Jakarta · History
The Independent School of Jakarta, built from scratch since 2021
Founded in September 2021 in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, ISJ is the newest school in The Schools Trust's network of sixteen British international schools across eleven countries.
The Independent School of Jakarta opened its doors in September 2021 on a purpose-built campus in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta. It was established by The Schools Trust, a UK-registered charity (number 1176052) that has been founding British international schools since 2004. ISJ was the sixteenth school in that network, which spans eleven countries from Beijing to Brasilia.
Origins
The model was set out plainly from the start: a UK-style independent school built from the ground up, beginning small and growing year by year to mirror the 2–18 structure of leading British independents. The school opened admitting children from Nursery through Year 4, with the intention of adding a year group annually until it reached Sixth Form.
Emma Webb was appointed as Founding Head. She had previously served as Headmistress of Queen's College Preparatory School, an historic independent school in central London, and brought that experience directly to Jakarta. Every teacher hired at opening held full UK Qualified Teacher Status. Class sizes were capped at fifteen in Early Years and twenty from Year 1, with a staff-to-pupil ratio of 1:9.
The Schools Trust
The governance structure matters to understanding what ISJ is. The Schools Trust was incorporated as a UK charity and began founding schools in 2004. Its trustees have built and run schools in China, Russia, Malaysia, Spain, Brazil, Lithuania, Portugal, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, and the Philippines, among others. According to a July 2026 press release reported by the National Law Review, every school the Trust's trustees have operated has been rated Excellent in all categories of UK government-accredited ISI inspection, and across the network 65 to 81 percent of GCSE and IGCSE grades are awarded at A* or A, against a UK national average of around 22 percent. ISJ was formally listed in the Trust's school register from 2022.
Campus and Growth
The campus sits on Jalan R.A. Kartini in the Pondok Indah district of South Jakarta. It includes a football pitch, an on-site swimming pool, and purpose-built classrooms in a leafy setting. The school runs a single class per year group, a deliberate choice to keep the community small and every pupil individually known.
By 2026 the roll stood at around 180 pupils. In July 2026, the school announced it would extend all the way through to A-Levels, giving families an unbroken British education from age 2 to 18 on a single site. The first cohort to go the full distance were pupils then in Year 7. Emma Webb had by that point moved on to serve as Founding Headmistress of Uppingham Cairo. Leadership of ISJ passed to Eileen Fisher, Academic Director and Head of School, who previously led the junior school at Ipswich High School (GDST) and served as founding head of Craigclowan School in Xi'an.
Curriculum and Identity
ISJ follows the English National Curriculum from Early Years through to A-Levels, structured as EYFS, Pre-Prep, Prep, Senior School (IGCSEs), and Sixth Form (A-Levels). Cambridge qualifications are used at secondary level. The school operates within the British Schools Overseas framework and is subject to periodic inspection by UK-qualified inspectors from ISI or Penta International.
Bahasa Indonesia is taught at every stage, and Indonesian language, history, and culture are embedded in the curriculum. Other languages on offer include Mandarin, Spanish, and French. Specialist music teaching begins in the first week of school, and peripatetic instrumental lessons are available throughout. The co-curricular programme runs more than thirty clubs per term, organised across four strands: Active, Creative, STEM and Strategy, and Communication and Culture.
Year 7 pupils at ISJ have recorded SAS standardised assessment scores placing them in the top ten percent of international schools worldwide. The curriculum guide, maintained by Eileen Fisher and reviewed annually, is benchmarked against standards expected by BSO and ISI inspectors.