Top 10 International Schools in Hong Kong (2026)

The brief

HKIS leads on the American side with 25 AP courses, nearly 100% to tertiary study, and a debenture system that materially raises the first-year cost.
CIS, ISF Academy and CDNIS anchor the private IB market: full PYP through DP, premium fees, and a deep Mandarin-English spine at the first two.
Kellett, Harrow and German Swiss carry A-Levels to 18. Kellett holds BSO Outstanding (2023); Harrow runs the city's only full British boarding.
Li Po Chun UWC is a sixth-form-only residential IB college: selective intake from 80 countries, HKD 324,000 to 428,000 all-in including boarding.
Singapore International and Nord Anglia offer the strongest results-to-fees ratios in the private bracket, both finishing on the IB Diploma.

A note on scope

Hong Kong's international market has two structural features that shape this list. The English Schools Foundation runs 22 government-subsidised schools that finish on the IB Diploma; its flagships sit in the best IB schools brief. This ranking covers the private sector, where the schools below charge two to three times ESF fees and frequently add a refundable debenture (HKD 250,000 to HKD 3 million) or a non-refundable capital levy on entry.

The pillar, Best international schools in Hong Kong, carries the city overview, neighbourhood guide, and admissions windows. This piece ranks ten schools.

The ranking

1. Hong Kong International School

HKIS is the American flagship in Asia. Founded 1966, two campuses on the Southside (Repulse Bay for Lower and Upper Primary, Tai Tam for Middle and High), around 3,000 pupils, ages 4 to 18. WASC fully accredited. Annual fees HKD 231,600 to 258,550 (USD 29,700 to 33,150) with a debenture on entry.

The depth of the AP catalogue, 25 courses, is the deepest in the city, and the matriculation record runs into US-selective universities at a rate few schools in Asia can match. Nearly 100% of graduates pursue tertiary study. Lutheran-affiliated through the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod; the values framework runs alongside the academics rather than over them.

The HKD 3 million family debenture is the headline. It is refundable, optional in name, and trades on a secondary market. Families who hold one historically clear the wait pool faster than those who do not. The full first-year figure is materially above the tuition line.

2. Chinese International School

CIS is the deepest bilingual IB school in Hong Kong. Braemar Hill (North Point), founded 1983, ages 4 to 18, around 1,600 pupils. Full IB continuum: PYP, MYP, DP, CP. CIS and NEASC re-accredited 2021. Fees HKD 216,100 to 342,800 (USD 27,700 to 43,950). Individual or corporate debenture.

IB DP 2025 average 38.95, 99% pass rate, 49% scored 40 points or more, 28% awarded a bilingual diploma. The 2024 cohort averaged 39.7. The Mandarin-English programme runs from Reception and produces bilingual outcomes the rest of the city's bilingual schools work hard to match.

Reception (around 96 places) and Year 7 (around 50 places as the school steps up to secondary) are the realistic entry points. Lateral entry from Year 1 to Year 6 is single-digit places. CIS is one of two schools (with HKIS) that families plan around years in advance.

3. Kellett School

Kellett is the longest-running British independent-model school in the city. Pok Fu Lam (Prep) and Kowloon Bay (Senior), founded 1976, ages 4 to 18, around 1,600 pupils. A-Level finish. BSO Outstanding 2023, COBIS Patron's Accredited Member, CIS member. Fees HKD 208,800 to 267,100 (USD 26,750 to 34,250).

A-Level 2025: *27.5% A\-A, 60.6% A\-B, 88.5% A\-C, 100% pass rate. GCSE 2025: 67% at 9 to 8 or A\***. BSO Outstanding is the highest rating the UK Department for Education awards to overseas schools, and Kellett holds it. The school reads, in operation and voice, like a UK prep-and-senior pair transplanted to Hong Kong.

Two recent changes matter. Kellett replaced its mandatory debenture with an annual capital levy for offers made after 31 August 2025, lowering the entry barrier. A purpose-built Sixth Form Centre at The Bay Hub on Kai Cheung Road opens August 2026 with capacity for 240 students, adding upper-school places at exactly the point the rest of the city's A-Level provision is tight.

