Virtual School in Somalia: Beyond Mogadishu, and the Exam Sitting That Needs a Plan

By Brendaliz Chelangat, Head of Academics · October 2026 · 8 min read

Most of Somalia’s private international schooling sits in Mogadishu, with a smaller sector in Hargeisa. Families elsewhere face longer odds. In Garowe, Bosaso, Galkayo, Kismayo, Baidoa and Beledweyne there are good local schools, teachers who work hard and students with real ambition, but few schools offer Cambridge or Edexcel courses through to A-Level, and fewer still run the science combinations that a medical or engineering course abroad asks for. This guide is about those cities, and about the stage where planning matters most: the IGCSE and A-Level years, the examination sitting, and the routes into universities at home and abroad.

Hargeisa and Berbera

Hargeisa is a large city with its own universities, its own private schools and a strong commercial life, and its education system is run by the Somaliland authorities, with their own curriculum and examinations. Berbera, on the coast, has a port that has drawn new investment and logistics work in recent years. Families here include returnees from the UK, the Gulf and elsewhere, and professionals in trade, telecoms and the port. Where a student wants Cambridge or Edexcel A-Levels in a combination the local schools do not run, live teaching after the school day fills that gap without anyone leaving for Nairobi or further afield, and the local school keeps its place in the child’s week.

Garowe, Bosaso and Galkayo

Garowe is the administrative capital of Puntland, and Bosaso is its commercial port on the Gulf of Aden, with a trading economy that reaches across to the Gulf states. Galkayo is an important commercial centre for central Somalia. These cities have universities and private schools, and families with relatives across the diaspora who expect their children to keep international options open. What they often lack is specialist teaching in A-Level sciences and Mathematics, because a small school cannot always staff a subject for a handful of students. A live class with a subject specialist, recorded for the days when power or connectivity fails, is the most direct way to provide it.

Kismayo, Baidoa and the south

Kismayo, a port city in Jubaland, and Baidoa, in South West State, are regional centres where security conditions shape daily life and travel, and where families plan carefully around both. Schools operate, and many students do well in them, but international programmes are scarce. For some families, sending a child to Mogadishu or Nairobi for secondary school has been the only way to reach Cambridge or Edexcel examinations. A live online school does not remove every difficulty, and travel for examinations still has to be planned, but it does mean the daily teaching can happen at home, with the family. Recorded lessons also cover the days when moving around is unwise.

Planning the examination years

The exam sitting is the part that needs the most planning outside Mogadishu. Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel examinations are sat at authorised exam centres, which families book. Some Mogadishu schools that are authorised centres accept external candidates and some do not; Nairobi is the usual alternative. We confirm the centre per family, per session, and encourage families in the regions to plan travel, documents and accommodation well before each series. Choosing subjects with that in mind helps: a sensible set of IGCSEs sat in one or two series is easier to manage than a scattered timetable. At A-Level, two or three subjects chosen strictly for the target course is usually right.

Where the qualifications lead

Somali universities, including several in Mogadishu, Hargeisa, Garowe and Bosaso, consider Cambridge and Edexcel qualifications, and their requirements should be confirmed with each university for the course and year. National certificates differ between administrations, so a student who may want to re-enter a local school or sit a national examination should check that with the relevant authority early. Abroad, Turkish and Malaysian universities are well-trodden routes for Somali students, Kenyan and Ugandan universities are close and familiar, and Gulf, UK, US and Canadian universities read A-Levels, AP and the IB directly. The earlier the destination is chosen, the better the subjects can follow it, and the fewer surprises there are in the final year.

Outside Mogadishu, the gap is rarely ambition; it is specialist teaching and a plan for the examination sitting. Live lessons bring the teaching to Hargeisa, Garowe, Bosaso, Kismayo or Baidoa, alongside the local school, and careful planning handles the rest. Choose the destination early, keep the subject list sensible, and book the exam centre well ahead. Book an assessment and we will work through it with your family.

Frequently asked questions

We live in Garowe. Can our child study A-Level sciences with you?

Yes. Lessons are live with subject specialists and recorded, so they work from Garowe as they do from Mogadishu. Examinations are sat at an authorised centre that we confirm per session.

What time are live classes?

Somalia, Hargeisa included, shares East Africa Time with Nairobi, so the live timetable runs in the local school day with no time difference at all.

Can my child stay in a local school and study with you?

Yes. Many regional families keep the local school, and its national certificate, and add one to three Cambridge or Edexcel subjects after the school day.

Our internet is unreliable. Will that work?

Every lesson is recorded, so a dropped connection means watching the recording rather than missing the lesson. A student does need a connection good enough for live video on most days.

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