Founded
1980

By five embassies; roots in a 1970s diplomatic schoolhouse

Curriculum
IB + American

Own standards-based curriculum; IB DP since 1991; AP added 2024

Years
EY2–G12

Ages 2–18, all-through

Location
Shunyi

33-acre campus, 10 Anhua Street, northeast Beijing

Structure
Not-for-profit

Parent-elected board; CIS, NEASC, NCCT accredited

Eligibility
Foreign passport

Beijing measures for schools for children of foreign nationals

The short version

The short version

The International School of Beijing (ISB) is a non-profit, co-educational day school founded in 1980 when the US Embassy merged its school with those of the British, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand embassies.

It teaches Early Years through Grade 12 to around 1,800 students on a purpose-built 33-acre campus in Shunyi District, in the heart of Beijing’s expat corridor.↗↗

For a relocating family, the practical summary is this: ISB is the heritage name in Beijing international education — first IB Diploma in the city (1991), a parent-elected board, a published 2026 IB average of 35.9, and fees at the very top of the market.

The eligibility gate is legal: your child needs a foreign passport or one of the approved categories. And the location decision is really a lifestyle decision — Shunyi villa life with a short school run, or city living with a long bus ride.

What the school is

From a hallway in Sanlitun to a 33-acre campus

ISB’s roots are a 1970s “Little Red Schoolhouse” run under the US Liaison Office in a diplomatic compound hallway — eight students, two teachers.

The five-embassy merger in 1980 formalised the school; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs registered it as a school for diplomatic children in 1988; and in January 2002 it was restructured as an independent school for foreign children under the Beijing Municipal Education Bureau, moving to its current Shunyi campus.

A 12-member board elected by the parent association now governs it.↗↗

ISB teaches a standards-based curriculum of its own design rather than an imported national system. In 1991 it became the first school in Beijing to offer the full IB Diploma, and it now offers the Diploma or IB certificates in Grades 11–12 alongside its own High School Diploma, with AP courses added from August 2024.

A dual-language Chinese-English programme runs from Early Years through Grade 5. The school holds CIS, NEASC and Chinese NCCT accreditation — a rare triple covering US, international and host-country authorities.↗↗

The school publishes more outcome data than many peers: its 2026 graduating class averaged 35.9 on the IB Diploma, with nearly three-quarters scoring 35 or above, and it has been ranked the top international school in China by Hurun Education for three consecutive years (both school-published).

Treat rankings as marketing-adjacent, but the IB average is a concrete, checkable number most competitors do not volunteer.↗

Admissions and eligibility

The foreign-passport gate, and a softer market

By Chinese regulation only children with foreign passports can be admitted to ISB. Beijing’s municipal measures for schools for children of foreign nationals additionally allow — with district education-authority approval — children of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan residents, children of Chinese citizens legally residing overseas, and children of introduced talents.

If your child holds only a mainland passport and none of those statuses, ISB is not an option; that is licensing law, not school discretion.↗

The demand backdrop has shifted in applicants’ favour: Beijing’s foreign-resident count fell about 41.5% between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, and industry analysis describes a “survival market” for the sector. Mid-year entry is more feasible in Beijing than in many Asian cities because diplomatic and corporate churn frees seats through the year.

Popular year groups still fill — apply six to twelve months ahead where you can — but the waitlist horror stories belong to an earlier era.↗↗

Fees and the real cost

Top-of-market tuition, and what it includes

ISB’s 2026-27 tuition runs from RMB 155,800 (Early Years 2, half-day) and RMB 251,800 (EY3–4) through RMB 291,800 (Kindergarten), RMB 311,800 (Grades 3–5) and RMB 331,800 (Grades 6–8) to RMB 351,800 (Grades 9–10) and RMB 361,800 (Grades 11–12).

Add a non-refundable RMB 2,800 application fee and a one-time RMB 18,000 Entry Tuition Fee for new students. As a non-profit, the school states that all fees are channelled back into the school.↗

Two structural points are worth noting when comparing across the city. First, ISB’s capital fee structure absorbs the one-to-one iPad/laptop programme for Grades 2–12 — there is no separate mandatory device purchase as at some peers.

