Moving to Hong Kong: how the international school system works

The English Schools Foundation (ESF), established by ordinance in 1967, is a major part of Hong Kong’s international-school provision. The overview lists five kindergartens, nine primary schools, five secondary schools, Discovery College and Renaissance College, and a special school, serving roughly 17,600 pupils. ↗

The government’s recurrent subvention to ESF mainstream schools is being phased out from 2016–17 through 2028–29. The Legislative Council record gives a 2012–13 amount of HK$249.7 million and an average annual reduction of HK$19.2 million. The original terms protected pupils already enrolled from increases caused by the withdrawal. Special-educational-needs and rates/government-rent support continues. In 2023–24, the reported income shares were 5% from subvention and 80% from tuition. ↗

ESF is the largest English-medium group: one central application system, priority categories, and progression from its primary schools into its secondary schools. All five ESF secondary schools offer the IB Diploma, and the remaining government subvention ends in 2028–29.

Private international schools each run their own admissions, fee schedule and capital arrangements. They include national-system schools (GSIS with its German Abitur stream, French International, Singapore International School), British schools such as Kellett and Harrow, the American-curriculum HKIS, bilingual CIS and IB schools such as CDNIS and Malvern. Most of the schools we profile charge a debenture, nomination right or annual capital levy on top of tuition.

Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools are a third category. The scheme dates from September 1991, and the Education Bureau lists 78 DSS schools for 2026–27: 57 secondary and 21 primary, with nine running both. DSS schools receive a government block grant, may charge fees and set their own admission criteria. They principally teach a local curriculum leading to local public examinations; some also run a small non-local stream at Secondary 5 and 6. Non-local students do not attract the DSS subsidy. ↗

For a later move to the UK, Kellett and Harrow offer IGCSE and A levels, while ESF schools, GSIS’s English stream and Malvern offer IB Diploma routes. HKIS teaches an American curriculum with AP courses. CIS combines English–Mandarin education with the IB Diploma, and CDNIS pairs the IB continuum with the Ontario diploma. GSIS also teaches towards the German Abitur. Both A levels and the IB support university applications in the UK and elsewhere. A mid-course transfer needs closer attention to age placement, subjects, examination boards and timing, especially during a two-year examination course. Compare IB, British and American routes

Hong Kong is compact, but campus location still shapes housing. Several of the schools we profile sit on the south and west of Hong Kong Island: HKIS teaches primary pupils at Repulse Bay and Grades 6–12 at Tai Tam; GSIS uses sites on The Peak and Pok Fu Lam Road; and CDNIS is on Nam Long Shan Road in Aberdeen, with Early Years at Wong Chuk Hang. CIS is on Braemar Hill above North Point.

Other schools sit further out. Kellett has preparatory schools in Pok Fu Lam and Kowloon Bay, and all senior pupils move to Kowloon Bay. Harrow is in Tuen Mun in the New Territories, with weekly boarding from Year 6; boarders still need Friday and Sunday travel. Malvern College is at Pak Shek Kok, and Discovery Bay International School serves families living in Discovery Bay. HKIS requires primary pupils to travel by school bus. Settle the school, campus and year group before signing a lease.

The school year generally starts in August or September, and each school sets its own calendar. HKIS lists 1 October for primary and 1 November for secondary applications; GSIS accepts applications year-round; ESF runs its own central process. Assessments and late-entry arrangements differ by age and programme, so build one calendar for the actual shortlist.

Kellett’s fee page says the school has had a waiting list for several years. Debentures and nomination rights can move a qualified applicant up the order or bring an assessment forward, but the school’s entry requirements still apply. ESF’s nomination right, for example, gives interview and waiting-list priority only. ↗

With more than one child, each may face a different assessment and waiting-list position. Before paying application or reservation charges at several schools, compare their offer deadlines, credit rules and cancellation terms.

Budget in two layers. Annual tuition at the schools we profile runs from about HK$106,100 (Singapore International School’s Preparatory years) to a reported HK$359,200 (CIS senior years) for 2026–27. Many schools add an annual capital levy, from HK$24,500 at HKIS to HK$60,000 at Harrow, unless a qualifying debenture or nomination right covers the child. Those instruments range from refundable six-figure debentures to multi-million-dollar corporate rights, and their repayment and transfer terms vary widely. The Hong Kong school fees guide compares tuition, levies and a three-year budget school by school; the guide to Hong Kong debentures and nomination rights explains how the capital instruments work, what they cost and how to exit them.

If an employer offers capital coverage, find out which school, instrument and nomination it covers, who owns it and what happens if the job ends.