Free IB schools in Wrocław: the public route via SP 108 and V LO

Seven IB World Schools in Wrocław — two of them free

When families write to me about an "IB school in Wrocław", most assume the International Baccalaureate is a private-school product with a private-school price tag. In Wrocław that is only half true. In the school data I keep for this site there are seven IB World Schools in the city, and two of them are ordinary public schools run by the city, so tuition is zero.

The seven, as listed in my guide to international schools in Wrocław:

• Szkoła Podstawowa nr 108 (SP 108) in Nadodrze — public, IB PYP and MYP, free.
• Liceum Ogólnokształcące nr V (V LO) in Huby — public, IB MYP and DP, free.
• Wrocław International School (WIS) — private, PYP and MYP, Racławicka campus.
• International High School of Wrocław (IHSW) — private, MYP and DP, same Racławicka campus.
• ATUT Bilingual Primary School — private, Polish national programme taught bilingually with IB MYP from grade 6, also on Racławicka.
• American School of Wrocław (ASW) — private, American curriculum plus IB MYP and DP, Partynice.
• Liceum EKOLA — private Polish liceum with an IB DP track, Grabiszyn.

This article is about the two free ones — who they suit and who they do not, because "free IB" is a bargain for some families and a lost year for others. Every fact below comes from the schools' own published pages as recorded in my data (checked November 2026); admission rules change every spring, so confirm with the school before you sign a lease around it.

SP 108 in Nadodrze: public IB primary, grades 1–8, taught in Polish

Szkoła Podstawowa nr 108 im. Juliana Tuwima sits at ul. Bolesława Chrobrego 3 in Nadodrze, the tenement district just north of the Odra. It is a regular eight-year Polish primary school — grades 1–8, ages 7–15 — that is also an authorised IB World School. The IB Primary Years Programme covers grades 1–4 and the Middle Years Programme covers grades 5–8, so a child can complete the full primary and lower-secondary IB continuum without paying a złoty.

Two facts from the school's own description shape everything else. First, the school is taught in Polish. Second, admission is catchment-based (rejonizacja): priority goes to children registered at an address inside the school's catchment, the same as at any other public primary in Poland.

What "taught in Polish" really means

The IB frameworks — inquiry-led units, the MYP subject groups and personal project — are delivered in Polish, alongside the Polish national curriculum. English is a subject, not the medium of the day. A seven-year-old with no Polish learns to read and write in Polish with everyone else, which at grade 1 is often fine. A ten-year-old arriving into grade 4 or 5 is a different story — history, biology and maths come at them in a language they do not yet have. Ask the school what support it offers a non-Polish-speaking child; provision varies and I will not promise on their behalf.

Who SP 108 suits

• Families where at least one parent speaks Polish, or a Polish or Ukrainian child who will pick the language up fast.
• Families arriving with a child aged six or seven, so the child starts grade 1 with the rest of the class.
• Families planning to stay in Poland long-term, who want a child who is fully functional in Polish and still gets IB-style teaching.
• Families who can live in Nadodrze, Ołbin or Kleczków, because the address decides admission.

It is not a shortcut around learning Polish; it is a good public school with IB methodology for children who will be educated in Polish anyway.

V LO in Huby: public IB MYP and Diploma, free, since 1997

Liceum Ogólnokształcące nr V im. gen. Jakuba Jasińskiego at ul. Jacka Kuronia 14 in Huby is the public IB secondary option. It is a four-year liceum (ages roughly 15–19) and has run the IB Diploma since 1997 — one of the longest-standing DP schools in Poland. Its structure per the school's own information:

• Klasy 1–2 — IB MYP (the final two years of the Middle Years Programme).
• Klasy 3–4 — IB DP, the two-year Diploma Programme that ends in the IB exams.