4. Harrow International School Hong Kong

The only full British boarding option in Hong Kong. Tuen Mun, founded 2012, ages 3 to 18, around 1,700 pupils. A-Level finish. CIS, BSO, COBIS Patron's. Fees HKD 175,812 to 239,070 (USD 22,500 to 30,650), capital levy HKD 60,000 per year.

A-Level 2025: 33% A\, 70% A\-A, 90% A\-B. GCSE 2025: 59% Grade 9, 79% at 9 to 8 or A\**. Boarding is optional from Year 6 and common from Year 9, with annual boarding fees of HKD 130,705 on top of tuition. Sibling discounts run 5% for the third child and 10% for the fourth.

Harrow operates under a licence from Harrow School in England; the link is operational rather than ownership. Tuen Mun is far north-west New Territories: a non-issue if you live there or board, a real commute from Central or Mid-Levels. The remote location keeps admissions more accessible than the top-tier Island schools.

5. German Swiss International School

Two parallel streams (German and English) on The Peak. Founded 1969, ages 3 to 18, around 1,300 pupils. Both A-Level and IB at sixth form. CIS, plus the German Federal "Excellent German School Abroad" BLI quality seal (2023). Fees HKD 197,000 to 256,700 (USD 25,250 to 32,900). Refundable debenture HKD 500,000.

IB Diploma 2024 average 40 points, *52% A\-A at A Level (2024)**. The English stream follows the British National Curriculum to IGCSE, then offers A-Levels and a smaller IB cohort. The German stream leads to the German Abitur. The dual structure is unusual; the academic spine in either stream reads as strong.

Premium Peak location, restrained scale by Hong Kong standards, and competitive admissions in both streams. The English stream is occasionally overlooked by families who assume the school is German-only; it is not.

6. Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong

Sixth form only. Residential. Selective. Ma On Shan, founded 1992, ages 16 to 19, around 250 students. IB Diploma only. Fees HKD 324,000 to 428,000 (USD 41,500 to 54,900) all-in including boarding.

IB DP 2023: 25.2% scored 40 points or more, ten graduates achieving 43 or 44 points. Students arrive from roughly 80 countries through national UWC committees that select against academic, social, and contribution criteria rather than family wealth. The IB results reflect the selection as much as the teaching.

UWC is not for every family. The model is residential, mission-driven, and operates in parallel to the Year 7-to-13 schools that families typically plan around. Where it fits, it fits unusually well, and a substantial bursary programme broadens the intake well beyond what the sticker fee suggests.

7. The ISF Academy

The other bilingual IB flagship. Pokfulam, founded 2003, ages 5 to 18, around 2,300 pupils. Full IB continuum (PYP, MYP, DP). CIS accredited since 2014, WASC. Fees HKD 240,320 to 303,530 (USD 30,800 to 38,900), annual capital levy HKD 40,000.

IB DP 2025 average 38.9, 100% pass rate, 94% matriculated into a top-100 world university. Mandarin is embedded into the school day rather than taught alongside it. ISF runs an unusually generous financial aid programme, with remission ranging from 20% to 100% of fees for qualifying families.

The natural alternative to CIS for families set on bilingual education. Where CIS leans North Point and a more international demographic, ISF leans Pokfulam and a more Hong Kong-rooted intake. Admissions are tight but typically less impossible than CIS lateral entry.

8. Canadian International School of Hong Kong

Ontario and IB under one transcript. Aberdeen, founded 1991, ages 3 to 18, around 2,200 pupils. Full IB continuum. CIS re-accredited May 2024, WASC. Fees HKD 138,600 to 254,300 (USD 17,800 to 32,600). Debenture priority in admissions.

IB DP 2025 average 37.7, 96% pass rate, 39.4% scored 40 points or more. CDNIS pairs the Ontario Secondary School Diploma with the IB Diploma at sixth form, and runs bilingual English-Putonghua instruction in primary. The 13-storey vertical campus on Nam Long Shan Road is a Hong Kong landmark and a workable answer to land scarcity.

Admissions weight Canadian citizenship, sibling status, and debenture holding. If your family carries a Canadian passport, CDNIS becomes a meaningfully easier admission than its scale and results would suggest.

9. Singapore International School

The strongest fees-to-results ratio in the private IB bracket. Aberdeen, founded 1991, ages 3 to 18, around 1,800 pupils. British primary, IB Diploma at sixth form. Fees HKD 103,000 to 254,900 (USD 13,200 to 32,700).

