Hong Kong · History
From 44 pupils in Wan Chai to 1,550 across Hong Kong
Kellett School began as a parent-driven experiment in British education in 1976. Fifty years on, it spans two campuses, a dedicated Sixth Form Centre, and an outstanding BSO rating.
The school's origin is a letter to a newspaper. In September 1976, a parent named Joanne Elliott wrote to the South China Morning Post, seeking a school place for her daughter where none was available. The letter drew a gathering of like-minded families, and within weeks a tiny new school opened with 44 children split across two classrooms in Wan Chai.
That first cohort was immediately international. British, American, Australian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Pakistani, Iranian, Norwegian and Swedish families all enrolled in the opening intake. The first principal was Vivienne Steer, who would lead the school for two decades. The founding mission was straightforward: a high-quality, British-style education with genuine weight given to the arts and sport.
By 1977 the school had tripled to 122 students and relocated to leased premises in Tai Koo Shing. The Kellett School Association Limited was established and officially registered with the Hong Kong Education Department as an international kindergarten and primary school. The school had no government backing and no corporate franchisor; it was, and remains, a not-for-profit body owned and governed by the parents whose children attend it.
Pok Fu Lam and a name that fits
In 1980 the school moved to a purpose-built facility in the Southern District of Wah Fu, overlooking Kellett Bay. The coincidence of location and name stuck. The school takes its name from Irish Royal Navy Captain Sir Henry Kellett, commemorated across Hong Kong in Kellett Island, Kellett Bay and Mount Kellett, which rises directly behind the Pok Fu Lam campus. The two main buildings there are called the Mountain Wing and the Ocean Wing accordingly.
Vivienne Steer led the school until her retirement in 1996, when Ann McDonald succeeded her as principal. Growth continued through the 1990s and into the 2000s. In August 2007 the school completed the sixth phase of development at the Pok Fu Lam campus, a major extension and renovation programme that gave the preparatory school facilities uncommon for a school of its size.
Into secondary: Shau Kei Wan and then Kowloon Bay
By 2005 demand for senior school places in Hong Kong was outpacing supply, and the board moved to extend the Pok Fu Lam school to age 13. A senior school was formally established in 2007. Securing a permanent site took longer. In 2009, with the Kowloon Bay development still ahead, the school found a temporary solution: sharing a derelict former school building in Shau Kei Wan with Elsa High School, the secondary arm of Carmel School. The building had been ransacked before Kellett arrived. Under principals Simon Giddings and Ann McDonald it was renovated in 60 days into a working campus with open-air corridors and bright classrooms. Students remained at Shau Kei Wan until 2013.
In August 2009, the Hong Kong Government awarded Kellett a greenfield site in Kowloon Bay, across the harbour from Pok Fu Lam. The purpose-built Kowloon Bay campus opened in September 2013, housing a second preparatory school alongside the senior school. The campus won the International Property Award for Best Public Service Architecture in Hong Kong. Its facilities include a rooftop Sky sports pitch and running track, an indoor AstroTurf pitch, a professional theatre, a music suite with ensemble rooms, a swimming pool with a moveable floor, and six science laboratories.
Kellett became a full through-train school in August 2014, offering education from Reception through to Year 13 for pupils aged 4 to 18.
Curriculum and accreditation
The school follows the English National Curriculum throughout, with pupils in Years 10 and 11 sitting IGCSE and those in Years 12 and 13 taking A Levels. It is one of a small number of schools in Hong Kong to offer A Levels at all, in a market where the International Baccalaureate dominates. Putonghua is taught from Reception; French is offered from Year 3. In 2025, 85 per cent of IGCSE results were grades 7 to 9, and 61 per cent of A Level grades were A* or A. That year, 92 per cent of sixth-formers were accepted by their first-choice or insurance universities.
Kellett is inspected under the British Schools Overseas programme and was rated outstanding in every category in its 2016 BSO inspection report. It is a member of the Federation of British International Schools in Asia and joined the Council of International Schools in 2026. The school is also a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.
Leadership and present day
Paul Tough became principal and CEO in April 2024, the school's fifth full-time head in five decades. He came from The British School in Tokyo and, before that, Discovery Bay International School in Hong Kong. The school currently has around 1,550 pupils across more than 40 nationalities.
At its 50th anniversary in 2026, Kellett announced two capital projects under its Vision 2035 plan. The Pok Fu Lam campus is undergoing a major refurbishment, designed to preserve the site's character while upgrading its learning spaces. Separately, a new Sixth Form Centre opened in August 2026 on Kai Cheung Road, connected to the Kowloon Bay campus by a footbridge. The two-floor, 3,716 square-metre facility at The Bay Hub is designed to hold 240 sixth-form students in a university-style environment. The opening was formally marked by the British Consul General to Hong Kong. A school that started with a letter to a newspaper now operates three sites and plans for a second half-century.