Admissions
Thank you for your interest in the International School Hannover Region (ISHR).
We are excited for you to learn more about our school, its culture, and our world-class academic programs. Roughly 65% of our student population are international students whose families have relocated, temporarily or long-term, to Hannover from around the globe, and the remaining part are local German families who value an international education built around the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum in an English speaking school. Whichever group your family belongs to, we warmly welcome you.
We have over 65 nationalities represented at ISHR and are proud of our diversity and culture of inclusion. We offer the three main programmes of the IB:
- the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) in our Primary School (Ages 3 – Grade 5)
- the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) Secondary School in Grades 6 – 10
- the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) in Grades 11 and 12
Choosing a school for your child is an enormous responsibility; we don’t take your trust lightly. Our admissions team is ready to help you through our application process and will answer any questions you many have.
Interested in a Visit or have any Questions?
For students entering the school from 3-year-old Kindergarten to Grade 12, please contact Anja Schünemann or Nadine Jol, our Admissions Coordinators.
Admissions Coordinator for Kindergarten – Grade 5
Anja Schünemann
Admissions Coordinator for Grade 6 – Grade 12
Admission Policy
The International School Hannover Region aims to create opportunities for young people to learn how to develop self-esteem, be confident, take risks, fail forward and be resilient. They will be best equipped to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing and developing world and to solve the ever more complex problems arising from it.
By providing the international education in the English language for students in Hannover and Lower Saxony, admission to ISHR is granted according to the following priorities:
- Children of internationally mobile families for whom there is no local alternative
- Children of German families who have relocated back to Germany from abroad and whose previous schooling has been in the English language
- Siblings of children already enrolled at ISHR
- Children from local families
- Children with a refugee background, for whom the education at ISHR provides the better/only possibility to attain a school diploma.
In category 4 above, priority is given to those families who have international citizenship or who were born and or have lived/studied outside of Germany. Through interviews, we look for families who identify with ISHR’s mission and educational programmes.
In category 5 above, priority is given to older students who do not have sufficient command of the German language and who would not have enough time to attain it to be able to take the final exams at a German public school. Age appropriate proficiency in mathematics is a further pre-condition for acceptance.
Students who enter in grades 9 and above must have an existing adequate proficiency in English to allow them to access the IB Diploma Curriculum when they reach 11th grade. Students from internationally mobile families who have no other options for study in Hannover but who have low English proficiency will require support through the program.
Procedure for Parents
- Submit completed application form with copies of the student’s previous report cards and any other requested information.
- If the application is considered feasible, the family will be invited for an interview with the Head of Section and other pertinent members of the team.
- Where applicable, the student will be invited to school to complete the placement tests. In the cases of overseas families, the placement tests will be sent to the student’s present school for completion.
- If the application is successful, parents will receive a letter of confirmation, a school contract, and an invoice for the admission fee.
- A place only becomes guaranteed after the admission fee has been paid and the school contract has been signed and sent back.
Placement
Students will be placed in their age appropriate class with the orientation cut-off date for placement being September 30th. In very rare cases where a placement test or the probation period reveals that a student would be better placed in another grade level to best serve their emotional or academical welfare then ISHR reserves the right to make a more appropriate placement in an adjacent grade level.
All new students have a 6-month probationary period. The school reserves the right to ask parents to make alternative arrangements for their child’s education, should the school be of the opinion that there is no realistic chance of the student accessing the curriculum at a meaningful level.
Placement Table
| Student Date of Birth | School Year 2024/2025 | School Year 2025/2026 | School Year 2026/2027 | School Year 2027/2028 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sep 04 – 31. Aug 05 | ||||
| 1. Sep 05 – 30. Sep 06 | ||||
| 1. Oct 06 – 30. Sep 07 | 12 | |||
| 1. Oct 07 – 30. Sep 08 | 11 | 12 | ||
| 1. Oct 08 – 30. Sep 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
| 1. Oct 09 – 30. Sep 10 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 1. Oct 10 – 30. Sep 11 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 1. Oct 11 – 30. Sep 12 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 1. Oct 12 – 30. Sep 13 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 1. Oct 13 – 30. Sep 14 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 1. Oct 14 – 30. Sep 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 1. Oct 15 – 30. Sep 16 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 1. Oct 16 – 30. Sep 17 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 1. Oct 17 – 30. Sep 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 1. Oct 18 – 30. Sep 19 | SR | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1. Oct 19 – 30. Sep 20 | JR | SR | 1 | 2 |
| 1. Oct 20 – 30. Sep 21 | PRE | JR | SR | 1 |
| 1. Oct 21 – 30. Sep 22 | NUR | PRE | JR | SR |
| 1. Oct 22 – 30. Sep 23 | NUR | PRE | JR | |
| 1. Oct 23 – 30. Sep 24 | NUR | PRE |
For better readability this table is provided as a pdf document.
