International schools and schools offering curricula and qualifications that are not those designed and delivered by the state are increasingly common in many countries. They offer parents an alternative to national schools and the normative education they deliver. This article compares five research exercises conducted in Switzerland, Japan, Argentina, Israel and Singapore that attempted to understand what motivated parents to choose for their children schools that were outside the national mainstream. It concludes that common motives exist and it proposes eight factors that appear to have near universal appeal. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)