YK Pao School ranked top international school on Chinese mainland

Shanghai has 26 international schools on a ranking list released on Thursday by Hurun Education, ahead of any other city on the Chinese mainland.

The list, the first of its kind, includes 100 schools located in 23 cites on the Chinese mainland, and Shanghai-based YK Pao School is ranked No. 1, followed by the International School of Beijing and Dulwich College Beijing.

Shanghai has five schools in the top 10. The other four are Shanghai High School International Division, Shanghai American School, Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School and Wellington College International Shanghai.

Shanghai and Beijing account for 47 schools — nearly half of the list. Next comes Guangzhou with 11, Shenzhen 8 and Suzhou 5.

The average time the schools have been operating is 10 years. The youngest school on the list is Wycombe Abbey International School in Changzhou City of Jiangsu Province, established in 2016.

The oldest is Shanghai American School, set up originally in 1912, and then reopened in 1980 after a 30-year break.

The average annual tuition in these schools is about US$20,000, rising to US$45,000 for Shanghai and Beijing.

The ranking was produced by the education platform of Hurun Report based on a survey that asked 110 international education experts in China to recommend schools.

The schools are ranked on an index of 1 to 100 and the school with the most votes receives the maximum index ranking of 100.

“This ranking is targeted at parents with children in China and admission officers of universities from around the world,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher.