What Is the First-Year School Bill Near Ubud in 2026/27?

A child can be old enough for Grade 1 at Green School Bali and still belong in kindergarten at Pelangi School. The schools use different reference dates: 1 September for Green School and 1 July for Pelangi. Both are assessing age for the 2026/27 academic year, so a two-month gap around a birthday can move a pupil into a different programme and fee band. An online comparison labelled “age six” should therefore be treated as a starting point, not a placement decision.

Green School's early-years groups are Pre-K Geckos at three, Pre-K Starlings at four and Kindergarten at five; Grades 1–5 and 6–8 follow from ages six through thirteen. Pelangi starts its comparable span with Playgroup for three-year-olds, then TK A and TK B, SD Classes 1–6 and middle-school Classes 7–8. The published school fees do not change with every birthday. Green uses one tuition rate for Grades 1–3, another for 4–5 and another for 6–8, while Pelangi groups SD1–4 and SD5–6 differently. That is why the budget table needs nine rows rather than one figure labelled “primary school”. It also explains why a grade name in one curriculum cannot automatically be translated into the same grade at the other campus.

Consider a birthday of 15 August 2020. On 1 September 2026 the child is six, placing them in Green School's standard Grade 1 age cohort. On 1 July 2026 they were still five. Pelangi's 2026/27 date-of-birth chart assigns children born from July 2020 through June 2021 to TK B, not SD1. Under the published whole-year first-entry assumptions, the relevant cash figures would be IDR 330,063,690 for Green G1 and IDR 118,700,000 for Pelangi TK B. The difference is a useful illustration of why the birth-date check comes before a price calculation, not a claim that either school has offered this child a place or fixed an invoice for a late entry.

The overlap also has genuine limits. Pelangi offers a Tiny Tots programme from age two, below Green School's Pre-K starting age. At the other end, Green School continues into Grades 9–12, whereas the fee schedule being compared here stops at Pelangi Class 8. Neither out-of-range option belongs in a supposed like-for-like 3–13 comparison. Green School says age placement exceptions are exceptional and require an academic decision, while its admissions team considers school reports and additional learning needs for older applicants. Pelangi assigns grades from its published birth-date bands. A family transferring systems should obtain an actual grade-specific offer before making the listed tuition rate the basis of a lease or moving budget.

The easiest number to find on a school website is rarely the number a new family transfers in its first year. A proper budget separates annual tuition, mandatory annual charges, one-off admission fees and any refundable security deposit. Those amounts answer different questions. Tuition is the educational fee; the first-year cash total measures everything leaving the family's account; the total excluding the deposit indicates what remains paid if the deposit is ultimately returned in full. It does not account for extra services or promise that the withdrawal rules will be satisfied.

For a new pupil in Green School Grades 1–3, the 2026/27 annual tuition is IDR 249,263,690. The school adds an IDR 4,000,000 application fee, an IDR 36,000,000 one-time registration fee and a refundable IDR 30,000,000 deposit per child. Alongside these come two annual charges: an IDR 8,500,000 Local Scholar levy and IDR 2,300,000 Parent Programs membership. Both levies are assessed per family, not per enrolled child. Add the components once and the first-year cash total is IDR 330,063,690. Take away only the conditional deposit and the amount left is IDR 300,063,690, before any personally applicable extras or contractual forfeitures.

Pelangi's SD1–4 schedule shows four tuition quarters of IDR 23,100,000, adding up to IDR 92,400,000 for a complete academic year. It also lists IDR 3,000,000 annually for the School Development Fund, IDR 17,200,000 for Facilities & Resources and IDR 6,500,000 for Curriculum. The three recurring items total IDR 26,700,000. Despite its name, the development fund is payable every year; it is not a once-only entry charge. Pelangi's line called “Total Fees for Returning Students” is already IDR 119,100,000, incorporating all four tuition quarters and the three annual charges. Adding the funds to that total a second time would overstate the budget by IDR 26.7 million.

A new Pelangi student then incurs IDR 15,000,000 in one-time enrolment fees and an IDR 500,000 registration fee. The latter appears in a note at the end of the school’s fee schedule and may be collected as early as the application or waitlist stage. This produces IDR 134,600,000 for a new SD1 pupil making a full-year upfront payment with no individual concession. A crucial clause is in the separate payment policy: Pelangi does not apply a security deposit to full-year prepayment. Thus there is no automatic IDR 10 million deposit to add to the annual-prepayment table, even though a generic deposit line appears on the fee sheets.

