International schools in Hong Kong

Search for the best international schools in Hong Kong; you can find a list of selected schools at the bottom of this page. Use the search filters to select only girls' or boys' schools, prep schools, senior schools or sixth forms; or you can search for schools that offer a particular curriculum, such as the International Baccalaureate, the UK national curriculum, a US-style model or the International Primary Curriculum. 

Hong Kong has a large and vibrant international education sector with more than 100 schools offering curriculums of the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore and the International Baccalaureate. 

There are 59 IB World Schools, of which 53 are English-medium, one is Chinese-medium and three teach in English and Chinese, while 29 schools are authorised to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma and five follow all three IB programmes.

Some 17,500 students of more than 60 nationalities attend the sixteen schools and six kindergartens that are run by the English Schools Foundation, Hong Kong’s largest provider of English-medium international schooling. 

Set up with government funding to provide a British curriculum for children from English-speaking families, the ESF has now largely switched over to IB programmes and some 70 per cent of its students are permanent residents.

All the ESF’s schools are now IB World Schools. Its five secondary schools are authorised to offer the IB Diploma and are candidates for the Middle Years Programme, while also offering IGCSEs. Its nine primary schools teach the Primary Years Programme and its two through-train schools offer three IB programmes.

Competition is intense for international school places, which are in high demand from local and expatriate families. Schools face an acute shortage of space due to a lack of building land and the government has provided several new school sites over recent years. Two British schools and one American international school were among those benefiting from new campuses.

Harrow International School Hong Kong, the city’s first international boarding school, was launched by Britain’s prestigious Harrow School in 2012, with the preparatory-age Kellett School opening a second prep department and a new senior section the same year.

Stamford American School Hong Kong was launched in September 2017 with an initial 500 places from Kindergarten 2 to Grade 8 by the Cognita schools group, which runs 68 schools in eight countries. SASHK will provide 1,100 places from K2 to Grade 12 at capacity and aims to offer both the IB Diploma and an American high school diploma.  

Two more prominent British independent schools are due to open campuses in Hong Kong in September 2018. Malvern College Hong Kong will provide co-educational day schooling for 960 students aged five to 18 and aims to offer the full suite of IB programmes. 

The fourth international school to be set up by Malvern College in Britain, MCHK will admit boys and girls aged five to 15 in its first year. Shrewsbury International School Hong Kong will offer primary education based on the English national curriculum plus kindergarten classes for children aged three to 11.  

Fees vary widely but have risen across the sector, with ESF fees rising sharply since withdrawal of the foundation’s public subsidy began in 2016. Many international schools also charge a debenture or building levy. Following run-away inflation, debentures are now priced at up to HK$6.5million.

Fees vary widely but have risen across the sector, with ESF fees rising sharply since withdrawal of the foundation’s public subsidy began in 2016. Many international schools also charge a debenture or building levy. Following run-away inflation, debentures are now priced at up to HK$6.5million.

Education is compulsory from age six to 14. Government and aided schools teach the Hong Kong curriculum in English or Chinese. Six years of primary education is followed by three years of junior secondary and three years of senior secondary education. Net enrolment in secondary schools was 88 per cent in 2015. 

If you are looking specifically for International Baccalaureate World Schools in Hong Kong, you can find selected schools on our sister website: www.ibyb.org.