ZHIYUANZHOUFamily Office
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Schooling in Hong Kong

Settle the year, the form and the district first — then talk about schools

A place in Hong Kong does not follow automatically from an application. Government-aided, DSS and private schools each run to their own admissions rhythm; mid-year entry depends on whether that particular form has a vacancy; interviews and written tests clash; and an offer is followed by deposits, debentures, school bus and uniform arrangements. Below, assessment, school selection, filing, preparation, interview and registration are laid out as one dated path — who does what, and what it costs, written down before anything starts.

Five arrangements

Choose by the problem you need solved, not by the school stage

Mid-year entry and the school-selection programme are two different approaches with different fees and different service periods. You choose one or the other — this is the point most often confused.

Mid-year entry, primary and secondary

Government-aided · DSS · private | three tiers covering 5, 7 or 10 schools

One complete application against vacancies in a specific form — assessment, school shortlist, documentation and translation, interview preparation, attendance on the day, and registration after the offer, all handled by the same team.

Stages
Primary and secondary
School types
Government and aided, Direct Subsidy Scheme, private
Schools covered
5, 7 or 10 depending on tier
All tiers include
Baseline assessment (written Chinese, English and maths plus interviews in both languages), a meeting with parents, a dated admissions plan, a written school shortlist, a student profile, collection and filing of application materials, payment of application fees, interview question sets and scheduling, follow-up after interviews, and guidance through registration
What differs by tier
The number of schools, and how much coaching, mock interviewing and interview attendance is included. From the middle tier upward, personal statements and reference letters are drafted and translated, with one-to-one coaching and mock interviews

School-selection programme

No cap on schools or districts · runs through to Form 6

A different model: not priced by the number of schools, but available continuously through the whole school career. There are separate programmes for local and international schools, including help with central allocation and with knocking-on-the-door applications.

Stages
Kindergarten, primary and secondary
Variants
One for local schools, one for international schools
Schools covered
No limit on number or district
Service period
Available throughout the school years, with admissions support continuing to Form 6
Scope
Family planning meeting and a tailored school list; profile drafting and revision; filming and editing of interview videos; translation; unlimited filings with follow-up; help with knocking-on-the-door applications; central allocation handled without using up any allowance; scheduling of assessments; attendance at interviews in the parents' place where necessary; and advice on choosing among offers plus registration guidance
Charged separately
Academic assessments by subject and hour; bespoke one-to-one coaching before entrance examinations; long-term or short pre-examination boarding

Associate degree, bachelor's and master's

From shortlisting to registration, handled end to end

University-stage applications, from choosing institutions and programmes through to registration after an offer. The three tiers divide by level of award, each with its own programme count and language threshold.

Stages covered
Associate degree and higher diploma, bachelor’s, and master’s — each priced separately
What is included
Shortlisting institutions and programmes, preparing and translating documents, filing and following up applications, preparing for interviews or portfolios, and guidance through registration
Programme count and language threshold
Differs by tier — see the fee table below
Application fees
Charged by the institutions, reimbursed at cost, and not included in our fee
Note
These are the conditions for starting an application; each institution and programme sets its own requirements each year, and its published position governs

Boarding and daily life

Kowloon City · Kwun Tong · Tai Po | monthly, half-yearly or annual

For the case where the child starts school in Hong Kong before the parents settle there. Boarding is priced by district and payment cycle, with the annual rate charged for eleven months. Tutoring, domestic help, housing, and medical and vaccination arrangements can be connected at the same time.

Districts
Kowloon City, Kwun Tong, Tai Po
Payment
Monthly (deposit required), half-yearly or annually (no deposit)
Annual rate
Eleven months charged per year
Related arrangements
Tutoring and activities, domestic help and housing, Hong Kong documentation, medical and vaccination arrangements, and funding for the child's education

How status connects to schooling

Status first — the child needs dependant status before anything else works

Studying in Hong Kong presupposes that the child holds an appropriate status. Set out here are the verified points where status and schooling connect. Obtaining the status itself belongs to residency and migration — see that page.

Why this order
Schools verify the child’s Hong Kong status at the point of admission. Until the status is in place a required document is missing, and the school cannot take the application further
Dependants' rights
Dependants under the Top Talent Pass, Quality Migrant and entrepreneur visas — spouse and unmarried children under 18 — may work or study in Hong Kong without restriction
A limit on Class C
Class C — recent graduates with no work-experience requirement — is not open to non-local students
Permanent residence
Seven years of continuous ordinary residence allows an application for permanent residence, which affects the child's status for later stages of education

Our fees

Schooling — our service fees

These are our own fees, in renminbi and exclusive of tax; where a Mainland invoice is required, tax is added. Application fees, place-holding deposits, debentures, capital levies and tuition charged by schools and institutions are not included.

ItemFeeNotes
Mid-year entry · standardFrom RMB 28,000Five schools
Mid-year entry · enhancedFrom RMB 48,000Seven schools, with a staged coaching plan, three hours of one-to-one tuition, one mock interview and attendance at one interview
Mid-year entry · comprehensiveFrom RMB 58,000Ten schools, with four hours of one-to-one tuition, three mock interviews and attendance at two interviews
Single maths or English assessmentFrom RMB 4,500Includes marking and an online debrief; the fee is credited against a later package
Associate degree / higher diplomaFrom RMB 60,000Five programmes; English score of 90
Bachelor's degreeFrom RMB 70,000Five programmes; English score of 100
Master's degreeFrom RMB 70,000Three to four programmes; IELTS 6.5
School-selection programmeQuoted separatelyQuoted against the family’s requirements; cannot be combined with the mid-year entry packages

All amounts are our own fees, exclusive of anything charged by schools or institutions and exclusive of tax. The written quotation governs.

Third-party charges

Boarding charges

In Hong Kong dollars, collected by the boarding provider and not by us. The annual rate is charged for eleven months.

DistrictMonthlyDepositHalf-yearlyAnnual
Kowloon CityHK$18,000 / monthHK$18,000HK$17,000 / month (no deposit)HK$16,000 / month (no deposit)
Kwun TongHK$16,000 / monthHK$16,000HK$15,000 / month (no deposit)HK$14,000 / month (no deposit)
Tai PoHK$14,000 / monthHK$14,000HK$13,000 / month (no deposit)HK$12,000 / month (no deposit)

Also charged separately: school and institution application fees (paid on your behalf within the mid-year entry packages); place-holding deposits, debentures, capital levies and tuition (charged by the school, with us guiding the payment process); academic assessments under the school-selection programme (by subject and hour); additional coaching beyond the included hours (specified hours at 85%); and textbooks (each package includes one to three rounds of recommendation and purchasing, with the books charged at cost).

Before you start

What we do not promise, and what we answer for

Places are the school's decision

Admission rests with the schools and institutions. We answer for the quality of the assessment, the shortlist, the documentation, the coaching and the filing, and for getting the timetable right. We do not promise offers, and we do not use language such as guaranteed admission.

Status has to come first

Without dependant status the child cannot study in Hong Kong on that basis. Where the status is still being processed, we run the two timelines together so that offers do not land before the status does.

How costs are stated

Our fee excludes application fees, deposits, debentures, capital levies and tuition charged by schools and institutions, and excludes tax. Boarding is charged by the boarding provider. The quotation states, line by line, who collects what.

Do not mix the two models

Mid-year entry is a one-off application against vacancies in a specific form, priced at 5, 7 or 10 schools. The school-selection programme has no cap and runs to Form 6. They work and cost differently; take one.

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Tell us where you are, and we will work out where this should start.

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