Cities / Guangzhou / The British School of Guangzhou
The British School of Guangzhou
The first and most established British international school in Guangzhou, founded in 2005 and acquired by Nord Anglia Education in 2013. Two linked sites in Baiyun District, with the Lakefront Early Years building and the larger South Lake main campus running through to A Level.
In brief
The first and most established British international school in Guangzhou, founded in 2005 and acquired by Nord Anglia Education in 2013. Two linked sites in Baiyun District, with the Lakefront Early Years building and the larger South Lake main campus running through to A-Level.
English National Curriculum, IGCSE and A-Level. Cognia, CIS and BSO accredited. Around 50 nationalities on roll. Maurice Nguyen leads. Reputation among expat families is consistently second only to AISG, with families talking about strong subject teaching, broad music, sport and drama, and a settled community feel.
The Nord Anglia operating model is the practical lever for transferring families: continuity of curriculum and access to the wider network is something parents who have moved between Nord Anglia schools say has actually mattered. Fees sit at the higher end of Guangzhou. Best fit for British-curriculum families committed to the Baiyun side of the city, where the bus run from Tianhe and central neighbourhoods is manageable but not short.
Fees
Annual fees
| Year level | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Toddler (half-day) | 1 | CN¥95,000 |
| Pre-Nursery (full-day) | 2 | CN¥205,000 |
| Nursery (full-day) | 3 | CN¥205,000 |
| Reception | 4 | CN¥220,000 |
| Year 1 | 5 | CN¥245,000 |
| Year 2 | 6 | CN¥248,000 |
| Year 3 | 7 | CN¥257,000 |
| Year 4 | 8 | CN¥257,000 |
| Year 5 | 9 | CN¥257,000 |
| Year 6 | 10 | CN¥257,000 |
| Year 7 | 11 | CN¥275,000 |
| Year 8 | 12 | CN¥275,000 |
| Year 9 | 13 | CN¥275,000 |
| Year 10 (IGCSE Year 1) | 14 | CN¥292,000 |
| Year 11 (IGCSE Year 2) | 15 | CN¥292,000 |
| Year 12 (A-Level Year 1) | 16 | CN¥292,000 |
| Year 13 (A-Level Year 2) | 17 | CN¥292,000 |
One-time fees
| Item | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Application Fee | CN¥2,500 | |
| Enrolment Deposit (refundable) | CN¥20,000 |
Reviews
One of the two big foreign-passport schools in Guangzhou, alongside AISG, and the dominant British option in the city. Part of Nord Anglia, with two campuses: the lakeside South Lake site in Baiyun for primary and secondary, and a smaller early years and primary campus at Olympic Park in Huangpu. Most BSG families live in Tianhe, so the daily commute is part of the package. Results sit well above the UK averages, the facilities are unusually generous for a city school, and the cohort is genuinely mixed across fifty-plus nationalities. A new principal took over at the start of the 2025-26 year, so it is early to read what the next chapter looks like.
Positives
- Academic results. Recent IGCSE and A-Level cohorts have landed well above UK averages, with around 60 percent of IGCSE entries at A*-A and 62 percent of A-Levels at A*-A in 2024, on a 100 percent pass rate.
- Campus and facilities. The South Lake site is a 44,000 square metre lakeside campus with a swimming pool, theatre, multiple science labs, music and dance studios, and full-size sports fields. Class sizes cap at 24 with around 20 the norm.
- Early years provision. Children can start from age one. Specialist teaching for music, drama and Mandarin in primary draws consistent praise from parents in the lower school.
- Community and nationality mix. Genuinely international rather than dominated by a single passport group, with over fifty nationalities and an active parent association that helps new arrivals land in the city.
Considerations
- Commute from Tianhe. Both campuses sit outside the central expat clusters. Families based in Tianhe rely on the school bus network, and the run can be long depending on the compound.
- Fees and add-ons. Among the most expensive options in Guangzhou. Headline tuition runs from roughly RMB 95,000 in the youngest years to around RMB 292,000 at the top of secondary, before application, enrolment, uniform, transport and EAL charges.
- Consistency across classrooms. Most parent accounts describe strong teaching and pastoral care, but the experience is not uniform across year groups. Specific complaints about classroom climate and handling of incidents have surfaced alongside the positive feedback.
- Group ownership. Nord Anglia branding shapes the offer, from the global Juilliard and MIT partnerships to the staffing model. Teacher-side commentary on the operator points to contractual rigidity and pressure on resources across the network.
- New leadership. Kerry Millar stepped up from Head of Secondary to Principal in August 2025, succeeding Tim Richardson, who moved to a sister Nord Anglia school in Hong Kong. Too early to read the direction of travel.
Leadership
Kerry Millar
Mr. Maurice Nguyen is the founder of the British Vietnamese International School in Ho Chi Minh City. With a passion for education, he has dedicated his career to creating a nurturing environment that combines British educational standards with Vietnamese cultural values.
Accreditations
- Cognia 01
- Council of International Schools 02
- British Schools Overseas (DfE) 03
Academic results
- IGCSE A*/A (2024-25) 63%
- IGCSE A*-C (2024-25) 95%
- A-Level A/A* (2024-25) 62%
- A-Level pass rate (2024-25) 100%