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
| Fee | Age | Type | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early Years (3/4 yrs, half day) | 3 | Annual | CN¥148,000 |
| Early Years (3/4 yrs, full day) | 3 | Annual | CN¥249,000 |
| Junior Grade 1 - Senior Grade 1 | 5 | Annual | CN¥296,000 |
| Grades 2-5 | 7 | Annual | CN¥317,400 |
| Middle School (Grades 6-8) | 11 | Annual | CN¥336,800 |
| High School (Grades 9-10) | 14 | Annual | CN¥370,800 |
| High School (Grades 11-12) | 16 | Annual | CN¥380,500 |
| Application Fee | One-time | CN¥2,100 | |
| Non-refundable enrollment portion | One-time | CN¥30,000 |
Reviews
- German-language Swiss-curriculum section opened in 2017 inside Western Academy of Beijing's Chaoyang campus, recognised by the Swiss federal authority for Swiss schools abroad.
- Around 50 pupils across five nationalities; the largest group is German, with no local Chinese students and instruction in German on a Lehrplan 21 base for younger years and a hybrid Swiss/IB route at lower secondary.
- The structural draw for German-speaking families is mother-tongue instruction with a hand-off to WAB's full IB Diploma at Grade 10, which directory listings flag as the route most pupils take.
- Class sizes average twelve, mixed-age groups feature in the early years, and there is no homework in elementary; parents looking for that European primary model use the school for it.
- Independent parent voice in open forums is effectively absent. The wider WAB community discussion is broader than this section and rarely names it.
- One older Reddit thread referenced the Swedish-language school in Shanghai as a regional comparator for Nordic-language education in China; it is not the same institution but indicates how thin the public discussion is for this size of section.
Head of school
Marta Medved Krajnovic
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.