Tohoku International School (TIS) Guide 2026: IB Programmes, 2026-27 Fees, Admissions and DP Results

Tohoku International School (TIS) is a small, English-medium international school in Izumi-ku, in the north of Sendai, teaching children from Kindergarten (ages 4 and 5) to Grade 12. If your family is moving to Sendai, you may be wondering whether the IB is an option there. It is: TIS is authorised for the Primary Years Programme and the Diploma Programme. This guide brings together what the school publishes about its programmes, 2026-27 fees, admissions and recent Diploma scores.

Everything below is based on the school’s website and admissions documents, the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT) IB consortium list and Miyagi Prefecture’s school register, checked between 24 and 26 September 2026. Please confirm details with the school before you apply.

Please note that TIS is a different school from Tokyo International School and Tsukuba International School.

TIS at a glance

TIS is a day school with no boarding; classes are in English apart from Japanese. Its sister school is Tohoku High School, run by the same corporation.

With 132 students in May 2024, classes are small, and the school says Grades 1 and 2, and Grades 3 and 4, are combined classes. The principal describes TIS as “a small school, fostering a close familial community”.

The “miscellaneous school” status matters mainly for Japanese families. TIS is not an Article 1 school under Japan’s School Education Act (in other words, it is not a Japanese elementary, junior high or high school). If your child has Japanese nationality and is of compulsory school age, please check with your local board of education how attending TIS is treated before you enrol.

IB programmes at TIS: PYP and DP

According to the MEXT IB consortium list (as of 30 June 2026), TIS is authorised for the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the Diploma Programme (DP). It does not offer the Middle Years Programme (MYP) or the Career-related Programme (CP). The school’s admissions document says that from the 2021-2022 school year TIS “is authorized to offer the IB Diploma Programme (DP) to Grade 11-12”. For exact authorisation dates, see the IB’s “Find an IB World School” directory.

As Figure 1 shows, here is how the grades line up:

• Kindergarten (ages 4 and 5): a play-based programme that the school describes as based on the IB early years approach.
• Elementary (Grades 1 to 6): the PYP, with six units of inquiry a year, Japanese lessons and English support in class or in pull-out lessons.
• Secondary (Grades 7 to 10): the school’s own curriculum (not an IB programme), including a Global Issues course.
• Grades 11 and 12: IB Diploma Programme courses.

The school says its secondary programme “is designed to prepare students for the diversity of DP”.

Which DP subjects are available?

The school’s DP page lists English Language and Literature; Japanese B, Spanish ab initio and a self-taught Language A; Business Management, Geography and Psychology; Biology, Chemistry and Physics; both IB maths courses; and Visual Arts (or an extra humanities or science subject instead), noting that “available subjects are dependent on student demand”.

If your child wants a subject not on the list, such as Economics, ask early.

Grades 11 and 12: full Diploma or course certificates

The school’s Admissions Policy (February 2026) explains that all Grade 11 and 12 students take DP courses, and each student can either complete the full IB Diploma or take selected course certificates. The full Diploma is “generally encouraged”, and an individual plan is agreed with the student, parents and the DP Coordinator.

Conditions to know about:

• TIS students moving into Grade 11 need a B (3.0) average across all classes to take the full Diploma.
• By the end of Grade 10, students must be at least at the “Monitor” level of the school’s English as an Additional Language (EAL) scale to enter the Diploma Programme.
• New Grade 11 applicants must show English and maths at the level expected at the end of TIS Grade 10; otherwise they take course certificates only, and can still earn the TIS diploma (described in the policy as WASC-accredited).

If you are aiming at universities that expect the full Diploma, ask the DP Coordinator about your child’s plan well before Grade 11.

IB Diploma results 2023 to 2026

TIS publishes its Diploma scores on its OUR GRADS page. These are the figures as shown on 26 September 2026:

Figure 2 shows the averages (the maximum is 45 points). The school does not publish candidate numbers or a pass rate. Year groups are small (the whole of Grades 9 to 12 had 41 students in May 2024), so one or two students can move the average a lot; looking at several years together gives a fairer picture.

Where do graduates go?

The same page lists universities where alumni “have been accepted”, including the University of Tokyo (PEAK), Waseda, Keio, Sophia, ICU and Akita International University in Japan, and Cornell, UC Berkeley, the University of Toronto, UBC, Edinburgh and the University of Hong Kong overseas. It gives no years or numbers, and these are acceptances, not enrolments.

Tuition and fees for 2026-2027

Fees are a big part of any school decision. These are the amounts on the TIS Tuition and Fees page for 2026-2027.

To put these together: for a new student joining Grades 1 to 8 in 2026-27, the first year adds up to ¥1,755,000 (¥400,000 Entrance Fee + ¥15,000 Administrative Fee + ¥1,340,000 annual fees). At 2026-27 rates the first year is ¥1,405,000 for Kindergarten, ¥1,955,000 for Grades 9 and 10 and ¥2,105,000 for Grades 11 and 12, as Figure 3 shows. From the second year you pay the annual total for your child’s grade band, plus EAL or bus fees if you use them.

Other points from the fee page and admissions document:

• Tuition can be paid in one sum or in ten monthly payments (September to June).
• The fee page also says DP exam and handling fees for Grades 11 and 12 are ¥200,000 over two years (¥100,000 each year). It is not clear whether this is the same as the ¥100,000 DP Text and Test fee in the table, so please ask.
• EAL support is charged monthly: ¥4,000 (Monitor level), ¥11,000 (Intermediate) or ¥25,000 (Intensive), with levels reviewed twice a year.
• School bus fees are monthly: ¥7,000 from Sendai Station, ¥6,000 from Yaotome, ¥5,000 from Daikannon, ¥6,000 from Akashidai and ¥6,000 from Izumi Parktown.
• No separate application fee appears in the fee table. For families with more than one child, the school asks you to contact the office; no sibling discount amount is published.

