings receive a reduction |
| Student or boarding deposit | Cash required, not annual cost | Notice period, deductions, refund timing and whether it can offset the final invoice |
| Lunch, snacks and books | Recurring cost unless included | Whether participation is optional and whether senior textbooks are excluded |
| Transport | Recurring optional cost | Exact stop, one-way or return, fuel surcharge and whether the school can re-zone the address |
| EAL, SEN and learning support | Assessed recurring cost | Whether support is required for admission and the hours, review point and exit criteria |
| Exams, trips, uniforms and devices | Recurring or event cost | Which items are compulsory for that year group and which remain quote-only |
Do not compare a discounted annual tuition figure with another school's term-by-term total. Do not treat a refundable deposit as spending, and do not treat an unpublished tariff as free. A useful admissions quote names the academic year, grade, start date, payment schedule and every required support service.
Who should use —
and skip — this page.
This guide suits families making an initial 2026/27 day-school budget for a primary-age child. It is most useful for testing whether the headline tuition band leaves enough room for entry fees, meals, books and transport before contacting admissions.
Skip these totals as a personal quote if the child is entering a different year group, needs EAL or learning support, will board, is joining mid-year, uses a bus zone outside the example, or is eligible for a sibling or annual-payment discount. In those cases, use the method and source links, then require an itemised written quotation. The figures here should expose missing questions, not replace admissions' invoice.
Documents read for every figure on this page
- El Dream2026/27 admissions fees PDF
- ISC Pattaya2026/27 fee schedule PDF
- Rugby Thailand2026/27 fees information PDF
Calculations are simple sums of the labelled lines above. No directory, forum, search-result summary or estimated tariff supplies a figure on this page. Where a document does not publish a price, the page says so.
Quick answers
about real cost.
What is a realistic first-year international school budget in Pattaya?
For the three Year 6 examples checked for 2026/27, the first-year figures are ฿338,400 at El Dream with lunch and books, ฿509,216 at ISC with lunch and Zone A bus, and ฿993,500 at Rugby before its refundable ฿100,000 deposit. These examples are not a market-wide minimum, average or ranking.
Should a refundable school deposit count as an annual cost?
No. Keep a refundable deposit out of the non-refundable annual cost, but include it in the cash needed to enrol. Rugby's Year 6 example costs ฿993,500 before the deposit, while the first-year cash requirement is ฿1,093,500. Refund conditions and notice periods still matter.
Are school lunches and buses included in Pattaya tuition?
It depends on the school. El Dream prices lunch and textbooks separately. ISC makes lunch and transport optional and prices both. Rugby includes lunches, snacks, textbooks, the annual residential trip and standard examination entry in tuition, but its transport and uniform tariffs are not published.
Which school costs are most often missing from public fee sheets?
Uniforms, trips, bus tariffs, external examinations and assessed language or learning support are common gaps. A blank public tariff is not zero cost. Ask admissions for a written, itemised quote for the child's year group, route and support needs before paying a non-refundable entry fee.
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