Schools & the Education System in Brussels for Expats

Belgium hands education to its language communities, not to a national ministry — and Brussels is where the two big ones overlap. That means every expat family in the capital chooses not just a school but a system: the French-speaking one, the Flemish one, or an international/European route that sidesteps both. Here is how each works and how to actually get a place.

Two parallel systems in one city

Brussels is officially bilingual, so it has two complete public school systems running side by side:

• The French-speaking system, run by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (FWB), sometimes called the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Instruction is in French.
• The Flemish (Dutch-speaking) system, run by the Vlaamse Gemeenschap, coordinated locally by the VGC and LOP Brussel. Instruction is in Dutch.

They are genuinely separate: different enrolment portals, different calendars, different rules. A school belongs to one community or the other — it does not teach in both. Pick your system first, then your school.

Compulsory education in Belgium now runs from age 5 to 18 (the starting age dropped from 6 to 5 in September 2020). Free pre-primary (maternelle / kleuteronderwijs) is available from age 2½, but the year your child turns 5 is when attendance becomes obligatory.

The structure at a glance

Local schooling is free — and that matters

The headline for cost-conscious families: local public school is free. The official Brussels expat portal is blunt — primary and secondary school are "compulsory and free," and other costs are "in most cases limited." There is no tuition fee in either the French or Flemish public system, and access does not depend on your nationality or residence card.

"Free" is not "zero", though. You will pay for:

• School meals or bringing lunch, and before/after-school childcare
• Excursions, swimming, cultural and sports activities
• Some supplies from secondary level up

In the Flemish system, these extras are legally capped by the maximumfactuur. For 2025-26 the scherpe maximumfactuur (sharp cap, covering day trips, theatre, sports kit) is EUR 55 per year in kindergarten and EUR 110 per year in primary; a separate minder scherpe maximumfactuur of up to about EUR 550 spread across the six primary years covers multi-day trips. In the French system, schools may not charge for learning materials in maternelle and the early primary years — the school provides them — but activity and residential-trip costs are capped per year. Ask each school for its written cost list before you commit.

How enrolment actually works — and why it's stressful

This is where arriving expats get caught out. In popular Brussels communes, demand outstrips places, so enrolment is a timed, rule-bound process, not a walk-in. Both systems use a registration window for the following September.

French-speaking schools (FWB)

For entry into pre-primary and first primary, the City of Brussels and communes run staged windows. For 2026-27, the City's process ran in phases: priority pupils (siblings, staff) from 1–12 December 2025, non-priority applications from 7–30 January 2026 via the IRISbox platform or a phone line, and direct-to-school requests from 2 February 2026. Dates vary by commune — check your commune's site.

For entry into the first year of secondary, the FWB décret inscription governs everything. You submit a single Formulaire Unique d'Inscription (FUI) to your first-choice school during the official window — for 2026-27 that was 2 February to 6 March 2026. Crucially, arrival order does not matter inside the window; if a school is oversubscribed, places are allocated by a composite index (proximity, siblings, feeder-school links). Late applications open around 20 April 2026 and, in sought-after schools, mean waiting lists.

Flemish schools (Dutch-speaking)

Brussels' Dutch-language schools use a central aanmelden ("register your interest") system at inschrijveninbrussel.be. Remember the vital distinction: registering is not enrolling. You list schools online during the window (for 2026-27, siblings/staff 19–30 January 2026; everyone else 24 February–17 March 2026), an algorithm assigns children to places, and only then do you go to the assigned school to enrol (from 21 May 2026).

If you arrive off-cycle

Most expats do not land neatly before a January window. If you arrive mid-year or after the deadlines, you apply directly to schools for whatever places remain — start with the commune's education service and the LOP Brussel helpdesk (Flemish) or the school directly (FWB). Enrol as soon as you register at the commune; do not wait.

Language: the make-or-break question

Local schools immerse your child fully in French or Dutch from day one. There is no bilingual "ease-in" in the public system. The second national language becomes a compulsory subject from the third year of primary, but the language of instruction stays single.

For a child under ~7 this immersion usually works well. For an older child with no French or Dutch, it can be brutal. Some schools offer DASPA / OKAN reception classes for newly-arrived non-speakers — ask specifically. If your posting is short or your child is a teenager, the international route often makes more sense.

The international and European escape hatch

Brussels has 25+ international schools teaching mainly in English (some bilingual English-French), plus the European Schools — four in the city, running from pre-school to age 18 and awarding the European Baccalaureate, recognised across the EU.

The catch is access and cost:

• European Schools prioritise Category I (children of EU-institution staff), then Category II, then Category III (everyone else) — admitted only if places remain, and paying full fees. For 2025-26, Category III tuition was about EUR 4,370 (nursery), EUR 6,009 (primary) and EUR 8,195 (secondary) per year, with a 25% deposit. Verify current figures on eursc.eu.
• International schools are open to anyone who can pay — fees commonly run EUR 15,000–35,000+ a year, so many expats rely on an employer education allowance.

Common problems and fixes

• "I missed the enrolment window." Apply directly to schools for residual places and get on waiting lists; use the LOP Brussel helpdesk (Flemish) or the commune (FWB). Meanwhile keep your child enrolled anywhere legal — compulsory attendance from age 5 is enforced.
• "Every good school near me is full." Widen your radius across communes and consider the other language system — a strong Dutch-language school two communes over may have space a French one nearby doesn't.
• "My teenager speaks no French or Dutch." Ask about DASPA/OKAN reception classes, or price the international/European route honestly against your relocation package.
• "The school is quoting big costs." Request the written annual cost list. In the Flemish system, invoke the maximumfactuur cap; in FWB, materials in early years must be free — push back on anything that looks like a hidden tuition fee.

Your next step

Register at your commune first — you cannot properly enrol without it — then, the same week, open your target community's portal (inscription.cfwb.be for French-speaking, inschrijveninbrussel.be for Dutch-speaking) and note the exact application window and required documents for your child's entry year. Getting the date right is what secures the place.