If you work at Tohoku University: under a 2016 agreement, children of full-time foreign faculty and researchers can receive a 50% tuition exemption (and a reduced entrance fee), subject to a university recommendation, TIS admission requirements and a household income of no more than ¥8 million. Eligibility is limited to children of full-time foreign professors, associate professors, lecturers, assistant professors, research associates and researchers. Other fees are not reduced. Check the current terms with the university.

Admissions: who can apply and how it works

Rolling admissions

TIS accepts applications throughout the year, and its website says applications are accepted up to six months before the month you want your child to start. If a grade is full, your child can join a wait list.

As Figure 4 summarises, there are four steps:

• Step 1: visit the school, or ask for a virtual tour.
• Step 2: send the application form with report cards or transcripts from previous schools.
• Step 3: the school reviews programme fit and space.
• Step 4: an interview and assessment (reading, writing, speaking and maths), in person or online, between one month and one day before the first day in class. The admissions document says it takes about an hour; the February 2026 policy says about 90 minutes.

The February 2026 policy adds that decisions come within 20 school days of a complete file, and new students start with a three-month transition period.

Who gets priority?

When a grade is full, the February 2026 policy says priority may be given, in this listed order, to children of expatriates from English-speaking countries, other expatriates, Japanese returnees (at least two years in a non-Japanese educational environment), and Japanese students with high marks who plan to study at university overseas or in English-language programmes in Japan. Students must already have an appropriate residence status and live with their parents or guardians.

Age and grade placement

Children are placed mainly by their age on 1 September of the school year, although English level, maturity and previous schooling can be taken into account. All students must graduate before their 20th birthday.

English requirements and EAL support

Every applicant is assessed in English and maths. For students applying to Grades 11 or 12 whose first language is not English, the school requires one of these scores: TOEFL iBT 70 or better, Eiken Pre-1 or better, CEFR B2 or better, IELTS 6.0, or TOEIC 800.

The two current documents describe EAL support a little differently:

• The admissions document says EAL is available from Kindergarten to Grade 10 and is “unavailable to students applying for enrollment to Grade 11 or 12”.
• The February 2026 Admissions Policy says EAL support runs from Grade 1 to Grade 10 (it is not required in Kindergarten), with EAL monitoring and consultation for DP students and EAL support for non-DP students in Grades 11 and 12.

If your child will join the upper grades with developing English, ask the school which support applies.

Learning support needs

The policy asks families to disclose any learning, social or developmental needs during admission, with any assessment reports. Specialist resources are limited, so each case is reviewed individually.

School life and getting there

Outside lessons, the school lists after-school activities, field trips around Sendai, community activities such as beach clean-ups and an annual food drive, with student council fundraising supporting a secondary service trip, and events such as Sports Day. In the 2026-27 calendar, the first day of school is 19 August 2026 and the last day is 17 June 2027.

By public transport, take bus 910 from stop 19 at the Sendai Station bus pool, or bus 21 or 22 from Izumi-Chuo; the school is between the Izumi Village 1-chome and 2-chome stops. Check the school bus routes against possible homes before you sign a lease.

Questions parents often ask

My child speaks very little English. Can they still join?

EAL support is offered for a monthly fee, and the entrance interview decides the level. Older students with limited English are considered individually, and non-native speakers applying for Grades 11 and 12 need a score such as IELTS 6.0. The earlier your child joins, the more time they have to prepare for the Diploma.

Does TIS offer the MYP?

No. Grades 7 to 10 follow the school’s own secondary curriculum.

We are a Japanese family. Can our child apply?

Yes, but when a grade is full, expatriate families may be given priority, followed by returnees and strong students planning English-medium university study. As TIS is not an Article 1 school, also talk to your local board of education.

Summary

• An IB school in Sendai: authorised for the PYP and the DP, with no MYP or CP (MEXT list, June 2026); DP taught since 2021-22.
• Flexible Grades 11 and 12: all students take DP courses and can aim for the full Diploma or course certificates, with a TIS diploma available.
• Published Diploma scores: averages of 32, 29, 34 and 35 points from 2023 to 2026; no pass rates or candidate numbers are given.
• 2026-27 fees: annual totals from ¥990,000 (Kindergarten) to ¥1,690,000 (Grades 11-12), plus ¥415,000 in one-time fees for new students.
• Rolling admissions: apply any time of year, up to six months ahead; English scores are required for non-native speakers entering Grades 11 and 12.

If TIS sounds like a good fit, contact the office for a visit or a virtual tour; seeing a normal school day is the best way to feel whether it suits your family.

Sources and references

• Tohoku International School: official website (checked 26 September 2026)
• TIS: Tuition and Fees (2026-2027)
• TIS: Application Process and Admission Procedures and Fees (PDF, 2026)
• TIS: Admissions Policy (PDF, February 2026)
• TIS: IB Diploma Programme
• TIS: OUR GRADS (IB Diploma results and university acceptances)
• TIS: Kindergarten, Elementary and Secondary
• TIS: Mission and Vision (accreditation information)
• TIS: Access and school bus map
• TIS: 2026-2027 school calendar (PDF)
• Nanko Gakuen: overview and enrolment (in Japanese)
• Tohoku High School: school history (in Japanese)
• Miyagi Prefecture: register of private schools, FY2025 (PDF, in Japanese)
• IB: Find an IB World School
• MEXT IB Education Promotion Consortium: IB schools in Japan (as of 30 June 2026)
• Tohoku University: outline of the tuition agreement with TIS (PDF, 2016)