School Fees in Lahore: Monthly, Admission and First-Year Cost Comparison

Most conversations about school costs in Lahore begin and end with the monthly fee. The real bill for a child's first year is larger: a registration or application charge, an admission fee, a security deposit, yearly charges, board fees in exam years, the book list, uniform and the daily journey. This hub gathers the official figures we were able to re-open on 8 October 2026, groups them into bands, marks clearly where no school publishes anything, and works two first-year totals from published numbers. For the two ends of the market in more depth, read /news/low-fee-schools-in-lahore and /news/most-expensive-schools-in-lahore, and use /lahore to find schools near home.

At the free end, Punjab law already sets the price at zero. Punjab's 2014 free-education Act, in section 3(3), says that at a government or local-authority school no fee, charge or expense falls on child or parent for finishing classes one to ten; it applies to children aged five to sixteen. Books are on the house as well, with The Nation reporting on 3 April 2026 that government schools across Punjab had started handing out a 30-million-book free allocation as the new year opened. Schools that partner with the Punjab Education Foundation are also free to the children PEF supports; its FAQs say a Foundation Assisted School will not charge an enrolled student any fee 'in whatsoever form', and that voucher holders cannot be charged either. Unaided private schools carry a share of that duty: section 13 of the Act wants a tenth of every class, starting at class one, filled with children who study free, or, in the alternative, provide prescribed vouchers for disadvantaged children to study at another school, as the government decides. On 28 July 2026 Daily Ausaf said an Assembly standing committee had given private schools 10 days to put this into practice or lose their licences. Just above free sits The Citizens Foundation, whose school finder lists Lahore campuses. TCF's American affiliate, in an FAQ that carries no date, describes a nominal sliding monthly charge between Rs 10 and Rs 250, agreed with each household, and free books and uniforms where a family has no means to pay.

The middle of the Lahore market is where published prices disappear. The Punjab Ordinance itself draws a line at Rs 4,000 a month, the point above which its five percent limit on yearly increases applies, yet below the premium tier we found no Lahore private school posting an official, dated tuition card, whether under that line or above it. At The City School, the admissions page explains that a fee slip only reaches parents once the form is filled in and registration is paid. The Educators' FAQ answers its own question about the fee structure by sending readers to its admission procedure section, without figures. Lahore Grammar School's 55 Main Gulberg branch posts a 2026-27 registration bill for Rs 5,000, non-refundable, but no tuition rates. Third-party listings that quote monthly rates for these chains are not official, seldom name a session, and we have left them out. For any school in this gap, get a dated written schedule for your child's class, plus last year's rise, from the office before money changes hands.

The premium schools are the ones that publish. Aitchison College's 2026-27 page lists tuition of Rs 74,500 a month for K1 to K5 rising to Rs 103,200 for FSc1, FSc2, H1 and H2, boarding charges of Rs 78,900 to Rs 94,200 a month on top, an admission fee of Rs 175,000 marked 'Govt.' or Rs 350,000 marked 'Non-Govt.', a refundable Rs 100,000 security deposit, and an application fee of Rs 60,000 for day boys or Rs 30,000 for boarders; it adds that fees are amended annually by Board decision. Lahore American School prices 2026-2027 in dollars: yearly tuition starts at $4,208 in Pre School and tops out at $16,014 in Grades 9 to 12. On top come a $150 admission testing charge, registration of $1,500 for KG to Grade 5 or $2,500 for Grades 6 to 12, and two per-family items, $315 for activities and $1,000 for facility development. Two other schools still show sheets for 2025-26, the session before this one, so treat them as last year's prices: LGS International lists Rs 58,810 a month for PG to KG up to Rs 84,945 for DP2, with a Rs 100,000 admission fee, Rs 85,000 refundable security and a Rs 15,000 or Rs 20,000 registration fee, while SICAS's sheets give annual fees of Rs 442,320 to Rs 653,520 at Liberty, Rs 442,320 to Rs 494,040 at its Girls campus, which lists no A Level, and Rs 478,440 to Rs 673,200 at Johar Town.

Books, uniform and transport are usually missing from the published card. SICAS is explicit that its yearly figure buys tuition, utilities and amenities only; books, stationery, outside exams, trips, clubs and the like 'will be levied and billed as and when required'. None of the Lahore schedules we read prices a uniform or a book list. Parents do have a legal lever: under section 7A(10) of the Ordinance, no school may insist that books, uniform or other items come from one named seller. Transport is optional at Aitchison and costs Rs 22,000 a month there. Elsewhere we found no published price, though the courts have pressed schools on it: in November 2024 Dawn reported that the Lahore High Court had directed schools to provide transport for students after the winter break as an anti-smog measure, and in January 2025 ProPakistani reported that some prominent networks in Punjab were asking parents for an extra Rs 30,000 as a transport fund. We could not confirm the court order's current status. SchoolNama does not yet list a checked pick-and-drop provider in Lahore, so families should ask the school and a private van owner for written monthly prices on their own route.

Punjab's rules decide which lines a fee card may legally carry. Section 7A of the 1984 Ordinance holds any school whose monthly fee is Rs 4,000 or above to five percent over the prior year for each class; on paper, a school can still apply and the Registering Authority may approve up to eight percent. Officials have since cited five percent. The News reported in July 2020 that the department informed the Lahore High Court it had brought its 8 percent notification down to 5 percent to match the Supreme Court's 2019 ruling. In July 2026, ProPakistani reported, officials told an Assembly committee that yearly rises are limited to 4% to 5% and that the department cannot fix a school's base fee. Section 7A also keeps any admission fee or security at or below a single month's tuition, and treats lab, library and every other charge as part of the regulated fee. The 2014 Act's wording goes further: section 13(d) permits only tuition, admission and the prescribed security, ruling out a 'building fund' or the same charge under another label, while section 14 lets a first capitation-fee offence draw a fine as high as twenty times the sum taken. A District Education Authority Lahore letter, reported by ProPakistani in July 2025, told schools to hold increases to 5%, bill a single month at a time and refuse advance payments.

Exam years bring a separate bill. For Class 9 pupils starting the 2026-28 cycle, a BISE Lahore notice dated 9 June 2026 fixed Rs 2,300 a head: Rs 1,150 for enrolment, Rs 870 for processing and Rs 280 for sports, with government schools spared the enrolment share. Both its windows have shut (22 June, then 7 July 2026 with a late fee), so watch for the board's next notices. Billing rhythm matters as much as the rate. Bloomfield Hall School collects tuition for its September to May session in three equal instalments, or nine if parents prefer (Form V pays in two), adds 5% for late payment and charges a rejoining fee of half the admission fee if a place is cancelled for non-payment, with readmission depending on a free place and the Head's recommendation. SICAS bills its annual fee in four instalments and describes this as deferred payment of the whole yearly fee, payable in advance at the start of the year, rather than a monthly charge, and LGS International's sheet includes a line for two months' regular fee.

To compare schools fairly, turn each fee card into one first-year total. Separate one-time charges from recurring ones, multiply tuition by the months the school actually bills, add yearly and exam charges, then add your own prices for books, uniform and transport, and keep refundable deposits on their own line. The worksheet below does this for a K1 day boy at Aitchison College using its 2026-27 page (Aitchison has already opened 2027-28 admissions, whose fees may differ), and for a Grade I pupil at SICAS Liberty using its 2025-26 sheet, the latest it shows. Open profiles such as /schools/aitchison-college-lahore, /schools/lgs-international-lahore and /schools/lahore-american-school-lahore, then line up your finalists on /compare once each school has given you its written schedule.