School, solved.
Accredited, one-to-one schooling that starts in days, not terms. When the international school has an eighteen-month waitlist, when the posting is somewhere with no suitable school at all, or when a student has to come home on track — we're the part of the package that finishes the job.
Everything else in the move can be booked.
Housing, shipping, immigration, tax, the spouse's job search — every part of a relocation package has a supplier who can deliver it on a timeline. School doesn't. A school search can find the right school; it can't make a place appear in Year 9 at a school with a two-year list, and it can't make a student's home curriculum survive two years in another country's system.
So the family waits. Or the children start somewhere the family will leave within months. Or the family stays behind while the employee starts alone. Each of those outcomes carries a cost the mobility team ends up absorbing — in duplicate housing, in delayed start dates, in an assignee whose attention is somewhere else (often leading to an assignment that ends early).
Schooling is among the most common things to go wrong for a relocating family, and among the hardest to fix once it has.
Research on international assignment policy finds that placing children in suitable schools is a major source of stress that can reduce employee productivity and lead to assignment refusal or early return, and that families with teenage children are less likely to accept a posting at all. (Dr Sue Shortland, Relocate magazine) Separately, around a third of companies name family issues as the leading cause of assignment failure, and a premature return can cost two to three times the assignee's annual salary.
Six situations where school stops being solvable.
Bridge a waitlist
The place exists — in September, or next year. We start within days and run until it opens, so no term is lost and the family travels on the business's timeline. Families who want to continue with us afterwards can, and many do.
Move mid-year without the cost
A mid-year move usually means a lost term or a school the family will leave again within months. We start at any point in the calendar and pick up exactly where the student left off — then hand them to a bricks-and-mortar school after a transition period, or keep going.
Keep a student on their home curriculum
Because every course is personalised, we can build to the curriculum and sequence of the school the family left, so re-entry is an enrolment form rather than a repeated year. Our teachers are credentialed across the American curriculum, AP, IGCSE/Cambridge and IB, so we can meet a student wherever they already are.
Deliver school where there is no school
Remote sites, secondary cities, rotational postings. Our teachers are online and distributed across fourteen time zones; the classroom goes wherever the assignment does. We teach students living on sailboats in the South Pacific and families who change country every few months.
One teacher across several moves
For serially mobile families the teacher is the constant. Many of our families have kept the same teacher through four countries in two years.
The student a school search can't place
Mid-year and mid-qualification transfers, exam-year students, neurodiverse learners, and children who need a specialised subject not offered in the target location.
The assignment becomes part of the curriculum.
Because each course is personalised and built for one student, it can be place-based. AP Latin in Rome. Marine science in Cape Town. Architecture in Mexico City. The history of tea in Hanoi. The posting stops being an interruption to the child's education and starts being the reason it's better than it would have been at home.
For the parent weighing an assignment, this is often what turns a reluctant yes into a real one.
Cicero, an international school, and an online school.
| International school | Online school | Cicero | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time to start | One to eighteen months | Term-based | Days |
| Class size | 18–25 | 15–25 | One |
| Curriculum | The school's | One national curriculum | Built to the student, including the home school's |
| Schedule | Fixed, local hours | Fixed, usually UK hours | Built around the family |
| Survives another move | No | Yes | Yes |
| In-person peer group | Yes | No | No |
| Accredited transcript | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Typical annual cost | $28k–$42k mid-tier; $50k+ premium | Varies | $15k–$29k |
International school figures are 2026 market benchmarks for major expatriate destinations, before enrolment, transport and activity fees, which typically add a further 20–40%. A full Cicero year is five courses at $29,000 — at the lower end of most education allowance bands, leaving room in the budget for enrichment and sport.
How this fits into your programme.
As a flex-menu benefit
A line item in your core-flex catalogue, priced per student per term and quoted in advance. Families with school-age children select it; families without don't pay for it.
As a referred service
Send us a family. We run the consultation, propose a teacher and a plan, and report back to you. No procurement cycle required to start.
As a network supplier
Full supplier onboarding — MSA, professional indemnity and liability insurance, GDPR-compliant data handling, and background checks on every teacher. A service fee can be built into the arrangement.
