Shanghai

Shanghai offers American, British and IB programmes as well as French, German and other national-school options. Begin with the programme your child needs, then compare admissions eligibility, support, fees and the daily journey. Reputation alone cannot tell you whether a school has a suitable place.

Apply about ten months ahead. For an August 2027 start, applications are already open: SAS began accepting them on September 14, 2026, and SAS, Concordia and SCIS set first-round deadlines between October 30 and November 20, 2026, with first decisions in December. Later rounds run to March 2027; after that, schools fill remaining places on a rolling basis. Families arriving during the school year apply directly for the current year, where places depend on the grade.

2027–28 application rounds

• Shanghai American School(Pudong and Puxi): applications opened September 14, 2026. Round 1 closes October 30 (update in December), Round 2 December 18 (February) and Round 3 February 3, 2027 (March); later applications are rolling.↗
• Concordia International School Shanghai (Jinqiao, Pudong): Round 1 closes November 12, 2026 (decisions in December), Round 2 February 26, 2027 (March); Round 3 is rolling.↗
• Shanghai Community International School(Hongqiao and Pudong): apply by November 20, 2026 for a decision on December 18, by January 29, 2027 for March 5, or by March 19 for April 16. From April 19, 2027, decisions are rolling, subject to capacity.↗
• British International School Shanghai, Puxi(Nord Anglia): no rounds; applications are accepted throughout the year, subject to space.↗

How to apply, step by step

1. Check eligibility: foreign-personnel schools admit children in the Shanghai education commission’s categories (see below), so passports come first.
2. Shortlist by curriculum, campus and commute, then book tours; SAS’s touring season opened with its applications in September.
3. Submit the online application with the fee (RMB 2,800 at SAS, RMB 2,500 at Concordia), passport and visa pages, two to three years of school reports and a confidential teacher recommendation.
4. Sit the assessment and interview. SAS uses NWEA MAP tests from Grade 6 and English-proficiency checks for non-native speakers; Pre-K applicants must be toilet-trained.
5. Offers carry joining charges, such as SAS’s entry fee or Concordia’s RMB 25,000 capital fee; qualified applicants without a place stay in the wait pool.

Which Shanghai international schools have rolling admissions?

All four schools above take applications on a rolling basis at some point. Concordia is accepting 2026–27 applications on a rolling basis, though some grades are full and have a wait pool. SAS treats applications after Round 3 as rolling, and SCIS switches to rolling decisions from April 19, 2027. BISS Puxi admits all year round. Rolling does not mean first come, first served: SAS states that its wait pool is reviewed applicant by applicant, not in date order.

Moving mid-year

BISS Puxi says children can start in the middle of a term and accepts new students all year, while advising an August start where possible. SAS describes 2026–27 seats as extremely limited across many grades on both campuses and asks families to contact admissions before applying for this year. Concordia’s 2026–27 rolling applications are open, with wait pools in full grades.↗

Which schools are easiest to get into?

No Shanghai school publishes acceptance rates, so there is no reliable ranking. Three things decide most applications: whether the child’s passport fits an eligible category, whether the grade has a vacancy and whether the child meets the English requirement for that age. Schools that admit year-round, such as BISS Puxi, are the most flexible on timing. Applying in an early round, to two or three schools at once, keeps the most options open.

American schools with a school bus

Both American-curriculum schools run buses. SAS offers optional transport to both campuses at RMB 12,150 per semester in 2026–27, on existing routes only; Concordia’s optional bus costs RMB 23,000 a year. SCIS, an IB school, includes door-to-door bus transport in tuition, subject to availability.↗↗

SAS Pudong tuition for 2026–27

SAS Pudong and SAS Puxi share one fee schedule: annual tuition runs from RMB 246,000 in Pre-K to RMB 311,000 in Grades 9–12, plus a RMB 32,000 annual enrolment fee and a one-time entry fee of RMB 28,000 or 33,000. TheSAS profilelists every grade band, and theapplication planning checklistcovers documents and timing.↗

Schools for children of foreign personnel (外籍人员子女学校) form a distinct category in mainland China. Shanghai examples include SAS, Concordia, YCIS, Wellington, Dulwich, BISS and SCIS. Licensing category and a child’s eligibility come from this classification, not from whether a school calls itself “international”. ↗

SAS’s OpenApply listing describes four Shanghai Municipal Education Commission categories: children of foreign citizens, children born overseas to PRC citizens, children of Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan residents, and children with a commission waiver letter. These are summaries. Admissions should confirm the applicable category, supporting documents and any additional approval before you pay an application fee. ↗

Private bilingual schools offer another route, with different admissions and curriculum arrangements. The legal commentary discusses the 2021 private-education regulations and Chinese curriculum requirements during compulsory education. For a specific school, ask how its current programme combines Chinese and international study and which qualifications it leads to. ↗

The examples below use school schedules and secondary listings. Some fee years differ, and some were not recorded. Obtain a quotation for the correct campus, age group and academic year; refundable deposits should be shown separately from costs.

