| Schooling in Beijing |
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Schooling in Beijing One of the trickiest decisions many parents will face in Beijing is finding the right school for their children. There are many options differing considerably in terms of price, language of instruction, methodology, size and amenities and one must find the right balance for their children. On the high end of the spectrum you will find the international schools. These are steeply priced and some can only enroll foreign passport holders (kindergartens are commonly exempt from this rule). This financial burden is particularly heavy for parents who do not earn “expat wages”, but if you ask around some schools, especially the newer ones, will provide scholarships and off the record discounts. So many international schools have opened, expanded, enhanced or transformed their offerings over the past few years that choosing among them has become pretty complicated. Trade-offs must be made among location, curriculum, cost, facilities, language of instruction, religious orientation, etc. and as Beijing’s foreign community grows year on year end, the competition to get into the top schools has become quite fierce. As a general rule you want to apply as early as possible (usually 6 months before the school year starts) especially if you are enrolling more than one child. Some schools will require the student to take a ESOL (English as a Second Language) Test if the child requires this and the spaces for ESOL students are limited in some schools. Usually the newer and less popular schools will have smaller student bodies and larger number of ESOL students which may a be a plus or a minus depending on your required needs. Some children may thrive in more of a one-to-one environment, while others will struggle socially. This is particularly a concern with teenagers, since many international schools have extremely small high school classes. And if the child is a native English speaker attending a school with a large number of ESOL students, he/she may be not fully challenged academically.  When choosing a curriculum you will most likely go with one that the children are familiar with from their home country and that will be easy to return to once they go back to their home country. Certain schools follow their home country currcula, but you will find that most offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) which is increasingly popular worldwide. Links Relocations is happy to provide school search options and accompany you to visit several international schools as the best way to experience them is by visiting them personally. The websites of the major schools are:
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