International Education in Shenzhen
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Known as China’s Silicon Valley, Shenzhen has been growing exponentially since the 1980s. Sitting between Hong Kong and mainland China, tech graduates and global corporate executives alike are drawn to this economic, financial, logistics and research hub by the millions.
Like the rest of China’s megacities, Shenzhen has no shortage of expats and no shortage of international schools. 16 new international schools were due to open in 2020 alone, with many more planned for the coming years.
Despite the steady supply however, international school fees in Shenzhen remain among the highest in the world. If you’re relocating to the city for work with a large multinational company, it’s highly likely that these fees will be covered in your relocation package. If not, let’s just say you may find paying for an international school challenging.
Foreign-owned international schools in Shenzhen are not allowed to admit Chinese students, unless they have recently returned from abroad or unless one parent has a foreign passport. So it’s unlikely that the student body in your chosen international school will have any local students.
However, Chinese-owned public or private schools can admit non-Chinese students, and many have set up international streams to cater for this. While some do teach an international curriculum through English, they are not the same as the ‘traditional’ international schools you may be familiar with.
The facilities, student performance and education standards at Shenzhen’s international schools are excellent. While there may be 1000 or more students in a school, class sizes are not necessarily large at 25 students or less per class. Native English-speaking teachers are commonplace and the majority of schools have extensive extracurricular programs.
The school day in Shenzhen starts at 8am and finishes up at 3pm or 4pm. Most schools offer a bus service to take students to and from the main residential areas in Shenzhen. International schools in the city tend to be located in or close to the popular expat areas like Shejou and Luohu anyway, so your child shouldn’t have a tough commute.
If need be, many of Shenzhen’s international schools cater for children from kindergarten age and up. If your child attends the kindergarten section of an international school, it may be slightly easier to win them a place - or at the very least a place on the waiting list - for the primary and secondary sections of the school.
China is known for its outstanding performance in education. It may have the most expensive international schools in the world, but it also has some of the best. So no matter which international school your child attends in Shenzhen, they’ll be very well prepared for further education in the best universities in the world.
Below, we have compiled the top 10 international schools in Shenzhen according to our users. However, there are another 10 schools to choose from in the city. You can find the best international school for your child by personalising your results. Just fill in your search criteria, and we will calculate a personal score for every international school in Shenzhen based on your requirements.