• Shanghai American School (Pudong and Puxi): the official 2026–27 schedule lists RMB 246,000 for Pre-K, RMB 285,800 for Kindergarten–Grade 4, RMB 290,300 for Grade 5, RMB 301,600 for Grades 6–8 and RMB 311,000 for Grades 9–12. Additional charges include an annual RMB 32,000 enrolment fee and a new-student entry fee of RMB 28,000 for Pre-K/elementary or RMB 33,000 for middle/high school. Optional bus transport is RMB 12,150 per semester. ↗
• Concordia International School Shanghai (Jinqiao, Pudong, 2026–27): tuition is RMB 250,000 for preschool/pre-K, RMB 314,000 for Kindergarten–Grade 5, RMB 322,000 for Grades 6–8 and RMB 330,000 for Grades 9–12. Application is RMB 2,500, the one-time capital fee for new students is RMB 25,000 and optional bus transport is RMB 23,000 annually. ↗
• Wellington College International Shanghai (Qiantan, Pudong, 2025–26): the older schedule lists RMB 292,400 for Pre-Nursery–Reception, RMB 324,600 for Years 1–5, RMB 341,800 for Year 6, RMB 356,700 for Years 7–9, RMB 380,300 for Years 10–11 and RMB 391,000 for Years 12–13. Lunch, uniform and transport are excluded. ↗
• The British International School Shanghai, Puxi (Nord Anglia, Huacao): the table lists RMB 278,390 for early years, RMB 329,800 for Years 1–6, RMB 362,780 for Years 7–9, RMB 386,060 for Years 10–11 and RMB 388,970 for Years 12–13. A secondary 2026–27 listing corroborates the table; confirm the school-issued schedule for your start date. Application is RMB 4,000, enrolment RMB 4,500, the refundable resource payment RMB 16,000 and annual bus transport RMB 22,820. ↗
• Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi: the official page lists an RMB 3,800 application fee, an RMB 15,000 refundable resource payment and a new-student capital development fee of RMB 15,000 from 2026–27. A third-party listing updated in April 2026 gives tuition of roughly RMB 274,000–399,750, without stating the academic year. These figures are for Puxi, not Dulwich Pudong. Secondary tuition listing. ↗
• Shanghai Community International School (2026–27): Hongqiao tuition is RMB 303,500 for Kindergarten–Grade 5 and RMB 335,500 for Grades 6–12. The corresponding Pudong figures are RMB 289,000 and RMB 322,500. Tuition includes bus transport, lunch, one uniform set and compulsory trips; any joining charges and optional extras fall outside it. ↗
• Yew Chung International School of Shanghai: the official page lists an RMB 25,000 refundable deposit and a non-refundable RMB 15,000 capital fee for new primary and secondary students. The current school-issued tuition table remains unverified. A secondary guide gives roughly RMB 244,000–362,700 for 2026. Secondary fee range. ↗

Other options include Harrow International School Shanghai, Nord Anglia International School Shanghai Pudong, Lycée Français de Shanghai and Deutsche Schule Shanghai. Schools sharing a national label differ in programme, language and admissions requirements.

For SAS in 2026–27, a new high-school student’s tuition, annual enrolment fee, entry fee and RMB 2,800 application fee total RMB 378,800. Two semesters of bus transport bring that subtotal to RMB 403,100, before devices, exams, meals and other charges. The SAS profile explains the individual charges.

Pudong includes SAS Pudong, Concordia, Wellington in Qiantan, Dulwich Pudong, Harrow and SCIS Pudong. West of the Huangpu, options include SAS Puxi, BISS Puxi, Dulwich Puxi, SCIS Hongqiao and YCIS’s Puxi campuses. Jinqiao, Qiantan, Gubei, Hongqiao and Huacao are among the areas families can compare, but each school serves a particular set of routes.

School fee sources, with academic years identified beside each comparison: Shanghai American School Concordia BISS Puxi SCIS

Fee years are identified where recorded. For our source standards, more school profiles and corrections, use the links below. our research standard school directory guides hub corrections