Second, the optional school bus (run with an outside contractor) costs RMB 16,800–27,300 per year depending on distance; the Western Academy of Beijing, by contrast, includes its bus network in tuition. On a like-for-like family budget, that difference can be worth RMB 20,000 a year per child.↗↗

The affordability question is real for families without corporate packages. Press coverage going back a decade documents expat parents downsizing or leaving Beijing over international-school costs, and 2026-27 ISB senior tuition is roughly double what it was in the mid-2010s.

If an education allowance is part of your negotiation, settle it before you sign anything else.↗

The family experience

Shunyi life, the domes, and the daily bus

The campus sits at 10 Anhua Street in Shunyi, Beijing’s established expat suburb near the airport, surrounded by the villa compounds most corporate families live in.

Forum texture over the years is consistent: ISB is the established, high-standards choice with competitive sports and a big modern campus — and if you live in the city rather than Shunyi, the school run can approach an hour each way. Housing-first families typically pick the school, then the compound.↗

One facility detail tells you a lot about Beijing schooling: in 2012 ISB built a detached sports facility with two pressurised domes and advanced air filtration, creating pollution-free indoor tennis courts and playing fields.

Beijing’s air has improved dramatically since — 2024 was the cleanest year on record — but filtered-air infrastructure remains part of the premium-school offer, and worth asking about on any visit.↗

Community texture: the middle school advertises 100+ enrichment offerings, 65+ field trips and 1.3 hours of mentoring weekly, and the school leans hard into its “Dragon Spirit” identity and a 45-year alumni network. Parents who post about ISB tend to describe a warm, professionally run community — the recurring caveat being cost, not culture.↗

Our readConfidence: Medium

The heritage Beijing choice — priced like it

The public record on ISB is strong: a documented 45-year history, triple accreditation, an IB programme older than most Beijing schools, a published 2026 IB average, and a transparent 2026-27 fee schedule.

Our confidence is Medium rather than High because this edition is document-based — we have not visited — and because history and governance are sourced partly from reference works rather than first-party archives. The demand contraction across Beijing’s foreign-passport sector is documented and works in applicants’ favour.

The families ISB suits are clear: foreign-passport holders wanting an IB-or-American pathway with a deep co-curricular programme, planning to live the Shunyi life, and funded — by package or by means — for the city’s top fee tier.

The ones it does not suit: mainland-passport families without an approved category, families committed to central-city living who cannot face the commute, and British-curriculum seekers (Dulwich, Harrow and BSB exist for that).

Within its lane, ISB is the benchmark every Beijing shortlist measures against — but the bus-included pricing across town is a reminder to compare the whole bill, not the headline.

Take these to the school

Questions that move beyond the tour script

Admissions and eligibility

  1. Which eligibility category applies to our child, and what documents does the school require to evidence it?
  2. For our child’s year group and entry year, what does current availability look like, and how does the school handle mid-year entry?
  3. How are incoming students assessed, and how should a child arriving from a British or other curriculum prepare?

Academics and pathways

  1. May we see the full IB Diploma results distribution with cohort size, and the latest university-destination list?
  2. How do students choose among the full IB Diploma, IB certificates, AP courses and the ISB High School Diploma — and who advises them?
  3. How does the dual-language programme work in practice, and what happens to Chinese language after Grade 5?

Cost and logistics

  1. Beyond tuition and the entry fee, what should we budget for bus, trips, exams and activities in year one?
  2. Which bus routes serve our shortlisted compounds, what band applies, and what is the realistic morning journey time?
  3. How did the filtered-air facilities operate during the last high-pollution winter, and what are the current AQI policies for outdoor sport?

Continue your research

Choose your next step

Sources and further research

Where to verify and keep reading

We favor direct links to the exact page or document a family may need next. Access dates matter because admissions, tuition, leadership, and programs change.