Harrow International School

cutetots

Registered User
Hi,

We heard that Harrow International School is opening up in Hong Kong next year. Has anyone had experience with them from other countries? Is it a school that you would sought after for a good British education?

Thanks!
 
Not sure about other international countries, but Harrow in the UK is debatably the top school in the UK (depending on who you ask - that or Eton). They say they have close ties with the UK school, so I would assume that they would have to have very high standards.

Not sure if they will have fagging though (google it if you have no idea about British public schools...)!
 
Just know that for the Early Years program, you apparently have to buy a $3M debenture. That seemed steep to me for an untested school, regardless of the brand name. I think the best way to figure out how successful this remote campus would be would be to look at their other Asia campuses that have a longer history and check out the university placements or get a sense from those parents on how closely tied it is with the original campus - I think it's Beijing and Bangkok, but you can double check.
 
Heard the first lot of certificates/debentures were snapped up fairly quickly.

Only the secondary school is boarding. I had to google fagging, figured you weren't talking about smoking. I don't think our Asian raised kids will be able to do this. They're all used to having helpers :)
 
Their icc doesn't work the same way as the other schools as we are familiar with. For early years, it doesnt give you priority to entry, but priority to interview. And each child who is admitted needs to pay hkd3mm like ssheng described before.

I will be hesitant to send my child to a school only filled with children whose parents can pay 3mm to have them there.
 
I'm with Obiwan. Even if I won the Mark 6 tomorrow (I wish!) I wouldn't want my kid surrounded entirely by very spoiled rich children.
I went to a free government school, and a good but not-expensive university, and I turned out just fine!

I was talking to a mommy recently with older kids.
Her son got a full scholarship to an elite school in HK that they would otherwise not be able to afford.
After a week, he said he wanted to quit. The kids were all snobs, they weren't even "that smart in class," they all had tutors to do their homework for them, he felt left out, all the extracurriculars were too expensive, etc.
It broke the mother's heart -- since what working class family doesn't dream of sending their kid to a top school?
But he was so miserable that they pulled him out. He was happier at a mid-range school, and is now at a good university.
 
To me, it's not so much about the money we have to pay (we are fortunate to be able to afford) but the 'value' of such a policy. Every intl school has some sort of expensive debenture scheme that gives some students priority, but in the bigger scheme of the school population, these are still a minority. Most students get in through their own merit (rich or otherwise) and all have to first pass the admission test (debenture or not). The requirement Harrow put in place FIRST screens you out by whether you can pay the 3mm before your child is granted an interview. I find that disagreeable. Maybe it's just me?!
 
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