Online School & Homeschool in São Paulo

Online school and Cambridge tutoring in São Paulo

For São Paulo families — Cambridge and IB taught live alongside your school, at a fraction of what the Morumbi tier charges.

Live online Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge A-Level, Pearson Edexcel International, IB Diploma Programme, and American Curriculum with Advanced Placement (AP) for São Paulo families. São Paulo is the financial and corporate capital of Latin America, with the deepest international and bilingual school market in South America — the British and American schools, the German, French, Italian, and Japanese schools, and a fast-growing escola bilíngue sector. Fees at the top of that market are among the highest in the region, and the professional class outside them is enormous. Brazilian law is settled and strict on educating outside school, so our role here is unambiguous: alongside your school, never instead of it. The six-hour offset means our classes land in the Brazilian morning or early afternoon — both of which work.

Challenges São Paulo families face

International school fees in São Paulo are among the highest in Latin America.
Educação básica is compulsory from four to seventeen, and the STF has held there is no right to home education.
The bilingual sector has grown fast, but Cambridge A-Level provision is thinner than IB and American provision.
Corporate and financial postings move families in and out of Brazil regularly.
Time zone: Brazil runs BRT (UTC-3) with no daylight saving since 2019 — six hours behind Nairobi, so classes land in the Brazilian morning or early afternoon.

Why São Paulo families choose Smartious

A fee gap measured against the region's most expensive tier: Live small-group teaching from USD 5,076 a year against São Paulo international fees among the highest in Latin America.
Cambridge A-Levels where the market runs to IB and bilingual: Families applying through UCAS frequently find their bilingual school does not offer an A-Level route. That is what we teach.
Alongside the national route, not instead of it: Brazilian law is settled: there is no right to home education. Your school keeps the enrolment and the ENEM track; we add the international one.
A workable clock, unlike much of the Americas: Six hours, fixed — Brazilian mornings and early afternoons both land in our normal teaching day, with no seasonal drift since Brazil ended daylight saving in 2019.
Portuguese kept alongside: Cambridge Portuguese runs beside the English-medium core, protecting Brazilian and Portuguese university routes.

Brazil is the most judicially settled strict-tier country in our coverage, and a family here deserves the ruling stated exactly. Educação básica is compulsory from four to seventeen. In September 2018 the Supremo Tribunal Federal decided RE 888815 with repercussão geral, fixing the thesis for Tema 822: there is no subjective public right of the student or their family to home education, which does not exist in Brazilian legislation. The Court did not hold homeschooling unconstitutional in principle — it held that it could only be created and regulated by federal law enacted by the National Congress, and indicated the conditions such a law would have to satisfy, including compliance with the four-to-seventeen obligation, the solidary duty of family and State, a core of academic subjects, supervision and evaluation by public authorities, avoidance of school dropout, and guaranteed socialisation. Two consequences follow that families encounter directly. State, municipal, and district laws purporting to create home education are unconstitutional for invading the União's exclusive competence over the directives and bases of national education, and the STF has struck several down, including a Santa Catarina law and a Distrito Federal law — so a local law reported in the press is not a route. And bills to regulate ensino domiciliar have been debated in Congress without producing an enacted federal law. Our configuration in Brazil is therefore supplementary at every age up to seventeen: the school carries the enrolment and the national track, and we teach the international one alongside it. Smartious is not an authorised Brazilian school.

Smartious delivers to São Paulo families online; the live programme is complete without in-person supplementation.

Live online via Smartious LMS. Brazil sits six hours behind Nairobi with no daylight saving since 2019, so Brazilian morning and early-afternoon classes both fall in our normal teaching day, at the same time every week of the year, with all sessions recorded.

São Paulo is Latin America's financial and corporate capital, with the deepest international and bilingual school market in South America and fees among the highest in the region — inside a legal framework where the STF has held there is no subjective right to home education. Brazil runs BRT (UTC-3), six hours behind Nairobi with no daylight saving.

Family situations we work with

Financial, corporate, and professional-services families outside the top tier's fees.
Multinational and expatriate households on Brazilian postings.
Families in the bilingual sector wanting a full international examination track.
Students targeting UK, Portuguese, American, or Canadian universities.
Brazilian families adding Cambridge subjects alongside the national route toward ENEM.
Students on the tarde shift with mornings free, or manhã with early afternoons free.

São Paulo communities and nearby areas

Morumbi · Jardins · Vila Nova Conceição · Alphaville · Granja Viana · Campinas · ABC region

Common questions from São Paulo families

Is homeschooling legal in Brazil?

No, as the law currently stands. In 2018 the STF fixed the thesis in Tema 822 that there is no subjective public right of the student or their family to home education, which does not exist in Brazilian legislation. The Court did not rule it unconstitutional in principle — it held that only federal law enacted by Congress could create and regulate it, and no such law has been enacted. Educação básica remains compulsory from four to seventeen.

We have seen a state law allowing it — does that help?

No. State, municipal and district laws creating home education have been held unconstitutional for invading the União's exclusive competence over national education directives; the STF has struck down laws from Santa Catarina and the Distrito Federal among others. A local law reported in the press is not a route.

So what can Smartious do here?

Teach alongside your school. Your child keeps their Brazilian enrolment and the national track toward ENEM; we teach Cambridge or IB subjects live in a Brazilian morning or early-afternoon block toward external examinations.

How does the timezone work?

Six hours, fixed — Brazil ended daylight saving in 2019, so nothing drifts. A 09:00 Brazilian class is 15:00 in Nairobi and a 13:00 class is 19:00; both are normal teaching hours for us. With Brazilian schools commonly running manhã and tarde shifts, most students have one of those windows free.

Guides for families in Brazil

What parents say

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“I'm very much pleased by the teaching methods at Smartious eschool, the tutors are caring, they never fail to reach out to their students in any need. Highly recommend!” — Valentine M., Google review