Pelangi has one particularly specific protection and deduction mechanism: an initial 20-school-day settling-in period. If permanent enrolment does not proceed at the end of that period, its payment policy provides for a refund of fees paid, less the full stated 20-day drop-in charge and registration. For SD1–4, the drop-in amount is IDR 17,400,000, plus the IDR 500,000 registration charge. The deduction applies to the full period even where fewer days were attended. Once the settling-in period has ended, the policy treats enrolment, registration, tuition and the recurring school fees as non-refundable. The availability of a settling-in process therefore should not be mistaken for a cost-free trial.

Later years should be modelled without the new-student fees, and without automatically collecting a fresh deposit every August. Holding the same 2026/27 rates and tuition band purely to show the arithmetic would leave IDR 260,063,690 for Green G1–3 (tuition plus family levies) and IDR 119,100,000 for Pelangi SD1–4. Neither number is a published 2027/28 quotation. A child may also cross a fee-band boundary, for example Green Grade 3 to Grade 4, even before the school changes its annual rates. Green publishes tuition reductions for later siblings, while Pelangi's listed sibling relief applies specifically to the School Development Fund; neither should be assumed for a one-child comparison.

There are real costs for which a universal figure would be misleading. Green School lists IDR 10,000,000 per term for certain English-language support and IDR 20,000,000 per term for intensive learning or behavioural support when required, with one-to-one aide arrangements handled individually. These are not compulsory additions for every student. Pelangi requires students to wear its school uniform, but the reviewed fee schedule does not establish a price for additional shirts. School transport, chosen activities and any tailored assistance also need school-specific confirmation. None has been silently assigned a fictional standard allowance in the published first-year comparison.

Published 2026/27 full-year cash payments for a new pupil in a one-child family, before individual discounts. Green figures include the IDR 30 million conditional refundable deposit under annual tuition payment; Pelangi assumes full-year prepayment without a deposit. These are indicative age/grade pairings, not guaranteed placement: July–August birthdays may shift the match. Green’s deposit is not inherently a permanent fee, and Pelangi’s quarterly cash flow is explained below.

Green School's annual-payment example for a new Grade 1 pupil combines IDR 249,263,690 in tuition, IDR 10,800,000 in family levies, IDR 40,000,000 in application and registration fees and an IDR 30,000,000 deposit. That makes IDR 330,063,690 in full-year cash requirements. The first IDR 4 million is paid with the application. Following a formal offer, the IDR 36 million registration fee is generally due within seven days, with the main tuition-and-fees invoice issued after the school has received the registration and signed terms. A waitlist invitation can also trigger a non-refundable registration payment without guaranteeing a seat. The standard new-family window for paying that invoice is 14 days. A parent may therefore need the entire annual-plan budget available at the start of the admissions process, but the money is not necessarily transferred as one simultaneous payment.

For Green School's semester plan, tuition is split 70% / 30% and carries a 3% annual tuition surcharge. Its actual published Grade 1–3 instalments are IDR 179,719,120 for the first payment and IDR 77,022,480 for the second. The amounts printed in the fee table total IDR 256,741,600. Including the family levies, first-time admission fees and deposit gives a full-year cash total of IDR 337,541,600. Under the simple assumption that the other entry charges fall due no later than the first tuition payment, cumulative cash needed by then is IDR 260,519,120. Some of that money, particularly the application and registration fees, will already have been paid by the time the tuition invoice arrives. The second tuition instalment is still a commitment; spreading payments has not shortened the enrolment agreement.

The published Green annual-plan deadline is 15 April 2026; the semester deadlines are 15 April and 15 October 2026 under the regular schedule. Newly admitted families receive dates tied to their actual offer and invoice, not a retroactive demand to meet an April deadline. There is also a four-term arrangement with an 8% tuition surcharge, but it is explicitly restricted to existing families that have already completed at least twelve months of enrolment. It must not appear as an available starter plan for a newly admitted child. An unrelated Early Years six-month option cannot be calculated safely from the generic tuition grid: the document's semester-table heading refers to a 20% loading, whereas its minimum-enrolment paragraph says 10%. A finance-office clarification is required before quoting that short option.

