Southern China: New Hot Spot for British Schools

There are 14 new British independent schools opening in China last year in spite of the pandemic, with more than 40 new openings planned for the next few years.

According to a report from an education consultancy company Venture Education, the southern province of Guangdong has seen a rise in education investment as part of the government’s plans for developing the Greater Bay Area. China’s southern coastal provinces, especially Guangdong, are growing regions for British independent school brands. Among those planning to open in the next two years, 47% are in Guangdong and 51% of the companies that are partnered with British independent schools are headquartered in the Greater Bay Area. This flourishing region is now expanding into other southern provinces such as Sichuan, Fujian and Hainan.

However, the company also noted that British independent schools are in a complex position. On the one hand, they find themselves under increasingly tight government regulations, but on the other hand, they experience unprecedented interest from Chinese companies looking for partnerships.

The schools are faced with both challenges and opportunities. International schools in China only able to accept non-Chinese passport holders said they had lost some students because of families relocating. However, hesitancy to send children overseas for their education has also created new demand in cases where the children of Chinese parents hold foreign passports. Those families are very nervous about the children being 10,000 miles away from home. They have either not been able to send their children back to their normal school or have not wanted to because of the very difficult situations in both the UK and the US. As a result, the number of people wanting to send their children to the British schools in China in particular has gone up.

While some smaller schools have struggled to switch to online teaching, which resulted in parents refusing to pay fees, one of the biggest issues faced by schools remains staffing. All international schools have had staff stuck overseas. That has been tough. There are the usual teacher recruitment rounds happening at the moment. British schools may be able to flourish here if these difficulties can be overcome.