Cities / Beijing / Swiss School Beijing
Swiss School Beijing
The Swiss School Beijing opened in August 2017 as the German-language section embedded inside Western Academy of Beijing, the first officially recognised Swiss School Abroad in China.
In brief
The Swiss School Beijing opened in August 2017 as the German-language section embedded inside Western Academy of Beijing, the first officially recognised Swiss School Abroad in China. It runs from age 3 through Grade 9 on a Swiss-curriculum basis and uses WAB's facilities.
Quality assurance comes from educational experts in the Canton of Zurich under the Swiss federal framework for schools abroad, so the academic programme is genuinely Swiss rather than Swiss-themed. Teaching is in German with strong Mandarin from early years and English embedded through the WAB environment.
Class sizes are small and mixed-age, and families who choose it tend to be German-speaking expats who want curriculum continuity for an eventual return to Switzerland or Germany. The school stops at Grade 9, so families need a high-school plan, usually a transition into WAB's IB Diploma alongside which the Swiss School operates, or a move home. The shared campus with WAB means facilities and community feel much larger than the headcount suggests.
Fees
Annual fees
| Year level | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Early Years (3/4 yrs, half day) | 3 | CN¥148,000 |
| Early Years (3/4 yrs, full day) | 3 | CN¥249,000 |
| Junior Grade 1 - Senior Grade 1 | 5 | CN¥296,000 |
| Grades 2-5 | 7 | CN¥317,400 |
| Middle School (Grades 6-8) | 11 | CN¥336,800 |
| High School (Grades 9-10) | 14 | CN¥370,800 |
| High School (Grades 11-12) | 16 | CN¥380,500 |
One-time fees
| Item | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Application Fee | CN¥2,100 | |
| Non-refundable enrollment portion | CN¥30,000 |
Reviews
A small German-language Swiss school operating as a section inside the Western Academy of Beijing campus in Chaoyang. Lehrplan 21 from Early Years through Grade 9, mixed-age homerooms, and access to WAB's facilities (pool, gyms, library, air-supported dome) sit behind a roll of well under a hundred. Most families come from Swiss, German, Austrian, Chinese-Swiss and Chinese-German backgrounds; local Chinese passport holders are not admitted.
Positives
- Swiss curriculum continuity. Lehrplan 21 delivered by Swiss-qualified teachers, recognised by the Swiss federal authorities. Families moving between Switzerland and Beijing keep their child on the same curriculum without translation.
- Small school, individual attention. Class sizes capped around 16 with mixed-age primary homerooms. Teachers know every child, and families describe close, personal relationships with staff.
- Languages and immersion. German is the language of instruction, English is taught from Early Years and Mandarin runs throughout. French enters in Grade 5. The trilingual exposure is one of the school's strongest selling points.
- WAB campus access. Sharing the Western Academy of Beijing campus gives a tiny school a 25-acre site with a swimming pool, indoor dome, gyms, theatres and an industrial-grade air-filtration system, things SSB on its own could never build.
Considerations
- Pathway after Grade 9. Provision currently runs to Grade 9. Families need a plan for upper secondary, whether that is the WAB IB Diploma, a return to Switzerland or a move to another international school in Beijing.
- Narrow eligibility. Foreign passport holders only. Chinese nationals are not admitted, which is the rule across Beijing's foreign-curriculum schools but worth confirming for mixed-nationality households.
- Tiny cohort. Total enrolment sits in the tens rather than hundreds. The intimacy is real, but so is the cohort risk: a single child leaving can change a year group, and friendship pools are narrow compared to the larger Beijing internationals.
- Fees. Tuition runs roughly RMB 199,000 at Early Years up to around RMB 290,000 at Grades 6 to 9 for 2024-25, in line with Beijing's foreign-passport tier rather than discounted for the small scale.
Leadership
Dr. Christine Jacob
Dr. Marta Medved Krajnovic serves as Head of School at the Western Academy of Beijing. She has expressed being thrilled to lead WAB, which she describes as a school at the forefront of international education. She is enthusiastic about implementing FLoW21 and its transformational impact on student learning, and the leadership team emphasizes her focus on ensuring every student receives the highest quality education through child-centered educational approaches.