IB DP 2024 average 39.2, up from 38 in 2023. *IGCSE 2023: 76.5% A\-A.** The primary spine is British (Singapore's home curriculum lineage); the secondary pivots to the IB. The lower end of the fee band is materially below the city's private flagships, which broadens the realistic intake.

Singapore International is a school that competes on substance rather than brand recognition. Families who run a fees-against-results filter rather than a name filter tend to put it at the top of their shortlist.

10. Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong

Both pathways under one roof. Kwun Tong (Senior) and Lam Tin (Primary), founded 2000, ages 3 to 18, around 1,500 pupils. Cognia, ISI, CIS. Fees HKD 91,300 to 222,500 (USD 11,700 to 28,500).

NAIS is the local campus of Nord Anglia Education, which operates around 80 schools globally. IB DP 33.1 average, 94% pass rate; *A-Level 67% A\-B; AP 54.2% scoring 4 or 5, average AP 3.6; IGCSE 50% A\-A. The unusual feature: NAIS runs both A-Levels and IB Diploma at sixth form* from August 2026, with a new Sixth Form Centre opening in Hung Hom. It is the first school in Hong Kong to offer both pathways under one roof.

Brand-vs-campus matters here. Quality across the Nord Anglia network varies by campus, and the marketing tie-ins (Juilliard, MIT, UNICEF) sit at group rather than school level. The Hong Kong campus reads as competent rather than top-tier on results; the dual-pathway model and the relatively accessible lower fee band are what put it on the list.

At a glance

Rank	School	Curriculum	Ages	Fees (HKD)	Debenture or levy	Headline result
1	HKIS	American / AP	4 to 18	231,600–258,550	Debenture (refundable, optional)	25 AP courses; near-100% to tertiary
2	CIS	IB full continuum	4 to 18	216,100–342,800	Debenture	IB DP 38.95; 28% bilingual
3	Kellett	British / A-Level	4 to 18	208,800–267,100	Annual capital levy	A-Level 27.5% A\*-A; BSO Outstanding
4	Harrow HK	British / A-Level	3 to 18	175,812–239,070	Capital levy HKD 60k/yr	A-Level 33% A\*; only HK boarding
5	German Swiss	British / IB / German	3 to 18	197,000–256,700	Debenture HKD 500k	IB DP 40; 52% A\*-A
6	Li Po Chun UWC	IB DP only	16 to 19	324,000–428,000	Boarding included	25% scored 40+ (2023)
7	ISF Academy	IB full continuum	5 to 18	240,320–303,530	Capital levy HKD 40k/yr	IB DP 38.9; 94% top-100
8	CDNIS	IB + Ontario	3 to 18	138,600–254,300	Debenture priority	IB DP 37.7; 39% scored 40+
9	Singapore International	British / IB	3 to 18	103,000–254,900	Debenture	IB DP 39.2
10	Nord Anglia HK	British / IB / A-Level	3 to 18	91,300–222,500	Capital levy	IB DP 33.1; dual pathway 2026

Fees are 2025-26 or 2026-27 annual tuition. Debentures and capital levies are separate. Verify current figures with each school.

How this list was built

Three filters, applied in order.

Published results. Where a school publishes IB DP averages, A-Level grade distributions, GCSE outcomes, or AP score profiles, those numbers were the first input. Schools that publish nothing checkable were demoted. Schools with very small cohorts (Malvern College Hong Kong's 44 DP average from a small graduating class) are credited but not ranked above larger cohorts at similar averages.

Accreditation against named standards. BSO (UK Department for Education), COBIS Patron's, CIS, WASC, and NEASC carry weight. Membership without accreditation does not. Two schools on this list hold BSO; four hold CIS plus a US regional accreditation; the UWC and HKIS hold WASC.

Admissions weight. A school with no realistic capacity, a multi-year wait pool, or a debenture that trades on a secondary market is, by definition, a market signal. That signal places HKIS, CIS, and Kellett above schools with thinner reputations but comparable headline numbers.

Two structural choices follow from this. The English Schools Foundation flagships are not in this list. ESF is the largest English-medium provider in Hong Kong, finishes on the IB Diploma at consistently strong averages (West Island 37.6, Sha Tin 37.2, King George V 36.1), and runs on a fraction of private fees. It is covered in detail in the best IB schools brief and the city pillar. A separate list would do it more justice.

