Most international schools in Bali run admissions on a rolling basis rather than a single annual cutoff. You submit an application with the child's school reports, a copy of their passport and visa, and sometimes immunization records. Many schools then ask for an entrance assessment or a short interview, partly to check academic level and partly to see if the child will settle into a small, mixed nationality classroom. If a place is open, you can get an offer within a couple of weeks. If the grade you need is full, the school will usually offer to put your child's name down and contact you when something changes.
Waiting lists in Bali behave differently from waiting lists back home. Expat families move on and off the island often, sometimes with only a term's notice, so spots open up throughout the year, not just before a new school year starts. That means a grade that looks closed in June can have an opening by September. Competition is uneven too: entry years like early primary or the first year of secondary tend to fill first because that's when most new families arrive, while spots partway through a grade band can sit open longer. Some schools follow a July or August start in line with the Southern or Northern hemisphere calendar, and that start date shapes when most vacancies actually appear.
The practical approach most parents settle on is applying to more than one school at once and asking directly whether mid-year entry is possible, since many schools do accept students outside the usual start date if there's room. Ask each school how their waiting list actually works: some hold spots strictly in application order, others prioritize siblings of current students or make decisions based on which grades need more balance. Join local parent Facebook or WhatsApp groups too. Real openings often get mentioned there before they're posted anywhere official, and other parents can tell you how long the wait genuinely was for their own child.
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