Frankfurt expects boom in international students post-Brexit

As UK-based bankers head to German financial hub Frankfurt post-Brexit, so are their children, leading to a jump in interest in the city’s international schools, reports Reuters.

With Frankfurt now banks’ favourite spot to base their new EU headquarters, the 12 international schools in the city teaching English and baccalaureate programmes are hosting calls from the bankers who will soon be relocating to the city with their school-going children.

“There’s no question a number of people are coming here,” Frankfurt International School head Paul Fochtman told Reuters.

Pupils enter a building at the Frankfurt International School. Source: Reuters/Ralph Orlowski

Frankfurt International School’s main campus is in Oberursel, 15km from downtown Frankfurt and uses English as the primary language of instruction as well as English as a Second Language (ESL) support, according to its website. Students come from 60 nationalities.

Frankfurt Main Finance, a lobby group to position the city as a top financial centre, says studies predict up to 10,000 jobs could move from London to Frankfurt within the next four years. This means thousands of students could be following suit as well.

While schools like Frankfurt’s Strothoff International School are considering opening new campuses to expand its student body, Fochtman’s school is taking a more cautious approach and seeing the effects of Brexit on its city before expanding.

“We are left holding the bag” if the school builds for an additional 2,000 and fewer show up, Fochtman said.

EU students and staff in UK universities are uncertain about their future post-Brexit. Source: Reuters/Peter Nicholls

Banks that have announced plans to relocate some of their EU operations to Frankfurt include JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup as well as Japanese banks like Daiwa and Mizuho Financial.

A Financial Times article in June reported Brexit is pushing more finance postgrads to seek for work options outside the UK. Frankfurt, as with other financial hubs like Dubai and Paris, is set to benefit from finance students and job-seekers looking for a home post-Brexit.

Britain’s vote to leave the EU has also scared off a stream of prospective students from the EU, as there remains a lack of clarity on what their work and residency rights will be.

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