Newer entrants are weighted by track record. Wycombe Abbey Senior School opened August 2025 and has not yet published a results cycle. NLCS Hong Kong opens 2026. YK Pao School Hong Kong opens September 2026. The brand carries weight; a school that has not run a results cycle has not been tested. None makes this list yet.

How to use this list

The ranking is a starting point. It is not a buy order.

Three filters narrow the ten fast. Curriculum: A-Level, IB Diploma, or AP. If A-Levels through to 18 are non-negotiable, the list compresses to Kellett, Harrow, German Swiss (English stream), and Nord Anglia. If AP is the answer, HKIS is the obvious top pick with NAIS at the lower fee end. Everything else finishes on the IB Diploma.

Geography. Hong Kong is compact but split by water. HKIS, ISF Academy, CDNIS, Singapore International, and German Swiss anchor Hong Kong Island. CIS sits at North Point. Harrow is Tuen Mun (far New Territories). NAIS is Kwun Tong (Kowloon East). Li Po Chun is Ma On Shan and residential. Discovery Bay and Sai Kung have their own school logic and feed differently.

Cost beyond tuition. The headline fee is one input. Debentures (HKD 250,000 to HKD 3 million, refundable on exit), capital levies (HKD 25,000 to HKD 60,000 per year, non-refundable), and the school bus (HKD 20,000 to 50,000 per year) move the all-in cost meaningfully. Ask each school for the full first-year figure before comparing fee tables.

The right school for your family is the one where the curriculum fits the child, the location fits the household, and the admissions window aligns with your timing. The ranking helps narrow the shortlist; the visit decides the shortlist.

FAQs

Why isn't ESF on this list?

The English Schools Foundation runs 22 government-subsidised schools and is the largest English-medium provider in Hong Kong. Its flagships sit at IB DP averages comparable to the private market (West Island 37.6, Sha Tin College 37.2) on roughly a third of the fees. They are ranked in the best IB schools brief. Including them in a private-sector ranking would either swamp the private list or distort the ESF picture. They sit separately for that reason.

What about Malvern, Shrewsbury, Wycombe Abbey, and NLCS?

Malvern College Hong Kong published a 2024 IB DP average of 44 from a small graduating cohort, the highest figure in the city. The cohort size makes it not directly comparable to mature schools graduating 100+ students a year; the result still counts. It is covered in the IB brief. Shrewsbury is primary-only at present and so does not fit a through-school ranking. Wycombe Abbey Senior opened August 2025; the first A-Level cohort is in progress. NLCS Hong Kong opens in 2026. The newer schools join the next refresh once results land.

How much does a debenture cost?

A debenture is a refundable capital sum the family lends to the school in return for a priority place. Common ranges in Hong Kong run HKD 250,000 to HKD 1.5 million, with HKIS at HKD 3 million and entry-level corporate debentures starting around HKD 120,000 at FIS. The headline cost is the interest the family forgoes on the deposit while it sits with the school (typically the length of the child's enrolment), not the deposit itself. Capital levies (HKD 25,000 to 60,000 per year) are non-refundable charges that have started replacing debentures at several schools, including Kellett.

Can my child start mid-year at one of these schools?

Possibly, depending on the school and the year group. HKIS, CIS, and Kellett rarely have mid-year openings at popular year groups; their wait pools and lateral-entry queues are long. Harrow, Nord Anglia, Singapore International, and CDNIS are more likely to have mid-year availability, particularly in upper-primary and lower-secondary year groups. Asking costs nothing.

Which of these schools has the strongest university placement record?

HKIS for US universities (long-standing matriculation into selective colleges), CIS and ISF Academy for top-100 world university placement (94% at ISF in 2025), and Kellett and Harrow for UK Russell Group routes. Singapore International and CDNIS place across both US and UK at competitive rates. Li Po Chun UWC sends graduates globally; the residential intake and selection model produce a different placement profile from the rest.

Sources: school websites and published examination results 2023 to 2025; Hong Kong Education Bureau (edb.gov.hk); English Schools Foundation (esf.edu.hk); IB Organisation statistical bulletins; UK Department for Education BSO inspection reports; Council of International Schools and WASC accreditation registers; COBIS member directory; school admissions and fee schedules 2025/26 and 2026/27.