Every relocating family we work with is told the same thing at the first meeting: choose the school before the house. The island is small but the traffic is not, and a daily run from the wrong coast to the right school is the single most common reason families move house within a year of arriving.
Three systems. English-medium schools follow the British curriculum through Cambridge IGCSE and A-Levels, several also offering the International Baccalaureate; French schools follow the French national curriculum to the baccalauréat, homologated by the French Ministry, and one offers the IB Diploma in the final years; and the Mauritian state schools, which are free and bilingual but rarely chosen by relocating families. For British or South African university entry, A-Levels and the IB are equally accepted. For a family that may move again, the curriculum they are already in is usually the right one to stay in.
Where the schools are. The north has the largest and most established English-medium school at Mapou, taking children from 18 months to 18, along with a well-regarded primary in the same village and a French school. The west has an English-medium secondary near Flic en Flac and a growing primary and secondary offer around Tamarin. The central plateau, around Moka, has the second of the two large English-medium secondaries, another IB school, and the main French lycée and école. The east and south have far fewer options and families there accept long commutes.
Fees. The English-medium schools charge by year group, and the jump at secondary is steep. Published 2025-26 fees at the largest school run from around MUR 161,700 a year in the early years to MUR 608,300 in the final years. The Moka secondary charges around MUR 32,000 to 35,000 a month over eleven months. Enrolment fees of MUR 10,000 to 30,000 and a school bus at MUR 18,000 to 40,000 a year come on top, and sibling discounts of 7.5% to 15% are common. The French schools are less expensive. Fees are reviewed annually, so confirm the current figures with the school before budgeting.
Timing. The good schools have waiting lists in the year groups families most often arrive into, particularly the first years of primary and the first year of secondary. Six to twelve months' notice is normal, and longer is safer. That means the school application starts before the permit application, not after it, and the enrolment deposit is often the first money spent on the move.
What we do. Introduce the family to the two or three schools that fit the children's ages and the curriculum they are in, arrange visits during an exploratory trip, manage the admissions correspondence, and align the offer date with the permit timetable so that the place is held until the family can take it up.