Kaduna and around
Best secondary schools in Kaduna and Zaria: the shortlist, with fees where they are published
Kaduna has more boarding institutions run by the state than any other city in Nigeria: the Nigerian Military School and Air Force Secondary School, the Army's Command Secondary School, two federal unity colleges, and the historic state colleges, Barewa College in Zaria (opened 1921) and Queen Amina College. Around them sit the private schools families compare: Essence, Zamani, Danbo, Grays, Adeyemo and Zaria Academy, and Kaduna Capital School, which the state government owns.
This page puts them in one table with the fee figure and where it came from. Kaduna's institutional schools publish more than its private ones, so the table is fuller at the top than the bottom. No school here publishes results in a comparable form; there is no results ranking and no pass rate we cannot source.
17 schools listed, 7 with a fee figure and its source. Updated 21 September 2026.
How this list is ordered
The military and federal boarding institutions come first because admission is by examination and fees are set centrally, then the historic state colleges, then the private schools by fee transparency and by how often they appear across the independent published lists we checked. Position is not a judgement of teaching quality.
- •Ownership: federal unity college, state, mission, institutional or private
- •Fee transparency: a figure on the school's own site beats a third-party estimate, which beats nothing
- •Named on independent published lists of schools in the city
- •Day or boarding, and the curriculum the school states it teaches
- •A live profile on SchoolRegistry that the school can claim and correct
Fees. A figure marked 'school schedule' was read on the school's own website or fee document. 'Estimate' comes from the named third-party page linked beside it and can be a year or more out of date; treat it as the order of magnitude, not the invoice. 'Not published' means neither the school nor a source we would cite prints a figure. All figures exclude uniforms, books, PTA levies, transport and boarding extras unless the note says otherwise.
The list
| # | School | Area | Type | Fees | Why it is here |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nigerian Military School, Zaria Nigerian · Boys · Boarding | Zaria | Nigerian Army, boys, boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | The Army's own secondary school since 1954: boys only, full boarding, cadet training alongside the WAEC curriculum, entry by a national examination and interview. Civilian boys are admitted; graduates are not obliged to enlist. |
| 2 | Air Force Secondary School, Kaduna Nigerian · Co-educational · Day and boarding | Mando, Kaduna | Nigerian Air Force, day and boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | The Air Force's Kaduna school at Mando; open to civilian children at a higher rate than service families. |
| 3 | Command Secondary School, Kaduna Nigerian · Co-educational · Boarding | Kaduna | Nigerian Army, boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | The Army's boarding secondary school in Kaduna, part of the Command schools network; civilian admission by entrance examination. |
| 4 | Federal Government College, Kaduna Nigerian · Co-educational · Boarding | Malali, Kaduna | Federal unity college, boarding | ₦100,000 per termestimate Tuition is free at federal unity colleges; the ₦100,000 a term set in 2023 covers boarding, feeding, insurance and levies (FIJ breakdown). Confirm the current figure with the college. | The unity college for Kaduna State at Malali, co-educational boarding, entry by the National Common Entrance Examination. |
| 5 | Federal Government Girls' College, Zaria Nigerian · Girls · Boarding | Zaria | Federal unity college, boarding | ₦100,000 per termestimate Tuition is free at federal unity colleges; the ₦100,000 a term set in 2023 covers boarding, feeding, insurance and levies (FIJ breakdown). Confirm the current figure with the college. | The girls' unity college in Kaduna State; same national admission route and fee scale. |
| 6 | Federal Science and Technical College, Kafanchan Nigerian · Co-educational · Boarding | Kafanchan | Federal unity college, boarding | ₦100,000 per termestimate Tuition is free at federal unity colleges; the ₦100,000 a term set in 2023 covers boarding, feeding, insurance and levies (FIJ breakdown). Confirm the current figure with the college. | The technical and vocational stream of the unity system for southern Kaduna, co-educational boarding. |
| 7 | Barewa College, Zaria Nigerian · Boys · Boarding | Zaria | Kaduna State, boys, boarding | Not published, ask the school State fees are nominal; no published schedule. | Opened in 1921 as Katsina College and moved to Zaria; the school that educated a striking share of northern Nigeria's leaders, and still a state boarding college for boys. The Daily Trust centenary report is candid about the facilities. |
| 8 | Queen Amina College, Kaduna Nigerian · Girls · Boarding | Kaduna | Kaduna State, girls, boarding | ₦50,000 to ₦200,000 per termestimate Third-party listing; state boarding fees are usually well under this range. | The state's flagship girls' boarding college, the counterpart to Barewa. |
