International schools in Hong Kong are defined as institutions offering curricula outside that of the local education system. Currently in Hong Kong, this includes 22 schools operated by the English Schools Foundation (ESF) and 38 private international schools. The government requires that international schools allocate at least 70% of their places to foreign-passport holders (although this rule was relaxed temporarily in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic).

As the plush expat packages of yore have become less common, more foreign families are considering less-expensive local schools for their children. Although local schools’ support for non-Chinese-speaking (NCS) families has a ways to go, it is worth considering — see Local Schools for more information.