NAS Beijing, Beijing | International Schools Guide

A Nord Anglia bilingual K-12 boarding school in Shunyi that opened in 2022, distinct from sister school BSB Shunyi on the foreign-passport circuit. The student body is mostly Chinese passport holders following the Chinese national curriculum through Grade 9, then IBDP at high school.

The campus is large by any standard, around 53 acres with 35,000 sqm of buildings, capacity for around 1,440 students and 484 boarding beds available from Grade 4 upwards. Teaching is split roughly 70 percent English and 30 percent Chinese in high school, with more Chinese lower down. Boarding is a real part of the model rather than a niche add-on.

Because this is a bilingual Chinese-curriculum school rather than a foreign-passport international school, the family conversation is different from the BSB or WAB shortlist. Expat families considering NAS Beijing usually want serious Mandarin immersion and are comfortable with Chinese-system rhythms. The Nord Anglia parent name buys a familiar IBDP exit and the operator's global resources, but the day-to-day feel is closer to a high-end bilingual Chinese school than to a Western international one.

A new Nord Anglia bilingual K-12 on a large 53-acre campus in Houshayu, Shunyi, opened in 2022 as the group's domestic-licensed sister to BSB Shunyi. Built for 1,440 pupils with around 480 boarding places from upper primary, the school is still well below capacity in its third and fourth years. The academic line is the Chinese national curriculum at primary and middle school, IGCSE through ages 14 to 16, then Cambridge A Level in the senior school; teaching is bilingual with Chinese and international staff. Fees sit in the CNY 205,000 to 245,000 band rising by stage, with weekly and seven-day boarding charged on top. The pitch is Nord Anglia's global brand and pathway resources wrapped around a Chinese-curriculum spine, the consideration is that the school launched into the toughest Beijing market in a decade, with enrolment competition from BASIS Shunyi and the long-established Shunyi premium pack, and that the international group registers locally as efficient and corporate rather than warm.

Considerations

Enrolment and market timing. Opening into a Beijing market with falling kindergarten and primary numbers, intense competition from BASIS Shunyi and established Shunyi names, and a shrinking foreign-passport pool. Current roll sits well below the 1,440 design capacity, and the early years are the hardest to fill.
Operator culture. Nord Anglia centrally is consistently described as commercially run, with recruitment and HR seen as transactional. Local staff and former applicants flag long interview chains that end without responses, and the wider group is talked about as a brand that prioritises growth metrics over teacher retention.
Track record and outcomes. The senior school is too new for a settled university-destinations pattern; published early outcomes lean on aggregate Nord Anglia data and individual offers rather than full cohort results. Worth verifying directly for any given graduating year.
Local vs international mix. Predominantly Chinese-passport intake with a small international minority. Useful for families seeking genuine bilingual immersion and Chinese-curriculum coverage, less suited to those wanting an English-medium expat environment, where the sister BSB Shunyi campus is the Nord Anglia answer.
Location and commute. Sits in Gaoliying, northern Houshayu, well outside central Beijing. Drive times to the central diplomatic and embassy areas typically run an hour or more without traffic; the closest concentration of international families is the Shunyi villa belt.

Bilingual model and curriculum spine. Genuine bilingual delivery with Chinese national curriculum at the lower years, IGCSE bridging from age 14, and A Level in the senior school. Class sizes average around 15, capped near 24.

Campus and facilities. Purpose-built 53-acre Houshayu campus with a 25-metre indoor pool, full-size football and basketball provision, science and music specialist rooms, plus on-site boarding accommodation from Grade 3 upward.

Nord Anglia network resources. Access to the group's global learning programmes, MIT and Juilliard collaboration content and inter-campus exchanges. As a Chinese-licensed school the activation is more curated than at the fully foreign-passport BSB sites.

Zhang Yunkui