| 9 | Government College, Kaduna Nigerian · Co-educational · Boarding | Kaduna | Kaduna State, boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | The state government college in Kaduna city; state fees are nominal and were cut again under the 2024 state fee review. |
| 10 | Alhuda-Huda College, Zaria Nigerian · Boys · Boarding | Zaria | Kaduna State, boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | One of Zaria's old state colleges, with an Islamic studies tradition alongside the standard curriculum. |
| 11 | Kaduna Capital School Nigerian · Co-educational · Day | Kaduna | Kaduna State owned, day | ₦60,000 per termestimate ₦60,000 per session for secondary after the state's reduction; per session, not per term. | Owned by the Kaduna State Government and run on a fee scale it publishes; the 2024 review put secondary at ₦60,000 a session. |
| 12 | Essence International School Nigerian and British · Co-educational · Day and boarding | Kaduna | Private, day and boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | Named on the independent lists we checked; one of the larger private schools in the city with boarding. |
| 13 | Zamani College Nigerian · Co-educational · Day and boarding | Kaduna | Private, day and boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | Named on two of the eight independent lists we checked; a long-standing Kaduna private college. |
| 14 | Danbo International Schools Nigerian · Co-educational · Day | Kaduna | Private, day | ₦50,000 to ₦200,000 per termestimate Source: Nigeria Private Schools (2025) The listed range spans nursery to secondary. | Named on two of the eight lists; nursery to secondary on one site. |
| 15 | Grays International College Nigerian · Co-educational · Day and boarding | Kaduna | Private, day and boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | Named on two of the eight lists. |
| 16 | Adeyemo College Nigerian · Co-educational · Day and boarding | Kaduna | Private, day and boarding | ₦50,000 to ₦300,000 per termestimate Source: Nigeria Private Schools (2025) The listed range spans nursery to secondary. | Named on two of the eight lists. |
| 17 | Zaria Academy Nigerian · Co-educational · Day and boarding | Zaria | Private, day and boarding | Not published, ask the school No schedule published by the school or a source we would cite. | Named on two of the eight lists; the private option in Zaria itself. |
Run a school on this list, or know a figure is out of date? Claim the profile and correct it; corrections with a fee schedule attached go live the same week.
By area
Kaduna city
FGC at Malali, Air Force at Mando, Command, Queen Amina, Government College, Kaduna Capital School and most of the private schools.
Zaria
Nigerian Military School, Barewa College, FGGC Zaria, Alhuda-Huda and Zaria Academy.
Southern Kaduna
FSTC Kafanchan, the technical stream of the unity system.
What 'best' can and cannot mean in Kaduna
No school in Kaduna publishes WAEC or NECO results in a form that lets you compare one against another, and the pass rates printed on other lists are not sourced. So this page does not rank by results. What you can compare is what a school is, what it costs and whether it will tell you, whether it boards, and how long it has been doing this.
The fee column is the honest part. Where the only figure is a third-party estimate we link the page and the year; where nothing is published we say so rather than print the placeholder bands that circulate online.
What to ask on the visit
Ask for the full fee schedule in writing, including PTA levy, books, uniform, transport and any development or capital fee charged in the first year. Ask which examination board the school registers students for in SS3 (WAEC, NECO, IGCSE) and how many candidates it entered last year. Ask to see the timetable for a normal week, and where the school publishes its results. A school that answers all four in one visit is usually a school that runs well.
Questions parents ask about schools in Kaduna
Can a civilian boy enter the Nigerian Military School?
Yes. Admission is by the school's national examination and interview; graduates are not obliged to join the Army.
How much do secondary schools in Kaduna charge?
Nominal levies at the state colleges, about ₦60,000 a session at Kaduna Capital School after the 2024 state review, about ₦100,000 a term at the unity colleges, and ₦50,000 to ₦300,000 a term at the private schools that publish a range.
Which Kaduna schools are boarding only?
Nigerian Military School, Command Secondary School, the three unity colleges, Barewa, Queen Amina, Government College and Alhuda-Huda. Air Force Secondary School and most private schools take day students too.
Is Barewa College still a good school?
It is a state boarding college with a century of history and a thin state budget; the Daily Trust centenary report is candid about the facilities. Visit before deciding.
Why does this list not show WAEC pass rates?
Because no Kaduna school publishes results in a comparable form and we will not print a number we cannot source.