Updated May 2026 · 5 min read
Hong Kong has seven British curriculum schools in the British Schools Asia index, one of the deepest markets in the region, sitting alongside the English Schools Foundation (ESF) system and a long tail of international schools running other curricula. Top-year fees in our index range from approximately USD 25,200 to USD 34,300, with debentures at several schools adding a significant one-off cost.
Harrow International School Hong Kong leads the city ranking and is #3 in Asia. Opened in 2012 in So Kwun Wat, Tuen Mun, Harrow Hong Kong is the only school in the city in our index offering boarding. Around 1,300 students are enrolled. The pathway is the English National Curriculum through IGCSE to A Levels.
Kellett School sits second in the city (#4 in Asia). A not-for-profit British school founded in 1976 by parents seeking British-style education, Kellett enrols around 1,550 students across campuses in Pok Fu Lam and Kowloon Bay. The pathway is a clean ENC through GCSE/IGCSE to A Levels, one of the purer British routes in the city. The school holds BSO Outstanding accreditation across all categories.
Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong ranks third in the city (#9 in Asia). Opened in 2014 across campuses in Lam Tin, Kwun Tong and Sai Kung, NAIS Hong Kong runs ENC + IGCSE with both A Level and IB Diploma routes in Sixth Form. As part of the Nord Anglia network, students access global collaborations with MIT and Juilliard.
German Swiss International School, fourth in the city, opened in 1969 and runs two parallel streams under one roof: an English Stream following ENC + IGCSE + IB Diploma, and a German Stream culminating in the German International Abitur. The main campus sits on The Peak with a separate Kindergarten in Pok Fu Lam.
Wycombe Abbey School Hong Kong, fifth, opened in 2019 in Aberdeen as one of Hong Kong's few all-girls British curriculum schools. It integrates Chinese language and cultural elements alongside the English curriculum and routes students towards A Levels.
Yew Chung International School of Hong Kong, founded in 1932, is one of Hong Kong's oldest international schools, with approximately 2,200 students across three campuses in Kowloon Tong. The school's distinctive feature is its bilingual co-teacher model, pairing Western and Chinese educators in the same classroom from the earliest years. ENC runs through Year 11, then the IB Diploma in Sixth Form. Discovery Bay International School on Lantau Island serves the Discovery Bay residential community and rounds out the index at the most accessible end of the fee range.
Fees and debentures
Top-year fees in our index range from approximately USD 25,200 (Discovery Bay) to USD 34,300 (YCIS), with Kellett and Harrow at the upper end. Hong Kong sits below the very top of Asia's premium tier, Shanghai's Dulwich and Wellington campuses now charge USD 56,000–58,000, but remains comparable to Singapore.
The critical difference in Hong Kong is debentures. Several schools require or offer debentures, one-off payments ranging from HKD 500,000 to several million. They may provide priority admission, be refundable on departure, or confer nomination rights for future students. Not all schools require them, and terms vary. Clarify the debenture position before committing.
What parents should know
Geography matters. Schools sit across Hong Kong Island (Kellett's Pok Fu Lam, German Swiss's Peak, Wycombe's Aberdeen), Kowloon (YCIS Kowloon Tong, NAIS Lam Tin), the New Territories (Harrow Tuen Mun) and Lantau (DBIS). Compute the daily commute before falling in love with a name.
Post-16 pathway is the second consideration. If you want A Levels in Sixth Form, the index narrows to Harrow, Kellett, Wycombe Abbey, Discovery Bay and (optionally) NAIS. If you want the IB Diploma, YCIS, German Swiss and NAIS run it. Co-ed versus single-sex is a factor for Wycombe Abbey, which is girls-only.
Waitlists are common at the more established schools, particularly for popular year groups. Begin admissions conversations 12 months before any planned move.
For a full breakdown of every school, visit the Hong Kong city page or browse the full rankings.