The Rankings — 2026/27
Next update in 362d 20h 04m 50s
Independent · Unpaid · Editorial
World's Top Schools, Ranked.
Every ranked and candidate school in the directory, one continuous list from #1 down. Use this view when you want the full picture without switching between tiers.
This ranking is locked. The next ranking update will be on September 1, 2027. How the ranking cycle works · Why this ranking exists
Penny's picks
China · Beijing
The High School Affiliated to Tsinghua University
New · 2026/27Beside the Old Summer Palace and Tsinghua's gates, this century-old Haidian school channels university rigor into elite gaokao prep.
81.2
Score
China · Shanghai
Shanghai High School International Division
Grown from a 19th-century public school in Xuhui, its IB cohort has averaged 41 points for fifteen straight years.
79.0
Score
China · Shanghai
Shanghai American School
A century-old Shanghai institution since 1912, running AP and IB in parallel across two sprawling campuses
75.3
Score
China · Beijing
Keystone Academy
Five houses named for the Chinese elements anchor a bilingual boarding culture on Beijing's Shunyi plain, near the Great Wall.
75.3
Score
China · Beijing
Western Academy of Beijing
Running the full IB continuum since 1994 from a Chaoyang campus once named a Beijing Olympic model school
74.0
Score
China · Beijing
High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China
Set in the heart of Beijing's education precinct, this Renmin University affiliate has nurtured Olympiad champions since gifted classes began in 1978.
73.8
Score
China · Beijing
International School of Beijing
Founded in 1980 by five embassies, this Shunyi day school pairs a US diploma track with IB rigor and dual-language classes from early years.
73.7
Score
China · Beijing
Beijing No. 4 High School
Founded in 1907 by the old imperial walls, this Xicheng day school blends strong gaokao results with electives from physics to cuisine.
72.3
Score
China · Guangdong
Shenzhen Middle School
Founded in 1947 as the Special Economic Zone's only provincial key school, where student-run newsrooms rival its Olympiad gold medals.
72.2
Score
China · Sichuan
Chengdu No. 7 High School
Heir to a Yuan-dynasty academy, this Chengdu institution now streams live classrooms to hundreds of schools across western China.
72.1
Score
China · Jiangsu
UWC Changshu China
On an island in Kuncheng Lake, mainland China's first UWC pairs the IB diploma with mandatory Mandarin study and a student-run Zhixing service programme.
71.6
Score
China · Beijing
Dulwich College Beijing
BSO · OutstandingRooted in a 400-year London lineage, its Shunyi campus has posted IB scores averaging seven points above the global mean for four straight years
71.6
Score
China · Shanghai
ECNU No. 2 Affiliated High School
Anchored to East China Normal University in Shanghai, this campus has quietly become a steady pipeline of physics and math Olympiad gold medals.
70.8
Score
China · Guangdong
American International School of Guangzhou
Southern China's oldest American day school since 1981, pairing AP rigor with a Science City campus built for real-world learning.
70.8
Score
China · Shanghai
Wellington College International Shanghai
BSO · OutstandingRooted in an 1859 British foundation, this Pudong riverside campus channels house spirit into IB scores averaging 37 points.
69.4
Score
China · Shanghai
Lycée Français de Shanghai
Twin campuses shared with Shanghai's German School anchor a French Baccalaureate track split into American and Chinese international streams
69.3
Score
China · Beijing
Beijing National Day School
In Haidian's academic engine room, a 2011 reform scrapped fixed classes for build-your-own timetables of 300-plus electives.
69.0
Score
China · Shanghai
YK Pao School
Mandarin-English immersion anchors an IB and IGCSE track, with senior boarders housed in a Tudor-style village in Songjiang.
68.8
Score
China · Shanghai
Concordia International School Shanghai
In Pudong's Jinqiao enclave, a Lutheran-rooted campus pairs AP rigor with a 95 percent exam pass rate and global online electives
68.1
Score
China · Jiangsu
Nanjing Foreign Language School
Founded in 1963 on Premier Zhou Enlai's initiative, five foreign languages underpin a steady pipeline into China's diplomatic corps.
68.0
Score
China · Shanghai
Shanghai Community International School
Pioneering Shanghai's IB continuum since 1996, spanning three campuses and sixty-plus nationalities across Puxi and Pudong.
