Scholarships at Bangkok International Schools 2026

The brief

British-tier schools lead. Patana, Shrewsbury, Harrow, Brighton, Bangkok Prep and Regents all run published programmes. American-tier schools (ISB, NIST) run far narrower programmes
Entry points cluster at 11+, 13+ and 16+. Year 7 and Year 9 carry academic and all-rounder awards; Sixth Form (Year 12) is the biggest entry point
Award sizes are typically 25% to 50% of tuition. A 50% award at Shrewsbury or Patana cuts a USD 33,000 Year 12 fee to roughly USD 16,500. 100% awards are rare
Scholarships are honorific; bursaries are means-tested. A bursary tops up a scholarship where family income cannot meet the remaining tuition. The two often combine
Sibling discounts are the baseline. Most Bangkok international schools take 5% to 10% off the second child's fee, scaling further for third and fourth siblings
Long-term and full-year payment discounts typically cut 2% to 5% off published fees, stacking with sibling discounts at most schools
Application timelines run 12 months ahead. Sixth Form deadlines for August entry typically fall between November and January; 11+ and 13+ sit in the same window. Late applications are not normally considered

Bangkok · Fees

# Scholarships and Bursaries at Bangkok International Schools

Bangkok runs the most developed scholarship market of any city in Southeast Asia. The British-tier schools, Patana, Shrewsbury, Harrow, Brighton, Bangkok Prep, publish award programmes at the same standard entry points: 11+ into Year 7, 13+ into Year 9, and 16+ into Year 12. The American-tier schools, ISB and NIST, run far narrower programmes. Award sizes cluster at 25% to 50% of tuition; 100% awards are rare.

Written by Mia Windsor Originally published: 2 June 2026 7 min read

Schools with published programmes

Seven Bangkok international schools run scholarship programmes with public criteria. The British-curriculum schools dominate the list.

School	Entry points	Award types	Typical award size
Bangkok Patana	Year 7, Year 12	Academic, sport, music	25% to 50%
Shrewsbury Riverside	Year 7, Year 9, Year 12	Academic, music, sport	25% to 50%
Shrewsbury City	Year 12	Academic, music	25% to 50%
Harrow Bangkok	Year 12	Academic, all-rounder, music, sport	25% to 100%
Brighton College Krungthep Kreetha	Year 7, Year 9, Year 12	Academic, music, sport	25% to 50%
Bangkok Prep	Year 12	Academic	25% to 50%
Regents International	Year 12 (occasional)	Academic	25% to 50%
NIST	Limited	Merit	25% to 100%
ISB	Very limited	Means-tested aid	Discretionary

Award sizes are indicative ranges based on published 2025 to 2026 prospectuses and confirmed alumni reports. Verify current programmes directly with each school's admissions office.

The pattern holds across the British-curriculum schools: academic scholarships at the three transition points, plus music, sport and occasionally art or drama awards layered on top. The American-curriculum schools sit outside this framework because the US system does not carry the same entry-point milestones; ISB and NIST instead run merit-based or financial-aid programmes by exception rather than as published annual cycles.

Academic scholarships

Academic scholarships are the largest category. Schools assess candidates through standardised testing (typically CAT4 or an internal entrance paper), school-report review, and interview. The bar sits high: a Year 7 academic award at Patana or Shrewsbury Riverside usually goes to a child sitting two stanines above the school's normal admissions threshold, plus a strong report from the current school.

The three entry points each carry their own logic. Year 7 (age 11+) awards target children moving up from a Bangkok primary or relocating from overseas; the pool is wider because Year 7 is the natural intake into the secondary phase. Year 9 (age 13+) is the smallest of the three; Shrewsbury Riverside and Brighton Krungthep Kreetha run programmes here, mainly for families repatriating into the British system at the start of GCSE. Year 12 (age 16+) carries the biggest weight because Sixth Form is the most competitive entry point at every British-tier school, and scholarships are the lever schools use to attract candidates who will lift their A-Level results table.

The award size sits at 25%, 33% or 50% of tuition. A 50% award on a Year 12 fee at Shrewsbury (THB 1.2 million / USD 33,800) brings the family bill to roughly USD 16,900 before capital fees. Sustained-performance clauses are standard: a scholar falling below a defined grade threshold (typically a B average at A-Level, or a specified IB points floor) can have the award reduced or withdrawn.

Harrow Bangkok runs the most generous published programme. Sixth Form scholarships at Harrow can reach 100% of tuition for the very top external candidates, alongside dedicated music, sport and all-rounder awards. The cohort is small, typically two to four full or near-full awards in any year, and competition is global rather than regional.

Music, sport and all-rounder awards

The non-academic awards run in parallel with the academic programme at the British-tier schools and typically carry smaller fee reductions, 10% to 25% of tuition rather than 25% to 50%. The candidate pool is much smaller, so a strong young musician or athlete who would not win an academic award can sometimes secure a meaningful scholarship through this route.

Music scholarships at Patana, Shrewsbury, Harrow and Brighton require an audition on a main and supporting instrument, plus a music-theory check. The bar is ABRSM Grade 7 or 8 for a Sixth Form award, Grade 5 to 6 for Year 7. Scholars commit to the ensemble programme and to performing at school events.

Sport scholarships focus on the school's strongest disciplines: football and rugby at Harrow, tennis and swimming at Patana, cricket and rugby at Shrewsbury, basketball and football at Brighton. Candidates submit competitive records and undertake a trial. Scholars represent the school in FOBISIA, BISAC and regional competition.

All-rounder awards exist mainly at Harrow, combining academic, co-curricular and leadership criteria. Award sizes match the academic programme at 25% to 50%.

