Hong Kong · History
From Two Classrooms in Wan Chai to Three Campuses in Fifty Years
Kellett School began with a parent's letter to the South China Morning Post and 44 children in Wan Chai. Half a century on, it is Hong Kong's pre-eminent British international school.
In September 1976, a parent named Joanne Elliott could not find a school place for her daughter. Her response was to write a letter to the editor of the South China Morning Post. That letter drew a gathering of like-minded families, and within weeks a small school had opened in two rented classrooms in Wan Chai with 44 children on roll. Fifty years later that school educates nearly 1,550 students across two campuses, with a third opening in August 2026.
Origins
The school was founded in 1976, the Chinese Year of the Fire Dragon, as a not-for-profit association, owned and governed by its parent body. The founders wanted a British-style education strong in arts and sport, and they wanted no external proprietor between them and the school. That ownership structure has never changed.
The name came from the landscape. Irish Royal Navy Captain Sir Henry Kellett gave his name to Kellett Island, Kellett Bay and Mount Kellett, all features of Hong Kong Island's south side. When the school eventually settled near that coastline, the name fitted the address.
Vivienne Steer was the founding Principal. By 1977 the roll had tripled to 122 students and the school had already moved once, to leased premises in Tai Koo Shing. In 1980 it moved again, this time for good, into a purpose-built facility in Wah Fu in Hong Kong's Southern District, overlooking Kellett Bay. That campus remains open today as Kellett School Pok Fu Lam.
Growth
Vivienne Steer led the school for two decades. She retired in 1996 and Ann McDonald succeeded her as Principal. Under McDonald, Kellett grew from a single prep school into an all-through institution with more than 1,300 students across two campuses. In 2005, a shortage of senior school places in Hong Kong prompted the board to extend the Pok Fu Lam school up to age thirteen. Two years later, in August 2007, the school completed a sixth phase of development at Pok Fu Lam, expanding its facilities significantly. McDonald was awarded an OBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours list in 2019 for her contribution to education in Hong Kong, and the Ann McDonald Fund for bursaries was subsequently established in her name.
The senior school, launched at Pok Fu Lam in 2007, moved through a temporary home in Shau Kei Wan before taking up its permanent site at Kowloon Bay, across the harbour on the Kowloon peninsula, according to the South China Morning Post. The Kowloon Bay campus, which also houses a second preparatory school, opened in 2013. Its two buildings on Lam Hing Street serve students from Reception through to Year 13.
Mark Steed joined as Principal and CEO in July 2019. During his tenure the school achieved its 2023 BSO inspection result and its COBIS Patron's Accreditation. He left for the UK in 2023. Diana Vernon served as interim Principal and CEO from August 2023, before Paul Tough, formerly Principal of The British School in Tokyo, arrived in April 2024 as the school's fourth full-time Principal.
Curriculum and Identity
Kellett follows the English National Curriculum from Reception through to Sixth Form, adapting it for a Hong Kong context. The Early Years Foundation Stage applies in Reception, Mandarin is taught from Reception to Year 9, and the senior school offers IGCSE and A Level qualifications. Kellett is one of the few schools in Hong Kong to offer A Levels, with 21 subjects available at that stage.
The school's accreditation record is substantial. Both preparatory schools joined the Independent Association of Prep Schools (IAPS) in 2018, the first schools in Hong Kong to do so. The senior school joined the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC) in 2019. In late 2021, Kellett was awarded Patron's Accredited Member status by the Council of British International Schools (COBIS), the highest status the body confers, and the first awarded to a school in Hong Kong. Kellett is also a founding member of FOBISIA, the Federation of British International Schools in Asia. The most recent British Schools Overseas inspection, conducted in February 2023 by the Education Development Trust and quality-assured by Ofsted, rated the school outstanding in every category.
Exam results have been strong. At IGCSE in 2025, 67 percent of grades were A* (9/8) and 95 percent A* to B (9 to 6). At A Level, 92 percent of the 2025 cohort were accepted into their first-choice university.
Present Day
Kellett enters its 50th anniversary year with close to 1,550 students across its two main campuses. The Pok Fu Lam campus, at the foot of Mount Kellett with its Mountain Wing and Ocean Wing, serves as a preparatory school for ages four to eleven. The Kowloon Bay campus houses a second preparatory school and the senior school for students up to Year 13. A dedicated Sixth Form Centre, with capacity for 240 students, is opening in August 2026 on Kai Cheung Road, connected by footbridge to the Kowloon Bay campus. The school describes it as its third campus and the next stage of what it calls Vision 2035.
Paul Tough, Principal and CEO since April 2024, leads the school. The board remains elected from the parent body, governing by rotation, as it has since 1976. The school is still not-for-profit, still parent-owned, and still draws applications from birth for its preparatory places.