Frequently Asked Questions

Our official website provides access to both our current Academic Calendar.

BLIS welcomes applications from all national and international students from Pre-kindergarten to upper secondary grades.

Pre-Kindergarten: Children who were born between October 1, 2019 & September 30, 2020 may apply to Pre-kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year.

Kindergarten: Children who were born between October 1, 2018 & September 30, 2019 may apply to Kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year.

All national and international prospective students who have successfully completed the previous grade level may apply to BLIS to be placed in the next grade level.

Students who have completed the previous grade level in the British system must get in touch with the Admissions Office via email at admissions@blisankara.org.

Applicants are requested to submit their online application through the BLIS website blis.k12.tr Once the application is received, the Admissions Office provides the applicants with detailed information regarding the admissions process.

Children who were born between October 1, 2019 – September 30, 2020 may apply to BLIS Pre-kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year.

BLIS offers entrance assessment for all grade levels starting from Pre-kindergarten through Grade 11. The assessment criteria and requirements may differ according to the divisions’ expectations.

We start at 8.00am and finish at 4.00pm on a regular school day.

The maximum number of students per classroom is 17 within the Pre-kindergarten and 19 within the Kindergarten. The maximum number of students per classroom is 20 within Grades 1 through 12.

BLIS provides hot lunch for all students on a daily basis. Nutritional snacks are available twice a day for the Elementary Division (PreK through Gr 4) and once for the Middle School Division (Gr 5 through Gr 8).

All meals are prepared on-site in our own kitchen. All meal and snack menus are designed in collaboration with dieticians from Bilkent University.

Parents requesting special dietary options or any deviation to our meal policy need to provide the school with medical reports and get permission from the BLIS administration prior to deviating from the policy.

BLIS offers bilingual education ​where English and Turkish are both used as the primary medium of instruction in the Elementary School. In Middle & High ​S​chool​,​ our only medium of instruction is English. All national students are also required to adhere to the MEB’s Turkish curriculum.

BLIS aims to develop students’ language skills and provides instruction in German, Spanish and French from Grades 6-12.

In Elementary School, we offer Primary Years Programme (PYP) with Cambridge and Turkish curriculums.

In Middle School, we offer Middle Years Programme (MYP) starting from Grade 5 through Grade 8 with the Cambridge and Turkish curriculums.

BLIS empowers its students on the path to academic excellence. Our school offers two international programs; Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) in Grades 9-10 and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB) in Grades 11-12. Both programs have wide international recognition and facilitate our students’ access to leading universities of the world.

BLIS is located on the secure, landscaped grounds covering 6,000 square meters on the East Campus of Bilkent University. The facilities consist of two early years buildings and the main elementary through high school buildings. 

Athletic facilities include two multi-purpose sports halls, a sports annex, two artificial turf pitches, an outdoor basketball court  and a green field and elementary playground.  

Our performance wing in the main building includes a performance hall, band practice rooms, a choir room, studio, individual practice rooms and a black box theatre. We have two libraries, three computer labs, wireless classrooms, BLIS canteen, three cafeterias, six science labs and four art studios. Also, all BLIS students have access to Bilkent University’s library with an extensive database. 

All applicants are evaluated based on their entrance assessment results.

Optional bus transportation is provided for BLIS students by a third-party service bus company. Bus service is available for an additional fee and detailed information is shared with all families during the enrollment process.

At BLIS, we believe frequent communication with parents is essential for academic success and we hold parent-teacher conferences twice a year to discuss the academic development of our students. Our goal is to ensure that all parents are well-informed about their child’s progress, upcoming events and school announcements. We use various platforms to communicate with our parents and the wider BLIS community.

BLIS offers an extensive range of co-curricular activities such as Model United Nations (MUNESCO) and Junior MUNESCO. The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Youth Award is offered at the Bronze, Silver & Gold Levels. For community service, our high school has been recognized by the IB as having one of the top programs in its IBO region. Our annual arts festival provides a platform for our students to showcase their artistic talents. BLIS boys’ and girls’ teams competing in basketball, volleyball and soccer both locally and in international tournaments reflect our understanding of education which goes far beyond academic development. In addition to our rigorous academic curriculum, we also offer a wide range of extra-curricular clubs such as Art Club, Debating Club, Chess, Robotics, Cross-country, Tech Design and Photography to foster our students’ critical thinking and creativity.

BLIS graduates choose various academic pathways by attending universities mainly in North America, Europe and Turkey. They study a wide variety of subjects ranging from Engineering, Medicine, Biomedical Sciences, Biology, Law, International Relations, Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Art and Drama. A significant number of BLIS alumni are thriving in their respective careers across the globe. Our alumni return to BLIS in school events and gatherings to share their perspectives and experiences with the future graduates.

The experienced BLIS faculty is a group of professionals coming from various cultures and backgrounds all over the world. Our teachers are all highly qualified educators, many of whom hold graduate degrees in their subject areas. We have low teacher turnover, meaning more experienced faculty who love working with BLIS students.

BLIS has always been a proud member of the Bilkent Community with its comprehensive and rigorous academic programs. BLIS recognizes the importance of raising students with ethical values and behavior leading to exemplary citizenship in the community, nation and world. Being one of the prominent international schools in Ankara, BLIS strives to help its students develop their critical and independent thinking skills and prepare them to be successful in leading universities around the world.