Cities / Phnom Penh / Home of English International School
Home of English International School
A large, locally founded English-medium school established in 1997, now running multiple campuses across Phnom Penh and serving close to 3,000 mostly Khmer students from preschool to age 18.
In brief
A large, locally founded English-medium school established in 1997, now running multiple campuses across Phnom Penh and serving close to 3,000 mostly Khmer students from preschool to age 18.
Home of English sits in a different category from the expat-facing international schools. Co-founded by Steve Billington and Judy Tan, it grew from an English-language programme into a full school using American distance-learning frameworks, Calvert and Keystone, alongside Khmer and Chinese language classes. The cohort is overwhelmingly Cambodian, the fees are well below the international tier, and the campuses sit in BKK3, Sen Sok, Prek Eng and Toul Kork.
Reviews split sharply. Positive voices talk about caring teachers, affordable fees and a genuine route to English fluency for local families. The recurring complaint is that the structure feels traditional and rigid compared with the IB and Cambridge schools, with heavy homework and weaker remote-learning provision when that matters. This is a strong fit for Khmer families wanting an English-immersion American-flavoured pathway. Expat families looking for an international peer group will usually look elsewhere.
Reviews
- Home of English is a Phnom Penh private network running an English-medium International Programme (Calvert primary, Keystone American high school) alongside a Khmer Programme, across BKK3, Sen Sok and Prek Eng campuses.
- Public reviews are strongly skewed positive, with around 86 per cent of 37 reviewers recommending the school. Comments cluster on affordable fees, qualified teachers and active extracurricular programmes.
- Staff reviews give the school a 4.1 average from a small pool of seven. Positives focus on culture and work-life balance; negatives flag management style and what one reviewer called resistance to modern practices.
- Reviewers position the school as a value option among Phnom Penh privates rather than a peer to ISPP, NISC or iCAN, with Calvert and Keystone delivery rather than IGCSE or IB.
- Independent parent signal is thin. Parents, expat families and other commenters do not surface substantive public discussion of the school.
Positives
- value and access. Reviewers single out fees and the multi-campus footprint as a more accessible option than the top-tier Phnom Penh internationals.
- teaching and programme breadth. Parent comments praise the teachers and the range of activities.
Considerations
- curriculum positioning. International Programme uses Calvert in primary and Keystone American in upper school rather than IGCSE or IB, which families weigh against the better-known options.
- staff experience and management. Glassdoor reviews are mostly positive on culture; criticism focuses on management approach.
- depth of independent signal. Reddit and expat-forum chatter is sparse; aggregator scores carry most of the public picture.