International schools in China, 2026

The China landscape

China is unusual among large international school markets because the local schooling system is, by global standards, both academically demanding and highly selective. The Chinese state schools that lead the country's gaokao rankings are the equal of any selective grammar in the world. For Chinese national children, the public route is the default. For foreign passport-holders, the international system has historically been a parallel track, walled off by law, and that wall has stiffened in recent years rather than crumbled.

The total inventory of international or international-style schools sits at roughly 850, depending on definition. Around 130 of these are pure foreign-passport-only campuses, the kind that families relocating from London or Singapore will recognise. The rest are a mix of bilingual private schools, public school international divisions, and licensee campuses operated under partnership with overseas brands. The lines between these categories matter, because they determine who can enrol, what curriculum is taught, and how the school is inspected.

The geographic concentration is heavy. Beijing and Shanghai together account for around half of foreign-passport enrolments. The Pearl River Delta (Shenzhen, Guangzhou and increasingly Zhuhai) is the second cluster. The Yangtze Delta cities of Suzhou, Hangzhou and Ningbo form the third. Outside these regions, the inventory thins quickly. Chengdu, Wuhan and Tianjin each have respectable choices, but a family with two or three children of differing ages will find the practical roster shorter than they expect.

If you are still in orientation mode, our city guides for Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen give you the neighbourhood and commute view. Read those alongside this country pillar.

Two streams: foreign-passport and bilingual

The single most important fact for any incoming parent is that there are two legally distinct streams of private education in China, and they do not mix. Foreign-passport-only schools are licensed to enrol students whose parents hold passports other than the People's Republic of China. They teach full international curricula in English, follow an international calendar, and are not required to deliver the Chinese national curriculum at all. Bilingual private schools enrol Chinese nationals (the majority) alongside foreign passport-holders, must teach the Chinese national curriculum in compulsory years, and were the subject of the regulatory tightening that began in 2021.

For an expat family, the practical implication is clean. Your default search is the foreign-passport segment. Bilingual options exist, and some are excellent academically, but the cohort will be predominantly Chinese, the medium of instruction may be split, and the calendar will track the Chinese academic year. If you have a Chinese-passport child and a foreign-passport child in the same family (a common scenario for mixed-passport households), the foreign-passport schools cannot enrol the Chinese-passport child, which is the single most common reason expat families with mixed passport status end up at bilingual schools instead.

Beijing: WAB, Dulwich and the diplomatic belt

Beijing is the older of the two big international school markets. The headline names are the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), which has anchored the IB cohort for thirty years, and the International School of Beijing (ISB), which sits on the largest single campus in the city and runs full IB Diploma alongside an American track. Both schools are in the Shunyi area, which has been the default expat residential district since the 1990s and remains the centre of gravity for embassies and senior corporate housing. Dulwich College Beijing, also in Shunyi, has been the standard bearer for British curriculum since 2005, with strong A Level outcomes and a stable faculty profile.

Beyond Shunyi, the British School of Beijing Shunyi (BSB Shunyi) and the British School of Beijing Sanlitun cover the British niche at different scale and price points. Yew Chung International School of Beijing (YCIS Beijing) sits in the Honglingjin Park area and offers a bilingual track within a foreign-passport licensed structure, which appeals to families who want serious Mandarin alongside English-language instruction. Harrow Beijing and Keystone Academy round out the senior list, with Keystone offering perhaps the most distinctive academic identity in the city through its Chinese-English bilingual programme and its unusually selective admissions.

The Beijing market shifted in the late 2010s as the expat headcount fell and several mid-tier campuses contracted. The schools listed above have stable rolls, but the broader market is no longer expanding the way it was a decade ago. Read our piece on China expat enrolment trends for the structural picture.

Shanghai: SAS, Dulwich Pudong, YCIS

Shanghai is the larger of the two big markets and arguably the more competitive academically. The flagship is the Shanghai American School (SAS), which operates two campuses (Puxi and Pudong) and consistently produces an Ivy League and top-30 US university destination list that rivals the strongest American schools in Asia. SAS is structurally American in calendar and accreditation (WASC), and is the natural default for families on US payrolls anticipating return to the US for university.

Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong is the British-curriculum flagship for the city and one of the strongest A Level cohorts in mainland China. The school sits in the Qiantan area and draws heavily from the financial-services population in Pudong. The British International School Shanghai (BISS) Puxi and BISS Pudong cover the wider British market at different price points. Yew Chung International School of Shanghai (YCIS Shanghai) operates two campuses (Puxi and Pudong) with the same bilingual model that distinguishes the network in Beijing.

For IB families, the Shanghai Community International School (SCIS) holds the longest continuous IB record in the city and offers the full PYP, MYP and DP continuum. The Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) is the second IB option at a slightly lower price tier and with smaller cohorts. Concordia International School Shanghai is the strongest American Christian-affiliated option. For Singaporean families, the Singapore International School (Shanghai) maintains the Singapore curriculum and is the natural choice for transferees from MOE schools.

Shenzhen, Suzhou and the second-tier cities

Shenzhen has grown faster than any other Chinese international school market in the past decade, driven by the tech industry's expansion and the cross-border family flows from Hong Kong. The headline foreign-passport options are the QSI International School of Shenzhen, the International School of Nanshan Shenzhen (ISNS), Shekou International School (SIS), and Shen Wai International School (SWIS). The Bay Area's bilingual market is larger and more dynamic than the foreign-passport segment, and several of the bilingual schools draw families who would historically have gone to Hong Kong before the cross-border education arrangements tightened.

