Harrow Shanghai: the fourth Harrow campus, planted in Pudong in 2016

Harrow International School Shanghai opened its doors in August 2016 on a purpose-built campus at No. 588 Gaoxi Road, in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone of Pudong. It was the fourth school in Asia to carry the Harrow name, arriving eighteen years after Harrow Bangkok became the first in 1998, and following Harrow Beijing (2005) and Harrow Hong Kong (2012).

Origins

The school is owned and operated by Asia International School Limited (AISL), a Hong Kong-based education group whose founding partner Daniel Chiu established the Harrow international network from Bangkok in 1998. AISL holds a licence from Harrow International Schools Limited, a subsidiary of the charitable corporation that owns Harrow School in London, permitting use of the Harrow name and arms under board-level oversight. The original Harrow School was founded in 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I, and counts Winston Churchill and Lord Byron among its alumni.

Chiu cited Shanghai's role as a junction of eastern and western culture as the reason for the city's selection. The school formally opened on 7 June 2018, according to Pudong government records, marking its public ceremonial launch after two years of operation. It began recruiting students from pre-nursery to Year 10 in 2016, and opened admissions to Year 12 for A Level study a year later.

Campus and Structure

The campus sits in the northern part of Pudong, accessible by road and rail from both Pudong and Puxi. The school is co-educational and takes pupils from 18 months to 18 years, organised into Early Years, Pre-Prep, Prep, Senior and Sixth Form phases. Every pupil is placed in one of four Houses: Byron, Churchill, Rothschild and Shaftesbury. The House system, mirroring Harrow School in London, sits at the centre of pastoral care and leadership development across all year groups.

Curriculum and Identity

Teaching is based on the Early Years Foundation Stage framework and the English National Curriculum, leading to IGCSEs in Years 10 and 11 and A Levels in the Sixth Form. Chinese studies, for both native and second-language speakers, run alongside the main academic programme, incorporating Putonghua, cultural education, visits to historic sites and charitable service.

In January 2025, at a Seal Conferment Ceremony marking the school's connection to Harrow's heritage, Harrow Shanghai announced the launch of Advanced Placement courses, becoming, according to AISL, the first international school in Shanghai to operate a combined British-American curriculum model. The programme pairs IGCSE and A Level study with AP courses and SAT preparation, targeting students who wish to apply to universities in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The first AP examination cohort sat in May 2026. Harrow Shanghai was the first school within the AISL Harrow network to introduce AP.

In April 2024, the Independent Schools Inspectorate carried out the school's first British Schools Overseas inspection. The school met all BSO Standards, with any exceptions arising solely from the requirements of Chinese host-country legislation. Harrow Beijing and Harrow Shanghai are the only schools in the AISL network in China to hold BSO accreditation from the UK Department for Education.

Results and Present Day

A Level results have been strong since the first cohorts. International A Levels in 2023 returned around 71% A* to A grades; the school's five-year average sits at approximately 67%, and recent leaver cohorts have collected double-figure Oxbridge and Ivy League offers.

The school currently enrols around 800 pupils. Alexander B. Reed serves as Headmaster. The school is listed on the UK Department for Education's BSO register under URN 151238. Within the wider AISL Harrow network, which by 2025 spanned schools in Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Haikou, Shanghai remains the group's mainland China flagship.

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