Finding a place at a good international school in Hong Kong is incredibly challenging. We are here to help you find the best place for your child. Like our boarding school and university counseling, our international school application services are tailor-made for every student. We will help you understand the different qualities of schools, their admissions requirements and materials needed. We provide comprehensive guidance, suggestions and information for both students and parents.
International School Application involves 4 important steps:
Early bird gets the international school placement! If you are applying from overseas, our advice is to apply to numerous schools before arriving in Hong Kong as waitlists are considerably long.
Preparation is the key to a complete application. Please remember to bring your child’s birth certificate, passport, Hong Kong visa, Hong Kong Identity Card, transcripts and resume.
All applicants are required to attend their interviews in person as virtual interviews (for example, via Skype) are very rare. The interview can make or break your application and a confident student stands head and shoulders above the competition. Placement tests look at a student’s proficiency in core subjects English and Mathematics, as well as a second language such as Mandarin to ascertain academic abilities.
You are required to respond to an offer within one to two weeks once an offer is extended. Once you have accepted an offer there is a non-refundable debenture and deposit or first month tuition fee within one week of acceptance.
Depending on the school and the system, figuring out which grade or year a child should be attending in Hong Kong can be complicated. Here is a guide to help you decide what year or grade your child fits in to depending on his or her age. Here is a general guide to help take the guesswork out of how the different school systems compare in Hong Kong as opposed to other countries.
Most schools require interviews and assessments for entry at all levels, including kindergarten. The content and structure of interviews and assessments vary between different schools and year levels. The table below illustrates some core traits that are similar among most schools. Most schools expect students to have English fluency for entry in all grades (ages 4 and up) if the primary language of instruction is English, although some schools have a higher threshold than others.
Every child is unique and our philosophy is to help every student find their strengths and encourage them to be confident in their gifts. We meet with a family and determine the best approach for every application. By taking the time to understand a child’s personality, interests, strengths, and goals we can recommend the best strategy.
We believe that it is important to take the time to establish fundamentals such as language ability, presentation skills and reading and writing habits at a young age. Establishing a long-term relationship with every family, our experienced counselors identify and strategically develop training for every student so they are able to express themselves confidently and effectively. Where it is required as part of an application, we will also help you prepare a portfolio in order to most successfully demonstrate your child’s abilities, skills and achievements.
We want to ensure students are well prepared for all aspects of the admissions assessment. Interviews are a critical deciding factor in an application. Foundation comprehensively prepares families with interview training to ensure every child knows what to expect and deliver. Entrance exams are more than a test of abilities in respective subjects, they also demonstrate students’ critical thinking, organization and creativity. We provide entrance exam support to help students know what question types to anticipate on exam day.
Campus visit is an indispensable part of the application. It provides the opportunity for families to experience the school while on-campus interviews also give the schools a first-hand understanding of students.
Mr. Zhang (Parent of Boarding School Applicant), Shenzhen, China
Enrolled School (Entry Year & Grade): Christ School, US (2014 Fall G10 Entry) "Foundation is a very professional education consulting company. What impressed us the most was the earnest, professional and meticulous service provided. The head coach and us were like best friends, and we communicated at least once weekly via texts, phone, WeChat and Skype."
Ms. Yamao (Parent, Boarding School Applicant), Hong Kong
Enrolled School (Entry Year & Grade): Port Regis School, UK (2012 Fall Year 7 entry) Eaglebrook School, US (2015 Fall Grade 8 entry) Peddie School, US (2017 Fall Grade 10 entry) "The campus visits were great. It’s worth going on campus visits with Foundation. They helped a lot in regards to helping manage everyone’s expectations and supported us with answering all our questions when we arrived at each school. Since we didn’t know much about the place we visited, we felt more comfortable accompanied by someone who had been before and knew what to expect. As a family we decided early on to do campus visits, otherwise we would not have been able to decide which school to choose. Paper information and actual experience are quite different. We definitely recommend seeing the schools for yourself."