Invoicing is whatever suits the programme — to the family, to the corporate entity, to the RMC, or to a local service provider. Always in USD. Attendance, feedback and assessments can be reported back to you or to the corporate client, with the family's approval. Building to a named district's curriculum adds a week or two up front while we connect and align with the school.
Two years away. Home, on track.
A family relocated from the United States to New Zealand, and later returned. Their children enrolled in a private school focused on sustainability and entrepreneurship — strong on its own terms, but not offering maths, English language arts or history.
Cicero taught all three, one-to-one, for two years. The children advanced several years in their learning. When the family decided to return to Oregon, we worked directly with the target school to confirm that our courses and accredited transcript met their requirements. The children transitioned seamlessly, and are thriving.
Our daughter has had the same Cicero teacher for two years — through four countries. That continuity has been the foundation of her whole education.
Worldschooling parent, currently in Portugal
Accredited with NCA CASI, NWAC and SACS CASI via Cognia, one of the largest accrediting bodies in the United States. Our transcripts are accepted by most schools and universities; families are welcome to verify requirements with their own district.
Fully accredited
Cicero is accredited with NCA CASI, NWAC and SACS CASI via Cognia.
For mobility teams
Anything not covered here, bring to a partnership call.
How quickly can a student start?
Within days. From the first consultation, a matched teacher is typically back to the family within two business days, and lessons usually begin in the first week.
Is Cicero accredited, and will the transcript be accepted on return?
Yes. We are accredited with Cognia — NCA CASI, NWAC and SACS CASI — one of the largest accrediting bodies in the United States. Our transcripts are accepted by most schools and universities. Requirements vary by district and institution, so we encourage families to confirm with their own, and we're happy to work directly with a target school to check that our courses meet its requirements before a student returns.
Can you teach to a specific school's curriculum?
Yes. Because every course is built for one student, it can be built to the curriculum and sequence a student is already following. Our teachers hold experience and credentials across the American curriculum, AP, IGCSE/Cambridge and IB. Aligning to a named school or district adds a week or two up front while we connect with them.
What does it cost against a typical education allowance?
A full year with Cicero is five courses at $29,000, and part-time arrangements start lower. That sits at the lower end of most education allowance bands, which usually leaves room in the package for enrichment activities and sport. Pricing is fixed and quoted in advance, so it can be written into a policy document.
Which time zones and countries can you cover?
All of them. Our teachers are distributed worldwide across fourteen time zones. We teach students living on sailboats in the South Pacific and worldschooling families who change location every few months.
How are teachers vetted?
Most of our teachers have ten or more years of experience in elite private schools, with specialisations in their subject and in teaching methods, and all are carefully vetted. Every teacher has completed a background check.
Can this sit in a core-flex catalogue?
Yes, and it's a natural fit. Core-flex policies pair a fixed set of core benefits with a menu of options the employee chooses from, precisely so that a single employee moving alone and a family of five aren't given the same package. Schooling is one of the clearest cases of that: it matters enormously to some assignees and not at all to others. Because our pricing is fixed and quoted per student per term, it can be listed as a flex option with a known value, selected only by the families who need it, and reported on like any other benefit in the catalogue.
How do you invoice — the corporate entity or the family?
Whichever is most convenient: the family, the corporate entity, the RMC, or a local service provider. Always in USD.
What reporting do we get?
Families receive regular feedback, mid-term and end-of-term reports, and assessments. With the family's approval, these can also be provided to the RMC or the corporate client on whatever cadence your programme needs.
Can a student use Cicero alongside a school place, rather than instead of one?
Absolutely, and we do this all the time. A local or international school may not offer a subject a student needs, or may not be able to place them at the right level in one area. We fill that gap without disturbing the rest of their schooling.
What happens when the family moves again, or goes home?
They can take us with them, and many do. One-to-one teaching produces consistently strong results — a meta-analysis of ninety-six randomised trials found tutoring programmes raise achievement substantially, with the largest effects where the teaching is done by qualified teachers, which is the only kind we use. Families who start with us to bridge a gap often stay because the learning is better.
Bring us the family you can't place.
Send us a family, or book thirty minutes to talk through how this could sit inside your programme.
No procurement cycle needed to send us your first family.