Pelangi’s 5% tuition-only discount required full-year payment by 8 May 2026; that deadline had passed by 19 October 2026. The quarterly version illustrates why “first payment” and “cost of the year” should not be collapsed into one number. For a standard new Pelangi SD1 pupil, the typical cumulative amount to the first tuition instalment is IDR 75,300,000: IDR 23.1 million for the first quarter, IDR 26.7 million in annual charges, IDR 15 million for enrolment, IDR 500,000 for registration and the IDR 10 million conditional deposit (normally required except under the approved WNI-discount exception). Three further tuition payments of IDR 23,100,000 bring the whole-year cash requirement to IDR 144,600,000. The printed due dates for Quarters 1–4 are 8 May 2026, 11 September 2026, 20 November 2026 and 12 February 2027, with acceptance-related billing provisions. The first two standard dates have already passed. A new pupil admitted in October needs an individually stated amount due on joining; the calendar cannot be restarted by assumption.

Quarterly instalments also create important cancellation dates earlier than payment dates. Pelangi's notification deadline for cancelling Quarter 3 is 26 October 2026, for Quarter 4 20 January 2027, and for the first quarter of 2027/28 22 March 2027. Where proper written notice comes too late, the policy can make a coming quarter's fee payable and the security deposit forfeitable, even if that next tuition invoice has not been paid. No tuition is prorated for part of a quarter. Annual development, resources and curriculum charges remain due in full despite a midyear start or departure. The published late fee for overdue quarterly tuition is IDR 250,000 per week for up to a month, which is a possible penalty, not part of the regular budget. Green's own minimum-commitment and notice rules make a straight “annual fee divided by months attended” estimate similarly unsafe.

For a personal comparison, the six useful inputs are annual tuition, mandatory annual charges, one-off fees, conditional deposit, tuition surcharge and the first-instalment share. A Green G1 semester scenario uses 249263690 / 10800000 / 40000000 / 30000000 / 3 / 70 in that order. Pelangi SD1 with quarterly tuition uses 92400000 / 26700000 / 15500000 / 10000000 / 0 / 25. The resulting totals must distinguish all-year cash, cash excluding a potentially recoverable deposit and cumulative payments through the first tuition instalment. For Green, there is a one-rupiah rounding difference between multiplying annual tuition by 1.03 and adding the school's individually printed semester instalments; the official instalment figures and actual invoice should determine what is transferred. The arithmetic is a planning aid, not an enrolment offer or an undertaking to refund a deposit.

One child: T = annual tuition × (1 + surcharge/100). Full-year cash = T + annual fees + one-off fees + deposit; excluding conditional deposit = full-year cash − deposit; cumulative through first tuition payment = T × (first share/100) + annual fees + one-off fees + deposit. Use non-negative amounts and percentages from 0 to 100. Zero defaults select no school. Earlier application charges and later individual due dates still matter; check Green’s printed instalments for rounding.

A published school price answers what a particular grade costs under a stated payment arrangement. It says nothing about whether that grade has a seat on the day the child needs to start. Green School's principal intakes are August and January, although its admissions policy allows other starts when appropriate places open. Pelangi accepts enquiries throughout the school year, subject to current class sizes and a pupil's needs. A completed Green application, an invitation to join its waitlist and an actual offer of enrolment are three distinct statuses. Until the family receives a written offer specifying grade, entry date and fees, none should be treated as a confirmed school place.

The two campuses also sit in different parts of the Ubud-area corridor. Green School Bali is at Sibang Kaja, Abiansemal, in Badung; Pelangi is in Banjar Kumbuh, Mas, in Gianyar. Neither is a campus in central Ubud. A rental that looks equally convenient on a regional map may produce very different morning journeys once the exact pickup point, school start time and local congestion are considered. The relevant journey is from a particular home to a particular campus at a realistic school-run hour, followed by the afternoon return. A generic claim of “twenty minutes from Ubud” cannot establish that journey for either family.

Even transport offered by the school is not a universal solution. Green School's published BioBus guidance describes the bus as available to Grade 2 and above; younger students can join under its stated exception when accompanied by an older sibling in Grade 4 or above. The current availability of that arrangement and of a suitable stop must be checked with the transport team for the proposed term. The page lists airport-transfer prices, which do not establish the charge for a daily school run. Pelangi's 2026/27 fee documents likewise provide no confirmed flat home-to-school transport rate. For a single child entering Green Grade 1, it would be a mistake to assume BioBus is available without further approval.

A useful order of decisions is to establish the child's offered class and enrolment status, understand what must be paid and what can be lost, then test the school journey from candidate homes. Only after those pieces fit together does a longer rental commitment become a meaningful comparison. Green School's own onboarding material encourages incoming families to inspect accommodation in person before committing for the long term. That approach preserves flexibility while questions about a bus stop, a particular class or a late-entry invoice remain unresolved. A lower school fee can improve a cash budget; it cannot make an impractical daily route disappear.