Shekou International School
🇨🇳 Shenzhen · Founded 1988 · IB · Ages 2–18
Shenzhen's oldest international school (founded 1988 by four oil companies), a foreign-passport-only, ISS-governed non-profit running the IB PYP and Diploma across three Shekou campuses — it cannot enrol ordinary mainland Chinese nationals. WASC-accredited, with distinctive French-bilingual and Heritage German tracks.
Curricula
IB
Age range
2–18
Languages of instruction
English, French, German
Annual fees
SGD RMB 182,000–316,000/year (2025–26)
Boarding
No (day school)
IB authorised
PYP, DP
Accreditations
WASC, EARCOS, AAIE, ACAMIS, IB World School
Tier Profile
We only tier dimensions backed by a public inspection verdict or verifiable accreditation. Other dimensions show a data flag — never a guessed score.
BrightKey's Assessment
Shekou International School (深圳市蛇口外籍人员子女学校) is the oldest international school in Shenzhen, founded in 1988 by four oil companies (Amoco, Arco, CACT, Phillips) to serve the expatriate community in the Shekou industrial zone. It is a private, non-profit, co-educational day school governed by International Schools Services (ISS) of Princeton, New Jersey, enrolling more than 1,100 students from 40+ nationalities across three campuses in Nanshan District.
Academically, SIS is an IB-focused American-international school: it runs the IB Primary Years Programme for younger grades and the IB Diploma Programme in high school, alongside a French bilingual programme (since 2009) and a Heritage German programme. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and belongs to EARCOS, AAIE and ACAMIS.
Admission is governed by China's foreign-personnel-school rules: as one of Shenzhen's officially designated 外籍人员子女学校, it can enrol only foreign passport holders, with the usual narrow exceptions for overseas-born PRC, HK/Macau/Taiwan or foreign-PR children. Ordinary mainland Chinese nationals are not eligible.
Directory-published fees for 2025–26 run roughly RMB 182,000–316,000 per year across grade levels. The school does not publish IB score data, so academic-outcome claims cannot be independently verified. China has no graded national inspectorate, so the tier reflects accreditation + curriculum depth — capped at A.
Why These Ratings?
Inspection & AccreditationA — Excellent
China has no graded national inspectorate for foreign-passport international schools. SIS demonstrates quality through WASC accreditation, authorized IB PYP and DP delivery, and 35+ years of operation as the city's founding international school — the ceiling of what is independently assessable in this market. A.
Strengths & Trade-offs
Strengths
- Oldest and most established international school in Shenzhen (founded 1988)
- ISS-governed not-for-profit — revenue reinvested rather than distributed
- IB continuum (PYP + Diploma) under WASC accreditation
- Distinctive French-bilingual and Heritage German tracks
- Diverse community — 1,100+ students from 40+ nationalities
Trade-offs
- Foreign-passport-only — most mainland Chinese families are ineligible
- Premium fees (RMB ~182k–316k/yr)
- No publicly published IB results or pass rates — outcomes cannot be verified
- MYP authorization not confirmed (only PYP and DP verified)
- Three-campus split may mean transitions between sites; no boarding
Is It Right For You?
Best For
- ✓Expat families holding foreign passports relocating to Shekou/Nanshan
- ✓Families wanting an established IB PYP→DP pathway
- ✓Francophone or German-heritage families seeking a bilingual track
- ✓Families prioritising WASC accreditation and US/international university pathways
Not Ideal For
- ✕Mainland Chinese-national families without overseas-birth or waiver status (ineligible)
- ✕Families seeking British IGCSE/A-Level (not offered)
- ✕Families needing boarding
- ✕Budget-conscious families (premium fee tier)
Curriculum
IB Primary Years Programme + IB Diploma Programme, plus a French bilingual programme (since 2009) and a Heritage German programme. MYP and AP not verified — only PYP and DP are confirmed. No British/Cambridge track.
Fees
Directory-published (school-verified) 2025–26: roughly RMB 182,000–316,000/year, ascending by grade band. No official USD figures published.
Admissions
Foreign-passport-only (外籍人员子女学校). Eligibility requires a foreign passport, with narrow exceptions for overseas-born PRC, HK/Macau/Taiwan, or foreign-PR children. Ordinary mainland-Chinese-resident families are not eligible.
Campus Life
Three campuses in Shekou, Nanshan District, split by age band (Jingshan for nursery–K, The Bay for G1–G5, Net Valley for G6–G12). Day school; no boarding.
University Placement
School-reported · not independently verified
No IB score distributions or university-placement data are publicly retrievable; none could be independently verified.
Sources
Every verifiable fact carries a public source — verify it yourself.
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