Hong Kong
Shanghai's Celebrated Bilingual School Brings Its Model to Hong Kong
YK Pao School, ranked China's top bilingual institution for six consecutive years, opens its first Hong Kong campus this September, pitching itself squarely at families seeking genuine Putonghua-English immersion.
One of mainland China's most admired school brands is about to make its Hong Kong debut. YK Pao School Hong Kong, backed by the not-for-profit YK Pao Education Foundation, according to The Standard, will open in September 2026 with plans to enrol at least 100 students across Years 1 to 3 at a temporary campus in Kowloon East, before relocating to a permanent site on Rose Street, Kowloon Tong, when a new teaching building is completed in 2028.
The school is modelled on its Shanghai parent, which has topped bilingual school rankings published by the Hurun Report and Forbes China for six years running. Its defining feature is an immersive Putonghua-English programme in which both languages are used as the medium of instruction across all core subjects, not simply taught as separate classes. The Hong Kong campus plans to operate as an IB Primary Years Programme candidate school, with enhanced Putonghua and mathematics courses woven through the curriculum.
Who it is targeting
The school's chief executive, Wayne Zhang, has been candid about demand signals. Recruitment events held in Shanghai and Shenzhen drew strong interest from mainland parents, including families who have obtained Hong Kong residency permits and are now exploring schooling options in the city. Annual tuition for 2026 to 2027 is set at HK$220,000 for Years 1 to 3, payable in ten instalments, pending Education Bureau approval. A capital levy of HK$50,000 is waived during the Kowloon East phase.
As an international school, the Rose Street campus will be required to ensure at least 70 percent of its students hold non-local passports. Mainland Chinese passports currently count toward that quota, giving the school flexibility in its initial admissions cycle while it works toward a more geographically diverse cohort over time.
The leadership and the longer arc
Cathy Braithwaite, who brings more than 27 years of experience in British independent education and was most recently head of Gresham's Prep School, has been appointed founding head. The school expects to hire 16 to 18 teachers for its inaugural year, aiming for a student-to-teacher ratio of around 1:8. Future pathways for graduating students include the IB Middle Years Programme, onward progression through other Hong Kong schools, or entry into YK Pao Shanghai's boarding programme for senior years.
For Hong Kong's international school market, the arrival of YK Pao adds a genuinely different proposition: a non-profit institution with a proven Shanghai track record, a bicultural rather than purely anglophone identity, and fee levels that sit below the city's top-tier British operators. Whether families from the expatriate community, as well as the newly arrived mainland contingent, embrace that offer will become clear when the school opens its doors in three months.