Schooling Options in Morocco: A Guide for English-Speaking Families

Moving to Morocco with school-age children means choosing within a system where French is the main language of foreign-curriculum schooling and Moroccan public schools teach mainly in Arabic. Many English-speaking families start by looking for an “international school”. The more useful first question is which language your child will be taught in, and what qualification that leads to, because “international” covers schools teaching in English, French and Spanish.

In short:

• English-medium schools (American, British and IB) exist mainly in Casablanca and Rabat, with fewer options in Marrakech and Tangier and very few elsewhere. They are usually the most expensive choice.
• French-system schools far outnumber them, exist in many more cities and generally charge less. For a young child they can be an excellent option; for a teenager with no French, a much harder one.
• Spanish and Belgian schools are smaller networks in fewer cities.

Before you decide: confirm the curriculum, accreditation, grade coverage and full fees directly with each school. They change, and a school’s own current information is the only reliable version.

Start with the curriculum

• American curriculum schools teach in English and lead to a US-style high school diploma. The natural route to US universities.
• British curriculum schools teach in English and lead to Cambridge IGCSEs and A levels. The natural route to UK universities, and widely recognised elsewhere.
• International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes are offered by some schools of different kinds. The IB Diploma is recognised by universities internationally.
• French system schools teach in French, with English as a subject, and lead to the French baccalauréat.
• Spanish state schools lead to the Spanish Bachillerato, and Belgian schools to the CEB and CESS certificates.

“English-speaking” does not mean one curriculum. A family planning on a UK university and one planning on a US university may be better served by different schools in the same city.

English-medium schools by city

Casablanca has the widest choice, including Casablanca American School and George Washington Academy, which follow American curricula, and British-curriculum schools offering IGCSEs and A levels.

Rabat has Rabat American School, which serves many diplomatic and international-organisation families, and a smaller number of other English-medium options than Casablanca.

Marrakech has an American-curriculum school and some other international options, but fewer than Casablanca or Rabat.

Tangier has an American-curriculum school serving the north.

Ifrane is home to Al Akhawayn University, which teaches in English and has an associated school.

Elsewhere, English-medium options are limited or absent. Families in smaller cities often choose a French-system school, an online school or homeschooling.

Treat these as names to look up, not recommendations: check each school’s current curriculum, accreditation and grade range yourself.

French, Spanish and Belgian schools

Most foreign-curriculum schooling in Morocco is French. It is run by two operators: the AEFE (Agence pour l’enseignement français à l’étranger) and the Mission laïque française, through its Moroccan arm OSUI (Office scolaire et universitaire international). Between them they cover primary school through the French baccalauréat in the big cities and a number of smaller ones, a much wider footprint than English-medium schools have. Fees are generally well below those of American or British schools. Places can be competitive, and French nationals may have priority, so ask each school how admissions work for your family.

Spanish state schools, run by Spain’s Ministry of Education, are a legacy of the Spanish protectorate and are concentrated in the north, with some elsewhere. Check the ministry’s current list for your city. The Instituto Cervantes also has centres in several cities, but those are language and cultural institutes, not full-day schools, so a Cervantes in your city does not mean a Spanish school.

Belgian schooling is a two-campus network rather than the single school it is usually described as. The École Belge network follows the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles curriculum, taught in French with Arabic language and Moroccan history and geography built in, and leads to the CEB (primary) and CESS (secondary) certificates.

École Belge de Casablanca is the older of the two, open since 2014, with its primary section at Dar Bouazza/Tamaris and its secondary section at Ouled Azzouz. École Belge de Rabat opened in 2018 in Hay Riad and added a secondary section in 2021. Confirm directly with the campus you are considering how far its secondary cycle currently runs, particularly if your child is close to the final year.

The trade-off for an English-speaking child

Putting an English-speaking child into a French, Spanish or Belgian school is a genuine trade-off, not a downgrade. The upside is real: lower fees, a school within reach in cities with no English-medium option, and, for young children especially, a fast route to real fluency in another language, with English kept up at home and some Arabic along the way. Younger children generally adjust to a new language of instruction faster than older ones, though how long it takes varies from child to child.

The downside depends heavily on age. A teenager arriving with no French faces a hard transition: a full day of lessons in an unfamiliar language, at an age when falling behind has real consequences. Some schools run a welcome class or French-as-a-foreign-language (FLE) support for new arrivals, but not all, and capacity varies by school and year, so ask specifically what support exists before enrolling. If the plan is a US or UK university, an American or British curriculum remains the more direct path. A French baccalauréat or Belgian CESS does not close that door, since both are internationally recognised, but it means a less familiar transcript and more explaining in the application.

Checking a school

• Accreditation. Ask which body accredits the school, then check it on that body’s own website: for example, the IB’s list of IB World Schools, Cambridge’s list of registered centres, or the relevant US accrediting agency. A logo on a school’s website is not the same as a current listing.
• Grade coverage. Confirm the school teaches every year your child will need, all the way to the final qualification.
• Language support. For a child learning in a new language, ask what support exists and how many places it has.
• Where graduates go. For secondary schools, ask where recent graduates went on to study.

What it costs

Fees vary widely between schools and systems and change from year to year, so we do not quote figures. Ask each school for its full fee schedule, which is more than headline tuition. Many schools also charge one-off enrolment or capital fees, and the annual cost can include transport, lunches, uniforms, activities, trips and exam fees. For a family with more than one child, ask about sibling discounts. Some employers cover schooling as part of an expatriate package, which changes the calculation entirely.