ISHR Grade Level Comparison
ISHR assigns students to grades based on their age on September 30th. The terminology of grades in other systems of education might differ from the IB system. To provide clarification about placements, we have provided a chart comparing the grades, based on the age of the student. Philosophically, ISHR does not agree with accelerating students grade level past their age.
| School levels | Student Age | ISHR Grade | USA/JPN/ AUS/CAN Grade | UK/KOR/IND Grade | Italy Grade | France Grade | Spain Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary | 3-4 | Pre Kindergarten | Nursery | asilo | PS | 1° Ed. Infantil | |
| 4-5 | Junior Kindergarten | Reception | asilo | MS | 2° Ed. Infantil | ||
| 5-6 | Senior Kindergarten | 5K | Year 1 | asilo | GS | 3° Ed. Infantil | |
| 6-7 | Grade 1 | Grade 1 | Year 2 | 1a elem | CP | 1° Primaria | |
| 7-8 | Grade 2 | Grade 2 | Year 3 | 2a elem | CE1 | 2° Primaria | |
| 8-9 | Grade 3 | Grade 3 | Year 4 | 3a elem | CE2 | 3° Primaria | |
| 9-10 | Grade 4 | Grade 4 | Year 5 | 4a elem | CM1 | 4° Primaria | |
| 10-11 | Grade 5 | Grade 5 | Year 6 | 5a elem | CM2 | 5° Primaria | |
| Middle | 11-12 | Grade 6 | Grade 6 | Year 7 | 1a media | 6ème | 6° Primaria |
| 12-13 | Grade 7 | Grade 7 | Year 8 | 2a media | 5ème | 1° ESO | |
| 13-14 | Grade 8 | Grade 8 | Year 9 | 3a medis | 4ème | 2° ESO | |
| High | 14-15 | Grade 9 | Grade 9 | Year 10 | 1 liceo | 3ème | 3° ESO |
| 15-16 | Grade 10 | Grade 10 | Year 11 | 2 liceo | 2nde | 4° ESO | |
| 16-17 | Grade 11 | Grade 11 | Year 12 | 3 liceo | 1ère | 1° Bachillerato | |
| 17-18 | Grade 12 | Grade 12 | Year 13 | 4 liceo | Terminale | 2° Bachillerato | |
| 18-19 | 5 liceo |
For better readability this table is provided as a pdf document.
Conditions of Acceptance
ISHR is actively committed to admitting and supporting a diverse student body. We practice a full non-discriminatory policy in all school-administered programs and will not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, gender, national and ethnic origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation or gender preference in any of its admissions and educational policies, programs, and practices.
We accept students who we feel we can support both emotionally and academically in our curricular context. Although we practice non-selective admissions, there are situations where we feel we cannot adequately support students emotional and academic welfare within our context. In these cases we reserve the right to not accept a child into our programme.
A child will only be admitted to ISHR if a place in the appropriate class is available. We make sure that we have effective class sizes and pride ourselves on the quality of our personal learning relationships with students. To this end, we reserve the right to limit enrollment in order to maintain ideal class sizes. We make exceptions only where overseas students who fit other admissions criteria are joining ISHR, for whom there is no alternative.
Applications will only be processed upon receipt of report cards from previous schools. Exceptions can be made for students with a refugee background.
Local children from grades two to five are required to complete placement tests in Maths, English and German (where applicable). All children from grade six onwards are required to complete placement tests.
In general, the school cannot offer programs for children with significant learning disabilities who require specialist teachers or those who have behavioural or emotional difficulties. The school reserves the right to refuse admission to any child who would be unable to benefit from the curriculum.
IB Diploma Programme (11th and 12th Grade)
The IB Diploma Programme is a rigorous prescribed academic curriculum. Although we practice non-selective admissions, when there are situations where we feel we cannot adequately support students emotional and academic welfare within our context we reserve the right to not accept a child into our programme.
The IB Diploma Programme involves student choice in the subjects we study within a clear framework set by the International Baccalaureate and supported by their policies for practice. We may not be able to accommodate all combinations of subject preferences especially when acceptance is less than 8 months before the start of the programme. Thus some students may need to be flexible with their selections. If there are fewer than three students selecting a subject, it will not be offered.
ISHR does not accept students into the programme who are living alone. The rigors of the programme mean that we cannot support the academic and emotional welfare of students living unaccompanied. All students must begin and end the programme with a competent parent or guardian who is fully charged with their daily emotional support and can provide a safe and nurturing home structure. ISHR reserves the right to unenroll students who are left alone without a satisfactory guardian.
Application
ISHR offers the full IB continuum for students from 3-year-old Kindergarten through Grade 12. Click here to begin the application process.
Tuition, Fees and Financial Aid
Our fees vary between the grade levels we offer. For detailed information on our school fees, payment plans, financial aid, and more, please click here.
