How much does it cost to prepare a child for school in Luxembourg?

With the start of the school year approaching, we decided to find out how much it costs to buy a full set of school supplies, including the necessary notebooks, textbooks, pens, and additional stationery. Once again, parents from the Luxtoday chat came to our aid.

How to start learning

Since I was moving for work, we started preparing our child for school in advance, back in December 2021. In our case, the process was remote and fairly easy. We transferred our son from one international school to another, and they had the same programme — Cambridge. This meant that we did not need to take any tests; they simply took our academic performance into account.

As a result, we submitted the documents in December 2021, and the child was enrolled in January 2022, which was quite convenient. Also, since there were no vacancies in the classes in the middle of the year, we decided to finish this class remotely at the previous school.

This is an interesting story, because in Luxembourg, children are required to attend school as soon as they are registered in the municipality. In order to be able to study remotely, we wrote a letter to the Ministry of Education with a detailed explanation of why and how. After some time, we received a response and approval for distance learning until the end of the school year.

It turned out that our child changed schools twice. The first was Lycée Michel Lucius, an international public school, and the second, which we will attend this year, is the private International School of Luxembourg (ISL).

What you need to buy before the school year

When it comes to public schools, everything was very, very simple.

In addition to textbooks, the child was also given an iPad. We paid a small deposit for it — 50 euros. The iPad was used for many things: class assignments, homework, and communication with teachers.

What we really needed to buy was stationery. There were no strict requirements for it, and all requests arose as we went along. This is a big difference from ISL, but I'll talk more about that later. And there wasn't much point in stationery anyway, because the lion's share of all assignments were done either on iPads, in the form of presentations on PCs, or directly in workbooks. As far as I know, there are no iPads in primary school; it's a slightly different story there. We had everything because we were already in secondary school.

As for equipment, we had backpacks, but no uniform was required: neither sportswear nor everyday clothes. In other words, you could wear whatever you wanted, as long as you didn't have any piercings, tattoos or bare midriffs. Overall, it was quite democratic.

Starting this year, my child is attending ISL, where the situation is slightly different. The school sends a list of school supplies that need to be purchased in advance. This list is quite impressive if you are starting from scratch.

All this fun cost me about €200. You might think it's just small change, but when you start buying everything on the list, it adds up to a tidy sum. I don't know yet how much of it I'll need, because I've heard different opinions from parents whose children study there. Some people needed everything, while others got by with half.

This school also required special calculators. Complex ones that can calculate functions. The school purchases them centrally to ensure that they are exactly what is needed. We spent around €80-90 on them. In addition to this, a regular calculator is needed for everyday calculations.

The next expense is mandatory sportswear. At ISL, it is all branded and sold in a special shop, the address of which is sent to you in advance. The kit consists of several items, and, of course, you buy everything in pairs so that you have a spare. It all cost around €100.

Where to buy everything for school

One of the most obvious options is Amazon. It is not available in Luxembourg itself, but it is available in neighbouring Germany and France, and everything is delivered without any problems. I have two accounts. If something is not available in Germany, I order it in France, and vice versa.

There are also local shops that I really like. You can find them on the Letzshop website. They are great because they sell products from local manufacturers — they even have special labelling. You can support regional businesses, which is really cool. Another convenient thing about these shops is that they may be located near you, so you can buy whatever you need there.

Well, be prepared for everything to be expensive. For example, A4 notebooks, 60 sheets — 5 pieces for 28 (!) euros. Folders, which are needed for several subjects, also cost around 7-8 euros each. A calculator, a regular one, not a scientific one — 45 euros. A set of 8 coloured markers — 7 euros.

How not to go broke buying stationery

In fact, not all shops have such frightening prices. There is always the option of going to Ashan to look for what you need. They often have discounts. But you don't want to buy things that are too cheap and of poor quality, because they will fall apart after 2-3 weeks.

Textbooks too. Some schools provide them, while others require you to bring your own. But again, you can borrow them from the library. It's just like at home: you come at the beginning of the year, get a book, and return it at the end of the year. If it's in good condition, great. If it's in poor condition, you'll have to pay :)

The main life hack that works here is child benefits. I was extremely surprised that people in the government here understand that raising a child is expensive. I was even more surprised that child benefits did not turn into 5-10 euros after a couple of years, as was the case in my homeland. Additional payments of 50 roubles were very "motivating".

In Luxembourg, you can really count on assistance. There are monthly child benefits that you receive simply for having children, and there are also special one-off payments for school. For children over 12 years old, this amounts to around €200, which covers a decent portion of the costs of stationery, uniforms and other items.

A very interesting point is that the older the child, the higher the allowance. This is quite logical, because teenagers have new needs, and they need more things for school. Take a calculator, for example. A younger child is unlikely to ever need one!

That's why, even with sky-high prices, you don't feel so devastated when you buy everything you need in Luxembourg.

What else does the money go towards?

Textbooks, notebooks and uniforms are understandable and expected expenses. But parents in Luxembourg pay for more than just that. Although the general items of expenditure are familiar to everyone, there are still a few differences.

Food, of course

It's organised quite interestingly here. Most schools work with a single food supplier. Accordingly, children have a special card that they can use to pay for their meals at school. All parents need to do is top up the balance on time or pay the bills as they arise.

What's more, adults have a special app that helps them keep track of how much money is in the account. It also shows what exactly the child is buying for themselves in the canteen. So not only will they be unable to spend money on unnecessary items at the kiosk, but if they eat pizza every day, you will know about it straight away.

In some schools, you can pre-order meals using the same app. Your child will arrive and receive what you have chosen for them. They will pay for it on the spot.

Trips

In addition to meals, various trips, especially overnight trips, are paid for separately. This is quite a popular thing. Unfortunately, last year we didn't have a single school trip. In state schools, this is often sponsored. In private schools, of course, there is less patronage and more from parents. But children here also go on week-long trips, for example, to Germany.

Training and clubs

Additional expenses may include private lessons, clubs, and extracurricular activities. Again, everything related to children's development is very well subsidised in Luxembourg. For example, we paid €400 per year for our son's swimming club, and he attended 3-4 times a week. At home, we could only dream of such a price for such intensive training.

The main problem is finding information. If you want to find something for your child (or even for yourself), you have to sift through a huge number of articles and brochures, which are not always available in English. That's why what you're doing at Luxtoday is so cool and useful. Thank you :)