68.0
Score
China · Beijing
Yew Chung International School of Beijing
Every classroom pairs a Western and a Chinese teacher, threading bilingual learning through a parkland Chaoyang campus.
67.6
Score
China · Beijing
Beanstalk International Bilingual School
Founded by Chinese educators as the country's first homegrown bilingual brand, weaving national curriculum through a full IB continuum.
67.6
Score
China · Jiangsu
Nanjing International School
China's first full IB Continuum school, running Pre-K through Diploma from a non-profit campus in Nanjing's university district since 1992.
67.5
Score
China · Jiangsu
Dulwich College Suzhou
In Suzhou's canal district, a century-old house tradition underpins an IB programme ranked among China's best
67.5
Score
China · Zhejiang
Hangzhou International School
The city's first international school delivers a full IB continuum with daily Mandarin study on its purpose-built 2022 campus.
67.4
Score
China · Beijing
Harrow International School Beijing
Six centuries-old Harrow houses transplanted to Chaoyang, anchored by China's largest LAMDA drama centre and a British A-Level core.
67.4
Score
China · Beijing
Canadian International School of Beijing
New Brunswick's curriculum threads through a full IB continuum, dual diplomas earned steps from Beijing's embassy row.
67.4
Score
China · Guangdong
Shekou International School
Shenzhen's oldest international school, pairing IB inquiry and American rigor with a French Ministry-accredited pathway.
67.1
Score
China · Shanghai
SJTU Affiliated High School
A Baoshan boarding school where SJTU co-runs an elite talent-training base and student robotics squads chase world titles.
67.0
Score
China · Guangdong
Utahloy International School Guangzhou
Lakeside in Baiyun since 1998, running Guangzhou's only full IB continuum, with most graduates earning bilingual diplomas.
67.0
Score
China · Shanghai
Shanghai High School (Domestic Division)
Heir to an 1865 mandarin academy in Xuhui, it grooms its own Math Olympiad squad and will host the 2026 IMO
66.9
Score
China · Beijing
Beijing City International School
In Beijing's Central Business District, a full IB continuum pairs with IDEATE, an in-house project-based track alongside the diploma years.
66.7
Score
China · Shanghai
High School Affiliated to Fudan University
Bordering Fudan University in Yangpu, this boarding school shares its motto and sends over 40 percent of graduates straight into China's top campuses.
64.5
Score
China · Tianjin
International School of Tianjin
Tianjin's only three-programme IB World School, where Diploma scores average 36 points against a global mean of 30
64.4
Score
China · Guangdong
Shenzhen Foreign Language School
Guangdong's first post-reform public foreign-language school, teaching six languages across a four-college house system in Shenzhen.
62.9
Score
China · Shanghai
Yew Chung International School of Shanghai
Since 1993, paired Chinese and English co-teachers lead every classroom, carrying bilingual immersion from nursery through the IB diploma.
62.4
Score
China · Beijing
The British School of Beijing, Shunyi
Behind air-filtered domes sits Beijing's longest-running British campus, pairing an MIT-built STEAM centre with a Juilliard performing arts partnership.
62.2
Score
China · Zhejiang
Wellington College International Hangzhou
Houses named for the Duke of Wellington's generals anchor a British curriculum amid Hangzhou's tech-driven skyline.
61.8
Score
China · Shanghai
British International School Shanghai, Puxi
In Huacao's expat quarter, British curriculum runs through IB alongside a fully integrated Dutch school and UNICEF-linked sustainability projects.
61.4
Score
China · Shanghai
Shanghai Foreign Language School
A 1963 state-founded language academy in Hongkou, teaching ten tongues from Arabic to Hebrew to shape China's future diplomats.
59.5
Score
China · Shanghai
Shanghai Singapore International School
Singapore maths rigour anchors an IGCSE-to-IB pathway, threaded with banded Chinese immersion in Minhang's expatriate heartland.
58.5
Score
China · Beijing
Daystar Academy
A Chaoyang campus where bilingual immersion tilts from mostly Mandarin to mostly English by senior year, anchored by China's first K-12 social innovation curriculum.
