Schools in Beirut for Australian kids: IB vs French

The school you pick in Beirut decides more than your child's uniform. It decides whether their Year 12 counts as Year 12 back home.

The short version

Almost every family choice in Beirut is a private school, and most teach in English or French with Arabic alongside. Fees are set and paid in US dollars.
Lebanon has dozens of IB schools, many French-accredited schools, and American-style schools such as the American Community School (ACS), where students can take the IB or the Lebanese Baccalaureate [1][2][3].
The big one for Australians: UAC treats the Lebanese Baccalaureate as comparable to Australian Year 11, not Year 12. The IB Diploma and the French baccalauréat are treated as Year 12 equivalents [4][5].
Foreign students can usually be exempted from the Lebanese programme (and its heavy Arabic load), but the paperwork has to be certified in Australia before you leave [6].
Smartraveller's advice for all of Lebanon is Do not travel [7]. Schools have switched to remote learning during past escalations, so plan for disruption.

How schooling in Beirut works

Lebanon has public schools, but expat and returning Lebanese-Australian families overwhelmingly choose private ones. Many are old institutions run by religious orders, foundations or not-for-profit boards, and Beirut is small enough that families from Achrafieh, Hamra, Ras Beirut and Badaro often cross the city for the school they want.

The landscape breaks into four rough groups:

Type	Main language	Final qualification	Examples in or near Beirut
IB schools	English or French	IB Diploma (often alongside another diploma)	American Community School, German International School Beirut, Wellspring Learning Community [1][2]
American-style	English	US high school diploma, plus IB or Lebanese Bac options	American Community School [3]
French-accredited	French (English as second language)	French baccalauréat or Lebanese Bac	Collège Louise Wegmann, Collège Notre-Dame de Jamhour, Collège La Sagesse, Collège International [8]
Lebanese programme	Arabic plus French or English	Lebanese Baccalaureate (official exams)	Most private schools offer this track

Lebanon has about 29 IB World Schools, nearly all offering the Diploma Programme [2]. The French network is even denser. A 2025 overview of French-curriculum schools in Lebanon lists more than 60 schools, about 50 of them accredited ("homologués") by France [8]. Two of the best known, the Grand Lycée franco-libanais and the Lycée Abdel Kader, are partner schools of the French agency AEFE [8].

Many schools run several tracks in one building. A student can start in the Lebanese programme, switch to IB in Grade 11, and graduate with two certificates. ACS, for example, gives every graduate a US college-prep diploma and lets students pursue the IB or stay on the Lebanese Baccalaureate track [3].

The ATAR question

This is the part most Australian families learn too late.

The Universities Admissions Centre (UAC), which handles entry to universities in NSW and the ACT, publishes how it treats overseas qualifications. The French baccalauréat sits in its list of qualifications equivalent to Australian Year 12. The Lebanese Baccalaureate sits in the list "comparable to Australian Year 11", and UAC warns that not all institutions accept those for course entry [4].

In practice that means a student who finishes only the Lebanese programme may need a foundation year, a bridging course or direct negotiation with the university. Ring the university's admissions office before you choose a school, not in Year 12.

The IB Diploma is the smoothest route. UAC converts the IB score into a "Combined Rank" that it says is comparable with the ATAR in all states and territories. If you sat the IB outside Australia, UAC uses your whole-number score out of 45. For offers from August 2026, a score of 41 converts to 97.80, for example [5]. The tables are set nationally and can change each year.

A quick guide:

Final qualification	How UAC treats it	What it means for uni in Australia
IB Diploma	Converted to a Combined Rank, comparable with the ATAR [5]	Apply like an Australian student
French baccalauréat	Equivalent to Year 12 [4]	Usually assessed directly
Lebanese Baccalaureate	Comparable to Year 11 [4]	May need extra study or university approval
US high school diploma	Depends on the subjects and tests taken	Check with each university

Australian citizens generally apply as domestic students even with an overseas qualification, so HECS-HELP and Commonwealth supported places stay on the table. Check the university's rules for your child's exact situation.

Arabic, French and the exemption

Lebanese schools teach Arabic seriously, and the Lebanese programme expects a level a newly arrived Aussie kid won't have. Many schools also want French. That's tough on a 12-year-old from Parramatta who speaks some Arabic at home but has never written it.

The usual answer for foreign students is an exemption from the Lebanese programme. One international school's registration rules show what that takes: transcripts and certificates for the past three years, certified by the education authority, the foreign ministry and the Lebanese embassy in the country where the child studied, plus a passport and a Lebanese residence permit [6]. Lebanese students who studied abroad for long enough can also be exempt, but the school will ask for the right documents [6].

For dual citizens there's a catch. Schools will want the child's Lebanese ID ("ikhraj qaid") as well as the foreign passport [6], and they may place your child in the Lebanese track by default. Ask early.

Getting your paperwork ready in Australia

Collect school reports and an enrolment letter from your child's current school for the last three years.
Have them authenticated in Australia. For countries that aren't part of the Apostille system, DFAT issues an authentication that the destination country's embassy then legalises. Check DFAT's current process before you book.
Legalise them at the Lebanese Embassy in Canberra or a Lebanese consulate in Australia.
Bring vaccination records and passport photos. Schools ask for both [6].
Apply for residency once you land. Foreign students need a valid Lebanese residence card for enrolment [6].
Ask the school to confirm in writing which track and grade your child will be placed in.

What it costs

Fees are the hardest thing to pin down, and we won't guess. Since the banking crisis, schools set fees in US dollars, often as "fresh" dollars, meaning cash or new transfers rather than old frozen bank deposits. Some quote part in dollars and part in Lebanese pounds.

What we can confirm from ACS's own admissions pages for 2025–26 [3]:

a non-refundable application fee of US$105
surcharges for paying by card, higher for international cards than local ones
payment by local fresh cheque, US cheque, card, wire transfer or at certain local banks
need-based financial aid that can cover part of the fees, renewed each year

Top international schools in Beirut cost far less than a Sydney private school, but more than many locals can afford. Budget for extras too: registration, books, uniforms, buses, generator surcharges and trips. Ask every school for the full fee schedule in writing, and ask what happens to fees if classes go online.

Living with disruption

Smartraveller's overall level for Lebanon is Do not travel. It was most recently raised on 28 February because of military strikes and a volatile regional situation, and it lists areas to avoid entirely, including Dahiyeh in Beirut's southern suburbs [7]. Most international schools sit in central and eastern Beirut or the hills north of it, but check the school's location and bus routes against that list.

During past escalations, schools in Lebanon have moved online or closed for weeks. Before you enrol, ask:

Does the school have a remote-learning plan, and how did it work last time?
Will credits or IB coursework transfer if you leave suddenly mid-year?
Can you get report cards and attendance letters quickly, in English, if you have to enrol in Australia at short notice?

Keep digital copies of every report card. If you have to leave, an Australian school will place your child based on age and records, and our guide to schooling Australian kids abroad and coming home covers that move.

Asking the people who've done it

Teachers, school buses, which campus has decent generator cover: other parents know. Join Cooee Lebanon, our Facebook group for Australians in Lebanon, and ask families who've already enrolled kids here.

Schools in Beirut: IB, the French bac or the Lebanese programme for Australian kids