Suzhou's international school market is anchored by Dulwich College Suzhou and the Suzhou Singapore International School (SSIS). Suzhou is the natural choice for families based in the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), where many of the multinational manufacturing employers cluster. Fees are 20 to 30 per cent below Shanghai for comparable quality, which is the structural reason many manufacturing-sector families now base in Suzhou rather than Shanghai.

Beyond these three clusters, Hangzhou hosts the Hangzhou International School (HIS), Chengdu hosts the Chengdu International School (CDIS), Tianjin hosts Tianjin International School and Wellington College International Tianjin, and Wuhan hosts the Wuhan Yangtze International School. Each of these markets is small and serves a clearly defined corporate population. Choice is narrower than parents new to China usually expect.

Curricula in practice

Four curricula dominate the foreign-passport segment in China: the IB Diploma, the English National Curriculum leading to IGCSE and A Level, the American curriculum leading to AP and the US high school diploma, and (in a small number of schools) the Australian, Canadian or Singaporean systems. The choice usually flows from your onward plan. If you expect your child to return to the UK for sixth form or university, A Levels are the structurally safest route. If you expect a US route, AP and a strong American school diploma is the default. If you expect to move again before sixth form, or to keep options open across geographies, the IB Diploma is the most portable currency.

One peculiarity in China worth flagging is the practical difficulty of taking external Chinese-language credentials. Foreign-passport-only schools cannot enter students for the Chinese gaokao. If you want your child to be on track for a Chinese university degree, you need to be in either a bilingual private school or a public school international division, and you need to be planning that route from the start of secondary, not the end. Our IB Diploma guide and A Levels guide cover the curriculum mechanics in more detail.

Fees at a glance

Published fees in China are denominated in RMB and are usually quoted as a single annual figure. Unlike some Gulf markets, the published number is closer to the all-in cost, but there is still meaningful loading for transport, lunch, capital levies (where they exist) and after-school activities. The figures below are 2026 to 2027 senior school tuition for the foreign-passport-only flagship in each city, in approximate USD equivalent at current rates.

Add 6 to 10 per cent for transport and lunches. Allow another 3 to 5 per cent for trips, activities and exam fees in senior years. For honest budgeting, multiply the headline tuition by 1.10 to 1.15 to land at the realistic all-in figure. Compare these numbers against other markets using our fee comparison tool.

Admissions reality

The popular notion that international schools in China have become difficult to access in recent years is half right. At the top end, the historically oversubscribed schools (WAB, SAS, Dulwich Shanghai Pudong) still operate waitlists for primary and lower secondary year groups. At the mid-tier, the regulatory tightening of bilingual schools in 2021 reduced expat demand for a few years, and several previously oversubscribed campuses have spaces available now. The market is more two-tier than it has been in a decade.

For the foreign-passport-only flagships, the standard admissions cycle runs October to February for the following August. Applications include school records (typically the past two years), teacher recommendations, and a child interview or assessment in the older years. Assessment intensity rises through secondary and is genuinely selective at Y10 entry. For mid-year arrivals (a common scenario in China given corporate posting cycles), the foreign-passport schools have rolling availability outside the flagship year groups, but you should expect the strongest schools to be full for the popular years.

One particular feature of Chinese international school admissions worth flagging is the documentation requirement. Foreign-passport-only schools are legally required to verify that both parents and the child hold non-Chinese passports. The schools take this requirement seriously because their licence depends on it. Expect to provide notarised passport copies, family books and (in some schools) the parents' work permits.

Regulation since 2021

The 2021 regulatory changes that affected bilingual private schools (the so-called "double reduction" policy and the subsequent licensing changes) did not apply to foreign-passport-only schools. The foreign-passport segment continues to operate under the same rules that have applied since the 1990s. The bilingual segment, however, is a different story. Schools that historically taught foreign curricula in lieu of the Chinese national curriculum to Chinese-passport students in compulsory years (primary and junior secondary) were required to revert to the Chinese national curriculum in those years.

The practical effect for expat families is that bilingual schools became less attractive for families seeking pure international curricula in primary and junior secondary years. Senior years (Y10 to Y12) at bilingual schools remain less constrained, and many bilingual schools continue to offer IGCSE and A Level or IB Diploma in those years. Read our piece on bilingual school regulation in 2026 for the detailed timeline and what it means for incoming families.

Five things to know before you commit

First, passport status is the single most consequential admissions variable in China. Confirm before you start touring schools that every child has a non-Chinese passport (or that you are comfortable with the bilingual route for any child that does not). Second, the housing decision and the school decision are joined. Beijing and Shanghai have distinct school catchments, and the right school can determine your housing decision more than your commute does. Third, the academic intensity at the flagship Chinese schools is high. Children moving from less rigorous systems sometimes struggle, particularly in mathematics. Fourth, the fee structure is simpler than the Gulf markets but still has loading factors that the headline number does not capture. Fifth, the foreign-passport school community in any given city is small and tight. Word of mouth matters, and parental satisfaction is more visible to school leadership than in larger markets.

Related guides

• Beijing city guide
• Shanghai city guide
• Shenzhen city guide