Jakarta · History
From Embassy schoolroom to 45-acre campus in five decades
British School Jakarta began as a small British Embassy-backed school in 1973. It has since grown into one of Southeast Asia's largest British international schools, with 1,400 students on a purpose-built campus in Bintaro.
Origins
British School Jakarta traces its founding to 1973, when it was established under the auspices of the British Embassy to educate internationally mobile families living in the Indonesian capital. Within two years, a parent committee had identified the need for larger, purpose-built premises. In 1975 the committee approached a group of British businessmen to fund an expanded facility in Permata Hijau, a residential area in South Jakarta. The following year, in compliance with Indonesian law, the school was formally constituted as a Yayasan, or foundation, giving it an independent legal identity separate from the Embassy. In the early 1980s the school was renamed The British International School, a change made under the authority of Queen Elizabeth II.
Royal visits and the relocation
The Permata Hijau years attracted royal attention. On 6 November 1989, Diana, Princess of Wales, visited the school during an official tour of Indonesia with Prince Charles. By 1990, pressure on places had become acute. Market research and feasibility studies concluded that the school needed an entirely new site capable of accommodating a larger intake and a wider age range. That project, which the school called the Relocation, reached its conclusion in the 1993-94 school year, when the Permata Hijau site closed and the school moved to a purpose-built campus on a 13-hectare site in Bintaro, southwest of Jakarta. Prince Edward officially opened the new campus in March 1994.
Growth at Bintaro
The Bintaro campus continued to grow through a series of phased developments. Campus Phase Two, launched in 1997, added a cafeteria and an art and technology block to the secondary school. In 1999, responding to demand for early years places, the school opened a satellite Early Years Education Centre in Pondok Indah. A new performing arts centre, the BIS World Theatre, opened in February 2007 and was officially inaugurated by Prince Andrew in March 2008. By 2009 the secondary library building was complete and an extension to the IB Centre followed in December of that year. The Early Years Centre was comprehensively refurbished and reopened on the main site in 2012.
Name change and continuing development
In 2014 the school dropped "International" from its name, becoming British School Jakarta, to comply with new Indonesian regulations restricting that word in the names of foreign-operated schools. The substance of the institution did not change; only the signage did. A new sports hall was begun in 2015 as part of an East Campus development and came into use from mid-2017. From 2019, classrooms across the school began to be remodelled to reflect a shift in pedagogy toward inquiry-based, active learning. In 2023 the school appointed a dedicated Head of Wellbeing to its senior leadership team. The Arena, an all-weather venue for sport, performances, and community events, was completed in 2025. The school's website currently lists the position of Interim Principal, following the long tenure of Principal David Butcher, who led BSJ through the adoption of the IB Middle Years Programme and a series of institutional partnerships.
Curriculum and identity
BSJ runs a sequential curriculum from age two to eighteen. Kindergarten follows the UK Early Years Foundation Stage. Years 1 to 6 blend the English National Curriculum for maths and English with an inquiry-based framework across foundation subjects. From Year 7, students enter the IB Middle Years Programme, which runs through to Year 11 alongside IGCSE examinations. Years 12 and 13 lead to the IB Diploma Programme. The school is a founding member of FOBISIA and holds memberships in CIS, COBIS, WASC, and HMC. In July 2023, a joint CIS, IB, and WASC team reaccredited the school for a further five years, extending the accreditation to 2028, with commendations for wellbeing provision and the quality of learning and teaching. BSJ received national accreditation from Indonesia's Ministry of Education in 2019. It holds Apple Distinguished School status, and has a formal partnership with Manchester City Football Club for football coaching. In 2015, according to Wikipedia's sourced entry on the school, BSJ was named TES British International School of the Year.
Present day
The school now enrols 1,400 students from more than 50 nationalities, aged two to eighteen, across the 45-acre Bintaro campus. The site includes a 750-seat theatre, an Olympic-sized swimming pool, five full-sized football fields, twelve badminton courts, three basketball courts, five semi-indoor tennis courts, a gym, a dance studio, a rock climbing wall, and the newly completed Arena. In 2025, every BSJ graduate secured a place at their first or second choice university. The school is non-profit and non-franchise, a status it describes as central to its educational independence.