Gaining Entry into Chinese International School for Reception

Choosing the right early childhood education for your child is fundamental to their learning in the future, and the Reception class at an international school is always a top pick for parents in Hong Kong.

Chinese International School (CIS) is an international school with a long-standing reputation in Hong Kong. In particular, its bilingual curriculum has been one of the attractive characteristics. Therefore, we are going to take CIS as an example to discuss the preparation for entering into the Reception class at an international school.

Admission

Reception class is equivalent to the K2 class under the Hong Kong education system. Applicants should have reached the age of 4 in general, and parents should submit the application at least one year before the desired date of entry.

In the case of CIS, applications will be accepted up to two years before the entry and their Reception class for the 2023/24 school year are now open for application until 1 October 2022.

Fierce competition

We all know that you have to face fierce competition to get a place in the Reception class at an international school. At CIS, only 96 places are offered each year. More importantly, it is estimated that about 80% of the places will be allocated to priority applicants such as siblings, and the children of debenture holders or alumni.

To stand out from the crowd, it is not only about nurturing children to be all-rounded, doing relevant research will help a lot as well. Let’s look into the admission figures of the CIS Reception class this year.

In the 2021/22 school year, most of the students enrolled in the Reception class at CIS came from dual-language international kindergartens, including:

- Victoria Education Organisation

- The International Montessori School (IMS) (Kindergarten Section)

- ISF Pre-School

- Kingston International Kindergarten

- Little Dalton Kindergarten

- Mulberry House International Kindergarten

- Parkview International Pre-School

- Rightmind Kindergarten

- St. Catherine's International Kindergarten

- Tutor Time International Nursery & Kindergarten

- Woodland Pre-School

CIS takes on a wide variety of students from different pre-schools. Apart from these bilingual kindergartens, some students also came from purely English-speaking environments, such as the kindergarten section of Harrow International School and Canadian International School.

So, where did most of the CIS Reception class students come from this year?

- VEO (18.8%): There are eight nurseries and kindergartens situated throughout Hong Kong, offering multilingual (English, Cantonese and Putonghua) programmes.

- Causeway Bay Victoria Kindergarten (15.6%): Children are nurtured to be bilingual learners with a global vision, and ultimately world citizens in the future to build a better world.

- IMS (Kindergarten Section) (7.5%): The Montessori curriculum with innovation and dual languages fosters the full development and potential of each child.

- ISF Pre-School (6.25%): A unique bilingual immersion education is provided to nurture not only the intellectual, but also emotional and spiritual dimensions of the human experience.

The above-mentioned are the most popular kindergartens for the Reception class at CIS, but this is never the only indicator for a successful admission. If CIS is your choice, do more research and equip your child well from today!

About Chinese International School

CIS creates a dual-language and multicultural learning community for students aged 4 to 18. In the Secondary programme, CIS offers the IB Middle Years Programme (IBMYP) and the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP). In the 2021 IB exam, CIS students achieved a 100% pass rate and an average score of 40.29 points.

Address: 1 Hau Yuen Path, Braemar Hill, North Point

Tuition fees for 2022/23: Pre-school - HK$183,600; Year 1-6 - HK$243,300; Year 7-11 - HK$287,300; Year 12-13 - HK$291,200

Debenture: CIS’s debenture is currently mainly available in the secondary market and prices are affected by various factors. For example, a decrease in the price has been resulted due to the mass exodus in Hong Kong in the past two years. It is estimated that the price of the CIS debenture has decreased from a peak of about HK$15 million to about HK$10 million by January 2022.

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