In most countries, the argument for a supplementary international track is academic: the subjects a local school cannot staff, a qualification a foreign university reads natively. In Bosnia and Herzegovina there is an additional argument that families here appreciate immediately — it requires permission from nobody. In a country where education is organised by Brčko District, Republika Srpska, the Federation, and ten cantons, and where guidance written for one may not apply in another, an arrangement that touches none of that machinery is worth something on its own. This article is about how it works week to week, and what it produces at eighteen.
Why "needs no permission" matters more here
A family considering stepping outside daily schooling in Bosnia and Herzegovina faces a question before any other: which authority governs us? A canton, an entity, or the district — and the answer determines which rules, which forms, and which office. The supplementary arrangement removes that question entirely, because the child remains enrolled and every legal obligation stays exactly where it already sits. Nothing is applied for, nothing is approved, nothing has to be confirmed with anyone before the year starts. Given how much administrative variety this country contains, that simplicity is a feature rather than a compromise.
The week, in practice
Bosnia sits one to two hours ahead of our Nairobi teaching base, which places our teaching hours in the local afternoon rather than late at night — the most important practical fact about running this model from South-Eastern Europe. A typical student takes two to four Cambridge subjects live, in groups of four to six, on a fixed weekly timetable, with every session recorded. School runs the morning and the national curriculum; we run a focused academic block afterwards. The load is real but not doubled: the overlap in mathematics and the sciences is heavy, so a student strong in one programme is usually strong in the other.
Choosing subjects when you cannot take everything
Because this is supplementary rather than a replacement curriculum, subject discipline matters more than in countries where a family can switch systems outright. The pattern that works concentrates on what is portable and what the local school is least able to deliver in English: Mathematics and Additional Mathematics, the sciences, and English Language and Literature at IGCSE; then two or three A-Levels chosen strictly for the target course. A student aiming at engineering in Austria or Germany needs Mathematics, Further Mathematics, and Physics. One aiming at medicine needs Biology and Chemistry. One aiming at an English-taught business programme in Sarajevo needs Economics and Mathematics. Anything beyond that competes with school rather than complementing it.
Examinations, and the geography that helps
Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel examinations are sat as private candidates at authorised provision, with Sarajevo checked first and capacity confirmed per family per session. The country’s shape helps: Banja Luka and Brčko sit close to Croatian centres, Mostar near the Adriatic corridor, and Croatian, Serbian, and Montenegrin options are all worth reviewing where local capacity is tight. Regional families plan travel into each series well ahead — a few trips a year against a full year of teaching delivered home.
What it produces, and where it travels
A student finishing this way holds two records: the national pathway, complete and undisturbed, and an externally examined Cambridge record beside it. In a country with a diaspora this large, the second one does a great deal of work. Bosnian universities admit foreign qualifications through recognition procedures with requirements confirmed per programme, and the English-medium private tier — the International University of Sarajevo, International Burch University, Sarajevo School of Science and Technology — reads Cambridge and IB qualifications more directly. Croatian, Serbian, Austrian, German, Slovenian, and Turkish universities assess them routinely; UCAS reads A-Levels natively; the Common Application serves US plans. For a family whose relatives are already in three of those countries, holding both records is worth considerably more than holding either alone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the supplementary arrangement need approval from our canton or entity?+
No. The child remains enrolled and every legal obligation stays with the school, so nothing is applied for or approved with any of the country’s education authorities.
How many subjects should we take?+
Two to four alongside a full school week is realistic — concentrated on Mathematics, the sciences, and English at IGCSE, then two or three A-Levels chosen strictly for the target course.
Where do we sit examinations?+
At authorised provision confirmed per family per session — Sarajevo first, with Croatian, Serbian, and Montenegrin centres worth checking, particularly from Banja Luka, Brčko, and Mostar.
What does the child end up with?+
Two records: the complete national pathway and an externally examined Cambridge record — read directly by the English-medium universities here and assessed routinely across Croatia, Serbia, Austria, Germany, Slovenia, and Türkiye, with UCAS reading A-Levels natively.