Bursaries

Bursaries are the means-tested counterpart to scholarships. A scholarship is awarded on merit and carries no income test. A bursary is awarded on financial need, assessed through confidential review of family income, assets, liabilities and dependants. The two often combine: a school may pair a 33% academic scholarship with a 33% bursary for a candidate it wants but whose family cannot meet the remaining fee.

Patana, Shrewsbury and Harrow run published bursary frameworks alongside their scholarship programmes. The standard process requires two years of tax returns plus a bank-statement review, reviewed annually. Bursaries are confidential by policy; the scholar's name appears on the scholarship roll, but the bursary element is not disclosed.

The eligibility bar is structural. Bursaries at Bangkok's British-tier schools are not designed for expat families on full corporate packages; they target Thai or repatriating Thai-British families paying privately, families on local-plus contracts, and families whose employer relocation package has lapsed mid-enrolment. A typical bursary award sits between 20% and 60% of remaining tuition after the scholarship is applied. Full 100% bursaries are reserved for outstanding candidates with demonstrable hardship.

ISB's financial-aid programme operates on the same principle but without the scholarship layer: a pure needs-based mechanism, available primarily to children of NGO and embassy staff whose employers do not provide a full education allowance. Awards are discretionary and not published.

Sibling and payment discounts

Below the scholarship and bursary layer, Bangkok runs a set of structural discounts that apply to most families.

Sibling discounts are the most common form of fee reduction at international schools in Thailand. The typical structure runs:

First child: full published fee
Second child: 5% to 10% off tuition (most schools)
Third child: 10% to 15% off
Fourth child onwards: 15% to 25% off or negotiated case by case

Patana, Shrewsbury, Harrow, Bangkok Prep, NIST and Regents all run sibling discount schemes broadly within this band. ISB does not publish a sibling discount; its fee structure is flat per child. Discounts usually apply to tuition only, not to capital, registration or transport.

Long-term-payment discounts apply when a family pays the year's fees upfront rather than termly. Typical discounts run 2% to 5% of tuition. This is cash-flow management for the school rather than financial aid, and it stacks with sibling discounts at most schools.

A handful of schools also run employer-group discounts: arrangements with multinationals, embassies and UN agencies offering a 3% to 5% reduction to staff of designated organisations. These are not advertised publicly and are negotiated through HR.

Application timelines

Scholarship timelines run 12 months ahead of entry. For August 2027 entry, the typical Sixth Form calendar at a Bangkok British-tier school runs:

September to October 2026: applications open, prospectus available
November to January 2027: application deadline (varies by school, usually mid-January for Sixth Form)
January to February 2027: written assessments and entrance papers
February to March 2027: shortlist interviews, auditions, sport trials
March to April 2027: awards announced
May 2027: acceptance deadline, deposit payable
August 2027: scholar starts

Year 7 and Year 9 timelines run on the same rhythm with deadlines typically two to four weeks later. Late applications are not normally considered; schools that fill their scholarship cohort by the published deadline do not reopen the round.

For families relocating into Bangkok mid-cycle, most British-tier schools allow scholarship enquiry outside the standard calendar but do not generally award major scholarships outside the published round. The exception is sport scholarships, which can be assessed at any point through a trial.

FAQs

Are scholarships available to non-Thai children? Yes, at most Bangkok British-tier schools. Patana, Shrewsbury, Harrow and Brighton assess candidates on academic and co-curricular merit regardless of nationality. ISB's financial-aid programme is needs-based and not nationality-restricted but is rarely awarded to families on full corporate packages. Bursaries are typically targeted at Thai or Thai-British families paying privately.

How competitive is a Sixth Form scholarship at Patana or Shrewsbury? Highly. Each school typically receives 40 to 80 external applications for a handful of Year 12 awards. Conversion to a major (50% or above) scholarship sits at roughly 5% of applications. A strong profile combines top-decile IGCSE predictions (8s and 9s), evidence of co-curricular leadership, and a clean interview.

Can my child hold a scholarship plus a bursary? Yes. Most British-tier schools structure awards so a scholarship recognises merit and a bursary tops up where family income cannot meet the residual fee. The combined award can reach 100% in exceptional cases but more commonly sits in the 50% to 75% range.

What happens if a scholar's performance drops? Sustained-performance clauses are standard. Most scholarships set a minimum academic threshold (a B average at A-Level or a specified IB points floor) and a co-curricular commitment for music and sport awards. A scholar falling below the threshold is normally placed on academic review for one or two terms; persistent underperformance can result in reduction or withdrawal. Schools prefer reduction to withdrawal.

Do American-curriculum schools in Bangkok offer scholarships? Limited. ISB runs a financial-aid programme rather than a scholarship programme; it is needs-based and discretionary. NIST occasionally awards merit scholarships at Year 12 entry but does not publish a standing programme. Families targeting the American curriculum with financial-aid needs have a narrower path than those on the British track.

Is a scholarship transferable between Bangkok schools? No. Scholarships are tied to the awarding school. A family transferring between schools must reapply under the new school's published criteria. Some schools may grant a partial fee waiver mid-year on a discretionary basis, but this is not a portable entitlement.

Sources

School prospectuses and scholarship pages for Patana, Shrewsbury Riverside, Shrewsbury City, Harrow Bangkok, Brighton College Krungthep Kreetha, Bangkok Prep, Regents International, NIST and ISB, 2025 to 2026
COBIS and FOBISIA scholarship convention papers, 2024 to 2025
Bangkok-based education consultants and admissions advisers, indicative award data
ISG fees dataset, top-year and entry-year tuition figures used for award-size calculations

Originally published: 2 June 2026 Award sizes and timelines are indicative and based on published 2025 to 2026 prospectuses. Verify with each school's admissions office for current programme details. Exchange rate: THB 35 = USD 1.

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