Three things to know about getting in:

1. There is an English competence test for the MYP class. The school checks that a candidate can follow English-medium IB teaching. Ask the school for the current format.
2. Applications go through the city portal in May 2026 for the 2026/27 year, on the same central calendar as every other public liceum in Wrocław. Arriving outside that window, ask the school directly whether any places remain.
3. There is no separate external DP intake in 2026/27. That is the one that catches foreign families out. You cannot drop a sixteen-year-old straight into the DP class from abroad this year; the DP seats are filled by students coming up from the school's own MYP classes. The entry point is klasa 1, aged about 15.

Put together: V LO is a realistic free IB route for a student finishing grade 8 at 15 with strong English, whose family is in Wrocław for the May recruitment. It is not an entry point for a 16- or 17-year-old who needs the Diploma now — for that, see the private section below or my school list.

Public vs private IB in Wrocław: the comparison in one table

How the two free schools compare with the private IB continuum. Fee figures are what the schools publish.

The public route is free and Polish-medium with a narrow entry gate; the private route is English-medium, open most of the year, and paid. Which is "better" depends on your child's Polish, their age on arrival and how long you are staying.

The private IB continuum: WIS, IHSW, ASW, ATUT and EKOLA

If the free schools do not fit, these are the five paid IB options, grouped by how they connect.

WIS → IHSW on the Racławicka campus

Wrocław International School runs the IB PYP and MYP for ages 4–15 at ul. Racławicka 101 in Grabiszyn. On the same campus, the International High School of Wrocław (Międzynarodowe Liceum Ogólnokształcące) is a four-year liceum offering IB MYP, IB DP and a Polish matura track. Together they form the only English-medium PYP-to-Diploma path in the city on one address. Fees on request. See the IHSW profile on InternationalSchools.net for the directory listing.

American School of Wrocław — MYP and DP

ASW at ul. Partynicka 29-37 covers ages 1–18 with the American (AERO) curriculum plus IB MYP and IB DP. It is the only school here that publishes a figure: 2,300–4,900 PLN per instalment by stage for 2025/26 (the fee page does not state the period), plus a 3,200 PLN registration fee for new students. Directory listing: ASW profile on InternationalSchools.net.

ATUT — bilingual Polish primary with MYP

ATUT Bilingual Primary School, also at Racławicka 101, teaches the Polish national programme bilingually in Polish and English from zerówka to grade 8 and adds IB MYP from grade 6. The middle path: Polish exams, half the day in English, IB framework in the upper grades. Fees on request. ATUT profile on InternationalSchools.net.

EKOLA — Polish liceum with an IB DP track

Liceum EKOLA at ul. Ojca Beyzyma 17 is a private Polish liceum where students may move into the IB DP after klasa 2, so DP1 starts at around 16–17. The school publishes a 200 PLN DP1 qualifying exam fee and a one-time wpisowe whose amount is not on the site; tuition is on request. EKOLA profile on InternationalSchools.net.

The IB schools listed by InternationalSchools.net are a useful cross-check against my table.

Where to live for SP 108: Nadodrze, Ołbin, Kleczków

Because SP 108 is catchment-based, housing is the admission form. Your registered address (meldunek) must be inside the catchment, so the flat comes first and the application second.

Nadodrze sits on the north bank of the Odra, a short tram ride from the Rynek. My read of the market: Nadodrze, Ołbin and Kleczków are tenement districts being renovated street by street, with two-bedroom flats at roughly 2,800–4,200 PLN a month — among the lowest rents of any school in my guide. Some streets are restored, some are waiting, and the difference can be one corner, so I walk the block with clients before they sign.

Practical sequence:

1. Confirm the current catchment boundary with the school — streets occasionally move between schools.
2. Find a flat inside it, with a lease that supports meldunek.
3. Get your PESEL and registration sorted, because the school system runs on it.
4. Apply in the city recruitment window for grade 1, or speak to the school about a mid-year place in higher grades.

I cover the broader character of the northern districts in my Wrocław neighbourhoods guide, and the school-by-school housing logic in where to live near Wrocław's international schools.

Where to live for V LO: Huby, Gaj and the southern tram lines

V LO is in Huby, south of the main station, and a public liceum has no catchment — admission is by city recruitment, not address. A fifteen-year-old commutes alone in Wrocław without comment, so the question is "which tram line", not "which street".

