Yew Chung International School of Shanghai

Founded in 1993 as the Yew Chung network's first campus in mainland China — and described by the school as the first independent international school in Shanghai formally registered with the Chinese government — YCIS Shanghai has grown to six campuses across Puxi, Pudong and Lingang, serving more than 2,500 students aged 2 to 18 from over 50 countries. As a registered international school, it operates under China's framework for foreign-passport schools: applicant families must provide foreign identification meeting local regulations, which in practice means it is not open to mainland Chinese nationals. Families should confirm exact eligibility with admissions.

The school's defining feature is its bilingual English–Chinese model. In the Early Childhood years, every class is staffed by one native English-speaking and one native Chinese-speaking teacher who work side by side so both languages are valued equally and children move fluidly between them. This is reinforced at the institutional level by a Western–Chinese co-leadership model. For families who want Mandarin to be a true language of instruction rather than a timetabled subject, this is a meaningful differentiator.

Academically, YCIS follows a British-rooted, internationally-oriented pathway. Early years draw on the UK Development Matters / EYFS framework; the secondary school is an accredited Cambridge IGCSE examinations centre; and the school is an IB World School offering the IB Diploma Programme in the final years. The school reports a strong IBDP record, though dated official results were not publicly retrievable at the time of research, so prospective families should request current data directly.

The school is accredited by the Council of International Schools and is a member of EARCOS and ACAMIS, with Cambridge and IB authorization underpinning its qualifications. Because China has no graded national inspectorate for international schools, external assurance caps at accreditation and curriculum depth rather than a government grade. Tuition figures and detailed results were not publicly verifiable during research and should be confirmed with the school. The tier reflects accreditation + curriculum depth — capped at A.