List of schools in Chennai

Chennai schools fall into two administrative categories - government schools called corporation schools, and privately run schools. Private schools fall under the following categories: schools with central board syllabus, schools with state board syllabus, schools with matriculation syllabus, schools with Anglo-Indian syllabus and schools with Oriental syllabus. In privately managed state board syllabus schools there are two categories: self-financing and government-aided schools. In some government-aided schools a few sections may also be self-financing. From the academic year of 2011, the Government of Tamil Nadu has brought in the "Samachiyar Kalvi" syllabus to replace Anglo-Indian, state, Oriental and matriculation modes of education. Now only the following syllabi are available in Tamil Nadu: Samachyar Kalvi, CBSE, ICSE and IGCSE.

Most private schools are English medium (medium of instruction is English) while the government-run schools are primarily Tamil medium. The schools run by the central government have a dual medium of instruction - English and Hindi.

All recognized schools belong to one of the following accreditation systems:

• Central Board of Secondary Education - for all years of study
• International General Certificate of Secondary Education - for all years of study
• National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)-for all years of study
• Tamil Nadu State Board - for all years of study
• Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations - for all years of study
• Matriculation System for classes K-10 and automatically rolled over to Tamil Nadu State Board for classes 11 and 12
• Tamil Nadu Anglo-Indian System for classes K-10 and automatically rolled over to Tamil Nadu State Board for classes 11 and 12

Exceptions to the above rule include a few schools that follow the Montessori method, International Baccalaureate or the American system.^[1]

• Chennai Corporation Schools