Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong: From One Building to Four Campuses

Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong opened its doors in September 2014, setting up in a five-storey former government school building in Lam Tin, Kowloon. The parent company, Nord Anglia Education, had relocated its global headquarters to Hong Kong two years earlier to capitalise on expansion plans across China and Southeast Asia, and the Lam Tin campus was the group's first Hong Kong school of its own. Demand was immediate: as the school's Wikipedia entry notes, by March 2014, before a single class had been taught, more than 500 students had already applied and over 1,000 people had put in for teaching positions.

Early Growth and Campus Expansion

The school moved quickly beyond its founding site. In 2015, a dedicated Early Years campus opened in Sai Kung, in the New Territories, freeing up Lam Tin to focus on Primary and Secondary students. By the 2017 academic year the Sai Kung site had been joined by a second early years campus in Tai Tam, extending the school's geographical reach across the island side of Hong Kong.

The Lam Tin campus itself was enlarged over the same period. Renovations added a second five-storey building, six additional classrooms, a new science laboratory, and a fifth-floor open sports pitch, transforming what had been an empty government block into a purpose-built primary school.

A proposed second campus in Aberdeen's Tin Wan Shopping Centre was announced in 2017 but shelved after local politicians raised objections, a dispute that drew national press coverage at the time. The school pivoted instead to Kwun Tong. In 2021 it announced a standalone Secondary campus at 19 Yuet Wah Street, Kwun Tong, occupying the former premises of Delia School of Canada (East Kowloon). The campus opened for the 2021–22 academic year, giving secondary students a dedicated building while freeing Lam Tin entirely for Primary.

Curriculum and Accreditation

Across all age groups, NAIS Hong Kong follows a sequential British-international pathway. Nursery and Reception children work within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). Primary pupils progress through Key Stages 1 and 2 of the English National Curriculum. At secondary level, Years 7 to 9 continue on the National Curriculum before students move into IGCSE in Years 10 and 11. Post-16, the school has offered the IB Diploma Programme since its first cohort graduated in 2021, when students achieved an average score of 36.3 against a global average of 30.5, with a 100 percent diploma pass rate. One founding student, Toby, scored 43 points, the school's highest mark to that point. By 2025, the average IB score had settled at 35.7, still well above the worldwide mean. In 2022 and 2023, every graduating student received an offer from their first-choice university.

The school holds accreditation from British Schools Overseas (BSO), the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), the Council of International Schools (CIS), the Federation of British International Schools in Asia (FOBISIA), and is an authorised IB World School. An Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) inspection in March 2017, just three years after opening, awarded the school the top grade of Excellent, noting strong numeracy, creativity in the arts, and students' broad exposure to STEAM subjects.

A distinctive feature of the Nord Anglia model is its institutional partnerships. Students at NAIS Hong Kong access an MIT-designed programme of project-based STEAM challenges, covering topics from climate resilience to space science. A separate performing arts curriculum, developed jointly with The Juilliard School in New York, runs from Year 1 upwards; compulsory keyboard lessons begin at primary level, drawing on a Juilliard-curated repertoire. The school also collaborates with UNICEF on global citizenship projects. These partnerships sit within Nord Anglia's broader Global Campus platform, which connects students across the group's network of more than 80 schools in over 30 countries.

Present Day

Today the school has around 1,500 students drawn from more than 40 nationalities, spanning ages three to eighteen across three operational campuses: the Early Years site at Sai Kung (285 Hong Kin Road), the Primary campus at Lam Tin (11 On Tin Street), and the Secondary campus at Kwun Tong (19 Yuet Wah Street). Tim Richardson has served as Principal since at least 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio stands at 11:1, and every teacher holds UK Qualified Teacher Status or an internationally recognised equivalent.

A fourth site is on the way. In November 2025 the school announced a Sixth Form Centre at 11 Wan Hoi Street, Hung Hom, scheduled to open in August 2026. The new centre will add A Levels alongside the existing IB Diploma, giving post-16 students a dual-pathway choice for the first time. Designed as a university-style environment, it sits roughly fifteen minutes from the Kwun Tong secondary campus and is accessible from across Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. A Sixth Form Scholarship Programme, open to both current and incoming students, will launch alongside it.

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