Moving abroad for better education: A growing trend among families

When school becomes a reason to leave

Educational expatriation can take many forms, but it usually comes down to a simple idea: another country's school system better matches the parents' expectations and the child's needs.

In these cases, the decision to move abroad isn't driven by a career opportunity or a desire for a new lifestyle. Instead, it's about providing children with an educational environment that feels more suitable.

This "educational mobility" isn't entirely new. For a long time, some families have sent their children abroad to study at prestigious boarding schools or universities. What sets educational expatriation apart is that the decision now involves all or part of the family and can happen as early as the first years of schooling.

From Germany to Denmark: A concrete example

One frequently cited example of educational expatriation involves German families who choose to move to Denmark for their children's schooling.

In Goethe's homeland, the law requires compulsory schooling from age six, as in many countries. But this must take place in an accredited physical institution. Homeschooling is allowed only in exceptional and temporary cases because authorities believe that learning at home doesn't support socialization.

This regulation explains why some families decide to cross the border into Denmark. A recent investigation by the German newspaper Der Spiegel tells the story of the Betz family. Opposed to the German school system, the parents chose to leave their country and settle in Padborg, Denmark, less than a kilometer from the border. "We are school refugees," the mother says. "We just couldn't stand the German school system anymore."

In Denmark, the Constitution doesn't require children to attend a physical school. Parents can educate their children themselves, as long as they provide instruction equivalent to that of public schools and accept oversight from local authorities. Within this framework, the Betz family now homeschools their two sons.

In southern Jutland (Denmark), about 200 children are now homeschooled, compared to only about twenty-five years ago, and many of these families come from Germany. The Covid-19 pandemic also acted as an accelerator, according to a local official quoted in the report. "Some people enjoyed these freedoms and then struggled to accept going back to the old rules."

The case of some Asian families

In other parts of the world, educational expatriation is driven by different motivations. In China, for instance, some families choose to send their children abroad to escape the pressure of the national school system.

The Chinese education system is known for its competitive spirit, largely due to the "gaokao," the national university entrance exam. This test plays a decisive role in access to top universities and puts enormous pressure on high school students hoping to get into prestigious schools.

Faced with this competition, which many view as harmful, some families prefer to invest in an international education. Provided, of course, they can afford it!

Getting into an English or American school is the holy grail for many Asian families, who see it as a way to escape the surrounding competition while also opening up better study and career opportunities.

In a San Francisco Chronicle report, Joanna Gao explains how she left Shanghai to settle in California with her two sons. Her goal was to improve their chances of getting into a prestigious American university.

"From a purely mathematical standpoint, students in the United States have far more opportunities to access quality higher education than in China," she explains. Even before moving, the family had enrolled the children in an international school in Shanghai to strengthen their English.

For these Asian families, one parent (usually the mother) typically goes abroad with the children, while the other stays in the home country to work. This phenomenon is known as "peidu mama" (accompanying mothers), whether the destination is the United States, Singapore, or New Zealand.

Educational expatriation and "worldschooling"

Beyond these examples, educational expatriation is part of a broader trend: parents are paying closer attention to the conditions and methods of their children's learning.

According to several studies on international educational mobility, the motivations are varied and often overlap. Some families want to escape school systems they consider too stressful, while others are drawn to alternative pedagogies, such as Montessori schools, democratic schools, or project-based learning approaches. For others, it's a real investment in their children's academic and professional future, as mentioned earlier.

In this context, the rise of homeschooling and alternative learning approaches plays a key role. According to the International Center for Home Education Research, these practices have grown significantly in many countries in recent years, fueling debates about the role of traditional schools and families' educational freedom. This shift is paving the way for even more mobile and experimental forms of education.

It's precisely within this continuity that worldschooling fits, and it can be seen as a fairly radical form of educational expatriation. Here, moving is no longer just a means of accessing another school system: it becomes the very heart of the educational project. Families travel for extended periods and turn the world into a classroom, so to speak. Lived experiences (cultural discoveries, language interactions, immersion in different ways of life) become the main drivers of learning. Education is concrete, contextualized, and rooted in the real world: a historical site replaces a textbook, for example, and a cross-cultural encounter becomes a language lesson. Each environment feeds the children's curiosity and adaptability.

And legally speaking?

Behind these cases of educational expatriation lies a key legal difference between countries: some require compulsory education, while others require compulsory schooling.

In the first case, the State requires the child to receive an education and reach a certain level of knowledge, but parents can choose how that instruction is delivered: at school, at home, or in alternative settings. This is the case in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark, for example.

In the second case, the law requires the child to attend a recognized school. The goal is to ensure a common educational framework and promote student socialization. This is the case in Germany, as mentioned above.

In France, for example, the situation falls somewhere between these two models. Homeschooling is still possible, but it's strictly regulated. Families must obtain prior authorization to educate their children outside of school. This authorization is only granted in specific cases, such as a disability, a health issue, or a specific educational project.