57.5
Score
China · Chongqing
Yew Chung International School of Chongqing
Chongqing's first Ministry-registered international school, pairing Chinese and Western co-teachers through IGCSE and the IB Diploma.
57.3
Score
China · Fujian
Xiamen International School
Grown from Xiamen's 1990s Kodak-era boom, this Fujian pioneer graduates seniors with bilingual IB diplomas at nearly triple the global rate.
53.7
Score
China
CAFA Affiliated High School of Fine Art
51.8
Score
China · Shanghai
Livingston American School Shanghai
Founded by a former US congressman, this Changning day school pairs a California-aligned curriculum with AP rigor for Shanghai's expat families.
49.1
Score
China · Beijing
Concord College Beijing
Tongzhou's pioneering joint boarding college pairs a British-style house system with Round Square expeditions and global exchange terms.
48.2
Score
China · Guangdong
The British School of Guangzhou
On the shores of South Lake, Guangzhou's longest-running British school pairs English curriculum rigour with a Juilliard-designed arts programme.
48.0
Score
China · Beijing
Yew Wah International Education School of Beijing
Chinese-English co-teaching in every classroom, threading a through-train path from early years to the IB in Yizhuang's tech park
47.5
Score
China · Sichuan
QSI International School of Chengdu
A mastery-learning model and single-digit class sizes anchor this American Garden campus school inside Chengdu's Third Ring Road.
47.3
Score
China · Shanghai
Shanghai United International School
Chinese and Western teachers share the same classroom across an eight-campus Shanghai network built on IB and an East-meets-West bilingual ethos.
46.9
Score
China · Shanghai
Deutsche Schule Shanghai
A Franco-German campus in Yangpu's innovation district, where the Abitur pairs with a CertiLingua seal waiving university language tests.
45.2
Score
China · Jiangsu
Suzhou Singapore International School
Rooted in the Suzhou Industrial Park's China-Singapore partnership, it pairs a full IB continuum with a parallel German curriculum strand.
45.2
Score
China · Beijing
Beijing World Youth Academy
In Chaoyang district, a full IB continuum runs alongside China's national curriculum, pairing local roots with global classrooms.
44.8
Score
China · Shanghai
Shanghai Rego International School
A Minhang day-and-boarding campus delivering the English National Curriculum through GCSEs and A-Levels, with houses, an indoor pool and daily Mandarin study.
44.5
Score
China · Hubei
Wuhan Yangtze International School
In Hanyang on the Yangtze, this foreign-passport-only campus rallies students into four house teams: Viper, Tiger, Crane, Panda.
44.2
Score
China · Guangdong
Shenzhen American International School
In China's electronics capital, a Shekou campus swaps lecture halls for a maker space, fusing Common Core rigor with hands-on invention.
44.0
Score
China
Affiliated High School to China Academy of Art
0.0
Score
China
Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts Affiliated Secondary School
0.0
Score
China
Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts Affiliated Secondary School
0.0
Score
China
Wuhan Yucai Fine Arts Senior High School
0.0
Score
China
Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts Affiliated Secondary School
0.0
Score
Methodology
How we rank
Our composite weights eight categories. Each is scored 0–100 by our editorial panel and audited against 30 sub-criteria drawn from school records, university placement audits, alumni surveys, campus visits and parent interviews. Schools cannot pay for placement or preview scores.
Weighting
- Academic Outcomes20%
- University Placement17%
- Prestige & Heritage13%
- Alumni Network13%
- Facilities13%
- Transparency & Communications8%
- Peer & Industry Review10%
- Admissions Selectivity & Demand8%
Score key
Reading the scores
Bands out of 100
Every category, sub-criterion and composite total across this issue uses the same six-band editorial palette. Bands are calibrated against the full 300-school cohort — a "Distinguished" mark is meaningfully harder to earn than a "Strong" one.
- Exceptional90–100
Top of cohort
- Distinguished80–89
Elite tier
- Strong70–79
Consistently high
- Solid60–69
Reliable performer
- Average50–59
Room to grow
- Below par< 50
Underperforming
The same colour bands are used inside each school profile, on category chips, radar charts and the annual score-history line — so a colour glimpsed on the Rankings page always means the same thing everywhere else.