Eight international school operators in Hong Kong, including the city’s largest group, failed to admit enough non-local students this academic year, breaching their pledge to the government.
The English Schools Foundation (ESF) said it had been increasing the proportion of “non-local passport holders” since the end of the pandemic, but noted it might take several years to return to mandated levels after being allowed to admit more local students during that period.
The Education Bureau told the South China Morning Post that the proportion of non-local students at some of the schools had fallen to as low as 39 per cent this academic year, compared with targets ranging from 50 to 98 per cent.
According to official data from the bureau, 44,745 students are enrolled in international schools for the 2025-26 academic year.
Among them are a record 15,142 local pupils, accounting for 34 per cent of the total and nearly double the 7,713 local pupils recorded in 2016-17, when they made up 20 per cent of the student body.
The current proportion of local students is the fourth-highest in the past decade. The peak of 34.9 per cent occurred in 2023-24, reflecting admission cycles that began a year earlier while the pandemic was still affecting the city.
Conversely, the number of non-local students has declined slightly over the past decade, from 30,044 in 2016-17 to 29,603 in 2025-26. During this period, their share of the student body fell from 80 per cent to 66 per cent.
Seven international schools and the ESF fell short of government admission requirements this year, up from the previous five.
International schools are required to cater to demand from non-local families living in Hong Kong or relocating to the city for work or investment. Many of these institutions are bound by service agreements with the government that set out requirements for their student mix.
“In the 2025-26 academic year, international schools bound by service agreements are required to maintain a non-local student ratio between 50 and 98 per cent,” a bureau spokeswoman said.
“Seven schools failed to meet these requirements and fell below the Hong Kong average, with non-local students accounting for only 39 to 64 per cent of their total enrolments.”
She added: “The ESF must ensure that at least 70 per cent of its total student population is non-local. In the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years, the proportion of non-local students at the foundation was 65.1 per cent and 66.1 per cent, respectively.”
The ESF runs 12 primary schools and eight secondary schools in Hong Kong.
The spokeswoman said the bureau had written to the relevant schools, reminding them to comply with admission ratios in the coming year and urging them to take corrective action.
“International schools that have signed service contracts with the Education Bureau must adhere to the terms of their agreements,” she said “The bureau will follow up on any breaches and reserves the right to terminate or decline to renew service contracts, or even reclaim school premises and land.”
This is not the first time schools have missed these targets.
In 2023, education authorities disclosed that four schools in 2021-22 and five in 2022-23, as well as the ESF, failed to meet the required student mix. The bureau issued similar reminders to those institutions at the time.
Lawmakers previously criticised the “warning letters,” saying they carried little weight if schools faced no real consequences. But Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin maintained that such breaches would be considered when assessing contract renewals.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the bureau exercised its discretion to relax non-local admission requirements, as many expats returned to their home countries. The arrangement has since ended.
“The discretionary arrangement remained in place until the 2024-25 academic year and no longer applies in 2025-26,” the bureau said.
An ESF spokesman said it would take a few years to reach the required admission level but noted that measures already in place had led to a one percentage point increase from last year.
“We are absolutely committed to meeting our obligations to the Education Bureau and the wider government,” he said. “We have been increasing the proportion of non-local passport holders since the end of the pandemic, and the systems and processes we have in place will ensure we return to the required level as quickly as possible.”
He added that the foundation was “working its way back from the difficulties of the pandemic”.
According to the ESF, applications from non-local passport holders are now given priority and processed first. However, as local students admitted during the pandemic will remain in the system for several years, it will take time to fully rebalance the numbers. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
