Nord Anglia's Shanghai Flagship Adds A-Levels to Its Sixth-Form Menu

Families at the British International School Shanghai, Puxi have been told to expect a significant curriculum expansion when the new academic year opens in August. The Nord Anglia Education school, which already offers IGCSEs through Key Stage 4 and the IB Diploma Programme at Sixth Form, will add A-levels as a third post-16 option, according to the school's published curriculum data reviewed by Doris. It is a notable shift for one of Shanghai's largest and most established British-curriculum schools.

BISS Puxi has operated for more than twenty years and serves students from eighteen months to eighteen years across a fee range of RMB 271,600 to RMB 385,090 for 2026 to 2027. The school's core academic pathway has long been English National Curriculum through primary and lower secondary, leading to IGCSEs and then the IB Diploma at Sixth Form. The addition of A-levels means students entering Year 12 this August will be able to choose the qualification that best suits their university destinations, rather than defaulting to the IB.

Why it matters in Shanghai

Shanghai's foreign-passport-only international schools have historically leaned heavily on the IB Diploma as their primary pre-university qualification, partly because it travels well to both UK and US universities. A-level provision has remained the exception rather than the rule. BISS Puxi's move follows a similar expansion by Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong, which announced in late 2025 that it would become the first school in Hong Kong to offer both qualifications simultaneously. The group appears to be rolling out a dual-pathway model across multiple Asian campuses.

For British families in particular, the change removes a longstanding friction point. Parents who want their children to remain on a UK-focused track, or who are considering a return to the United Kingdom at Sixth Form, have tended to view IB-only schools as a potential mismatch. Offering A-levels gives BISS Puxi a wider appeal among the British expatriate community and potentially a competitive advantage at a moment when Shanghai's expatriate population, while recovering, remains smaller than its pre-pandemic peak.

The broader picture

The curriculum addition arrives without any announced fee adjustment for the 2026 to 2027 year, suggesting the school is absorbing the cost of establishing the new programme as an investment in enrolment. Whether demand is sufficient to sustain full A-level teaching groups at a school where the IB has been the established culture for two decades remains to be seen. Operators across Shanghai will be watching closely.