My read: Huby, Gaj, Tarnogaj and Przedmieście Oławskie all put the school within a short tram ride or a walk. Przedmieście Oławskie, between the station and the river, is renovated tenements and new infill at roughly 3,500–5,000 PLN for a two-bedroom flat and is walkable to the centre. Huby and Gaj are denser and generally a little cheaper, with excellent tram service along the Powstańców Śląskich corridor.

With a younger sibling at a private school in Krzyki, the Powstańców Śląskich corridor works for both; with a sibling at WIS or ATUT on Racławicka, I lean toward Grabiszyn and let the teenager take the tram east. Current listings are on my rentals page.

When the free route is NOT the right choice

I would rather lose a quick "yes" than see a child struggle for a year. The free schools are the wrong tool when:

Your child has no Polish and is past grade 1

A child of 9, 10 or 11 without Polish spends the first year translating rather than learning, and the IB inquiry model — discussion, presentation, group work — rewards exactly the fluency they lack. Most families I have worked with in this position chose WIS, ATUT or a Cambridge school and were glad of it.

You arrive with a 14-plus-year-old mid-cycle

V LO's entry is klasa 1 at about 15, in May, with an English test, and there is no separate external DP intake in 2026/27. A 16-year-old arriving in September has three IB options — IHSW, EKOLA's DP track (DP1 from about 16–17, after a qualifying exam) or ASW — all paid. A 14-year-old can target V LO's next intake but needs a school for the year in between.

Your posting is one or two years

A short contract argues against a Polish-medium school for a non-Polish child: the language investment does not pay back before you leave, and the next country wants English-medium transcripts. For two years I suggest the English-medium schools and a lease matching the contract, as in my relocation guide.

You cannot live in the SP 108 catchment

If work or budget puts you in Krzyki or Fabryczna, SP 108 is simply not available. Catchment is not a preference list.

None of this makes the public schools worse — it makes them specific. For the right family they are the best-value IB education in the country.

Next steps: how I help families work this out

My process is the same every time: the child's age in September, their language level, the length of the contract. That narrows seven schools to two. Then I check admission timing against the moving date — a May window with a March move is fine; with an August move it means a bridging year. Only then do we talk flats, because the school fixes the district: inside the catchment for SP 108, along the southern tram lines for V LO, wider for the private schools. The paperwork order — PESEL, meldunek, bank account — is in the relocation checklist.

Send me the child's age, languages and arrival month, and I will tell you honestly whether the free route is open to you.

FAQ

Is there a free IB school in Wrocław?

Yes, two. Szkoła Podstawowa nr 108 in Nadodrze offers IB PYP and MYP for grades 1–8, and Liceum nr V in Huby offers IB MYP and the Diploma Programme. Both are public city schools with no tuition, but SP 108 is taught in Polish and admission is catchment-based.

Can a child who speaks no Polish attend SP 108?

The school teaches in Polish, so a non-Polish-speaking child will be learning the language alongside the curriculum. It is most realistic at grade 1, when every child is starting. For older children, ask the school about support, and compare the English-medium private options before deciding.

Can my 16-year-old join the IB Diploma at V LO directly?

Not in 2026/27: the school has no separate external DP intake that year, and DP places are filled from its own MYP classes. Entry is klasa 1 at about 15 via the city portal in May, with an English test. For a direct DP entry, look at IHSW, EKOLA or ASW.

How does admission to V LO work for a foreign student?

Applications are made through Wrocław's central recruitment portal in May 2026 for the 2026/27 year, like every public liceum. Candidates for the MYP class also sit an English competence test. Confirm document requirements and dates directly with the school, as rules are updated each spring.

Where should we live for SP 108 or V LO?

For SP 108 the address decides admission, so live inside the catchment in Nadodrze, Ołbin or Kleczków, where two-bedroom flats run roughly 2,800–4,200 PLN. V LO has no catchment; Huby, Gaj, Tarnogaj or Przedmieście Oławskie along the southern tram lines work well.