Mainly due to the loss of government subsidies, tuition fees at ESF international schools are set for significant increases, as reported by the South China Morning Post. The fee increases will be between 5.4 and 27.5 per cent, with the largest increases being for year two students as this is the first cohort for which ESF are not receiving a government subvention.
ESF is the largest provider of international education in Hong Kong.
Commentary by Steve Corry, British Council Hong Kong:
Fees for senior years are HKD122,900 to 129,100, meaning that studying in an ESF school locally is still significantly cheaper than sending students to a UK boarding school. However as fee increases hit senior years in the future the gap will narrow, meaning that potentially some families may look to opt for schools abroad instead. This may be a boon to UK boarding school student recruitment in Hong Kong in the years ahead. If we are to assume that similar levels of increase will apply to senior years in the future, fees would be around HKD165,000 (£16,000) in today's prices. Non-ESF international schools in Hong Kong already charge fees around this level, or higher.