Best International Schools in Foshan: 2026 Guide for Families

Last reviewed: October 2026 by Catherine from ISA. Fee ranges are indicative; always confirm with the school.

Many families who end up in Foshan first looked at Guangzhou. The two cities run into each other, a metro line links them and plenty of parents work in one and live in the other. That makes the search for the best international schools in Foshan partly a question of geography: which side of the boundary you sleep on, and how far your child should travel each morning.

Foshan's three main international options sit in three different districts, Chancheng, Shunde and Nanhai, and they could hardly be more different in size and style. One is a young British boarding school, one is a very large IB school founded in the 1990s, and one is an international school run by a Singapore-based education group. Here is how they compare, and which families each one tends to suit.

Chancheng, Shunde, Nanhai: choosing a base in Foshan

Chancheng is the historic core, with the Ancestral Temple and the restored Lingnan Tiandi quarter. LEH Foshan is here, on Jingping Road, and the school says it is five minutes from Wanhua metro station and six minutes from Guangzhou South railway station, the main high-speed hub for the region. That location is the strongest argument for Chancheng if one parent commutes into Guangzhou or travels often to Hong Kong.

Shunde, to the south, is a manufacturing district with its own identity and a strong local economy. Guangdong Country Garden School occupies a campus of close to 200,000 square metres in Beijiao Town. It works well for families who live in Shunde or the large residential developments nearby; it is a long drive from central Guangzhou.

Nanhai, to the west and north of Chancheng, includes Guicheng, close to the boundary with Guangzhou. Foshan EtonHouse sits in Nanhai Business City, an area also known locally as Huanan Singapore City. For a family working in western Guangzhou who wants more space for the money, Guicheng is often the compromise.

Which curricula you can find in Foshan

• English curriculum with IGCSE and A Level: LEH Foshan from Year 2 to Year 13, with exams through Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel.
• International Baccalaureate, integrated with the Chinese national curriculum: Guangdong Country Garden School runs the PYP, MYP and Diploma Programme within a 15-year integrated model.
• IB-inspired primary followed by a British secondary: Foshan EtonHouse uses an inquiry approach based on the IB PYP in primary, then Key Stage 3, IGCSE and A Level.
• Boarding: available at all three, in very different formats.

The Foshan shortlist

Lady Eleanor Holles International School

LEH Foshan welcomed its first students in September 2021 and is linked to Lady Eleanor Holles in London. It takes boys and girls from Year 2 to Year 13 (ages 6 to 18) as day pupils or boarders. In April 2023 it gained COBIS Patron's Accredited Member status, and it lists Cambridge, Pearson Edexcel and the Boarding Schools' Association among its affiliations. Its Chinese registered name identifies it as a school for children of foreign personnel, so check eligibility before you apply.

The school publishes a clear fee sheet for 2026-27 (see the fees section below), and says tuition includes ELL support, internal exams, a school-owned laptop for Years 7 to 9 and IELTS training for Years 12 and 13. One practical point: day pupils are charged per meal for breakfast and dinner, so if you expect late pick-ups, ask whether the evening school option at CNY 100 a day is cheaper than paying for after-school care elsewhere.

Guangdong Country Garden School

Country Garden School was founded in 1994 and is very large: its published school details give about 4,800 pupils aged 2 to 18, taught in Chinese and English. It was authorised for the IB Middle Years and Diploma Programmes in 2001 and for the Primary Years Programme in 2011, and the school states that it gained CIS and WASC accreditation in 2024. Facilities listed for the campus include two indoor heated swimming pools, an observatory and an "English village".

This is the right school for families who want IB qualifications but also want a child to keep pace with the Chinese national curriculum, including mixed Chinese and foreign families. It is not a small, foreign-only environment, and the scale means you should ask which campus section and class type your child would join. Published fee bands put the PYP at about CNY 156,000 a year and the Diploma at about CNY 220,000.

Foshan EtonHouse International School

Foshan EtonHouse International School (FEIS) teaches children from age 2 to 18 in Nanhai Business City. The school says it is the largest international school the Singapore-based EtonHouse group has set up in China, on a first-phase site of more than 40,000 square metres with room for over 1,500 students. Primary follows an IB PYP-inspired inquiry model; the school then moves Year 6 pupils onto Key Stage 3 a year early to prepare them for Cambridge IGCSE, followed by A Levels. Mandarin or German is the modern foreign language in middle school.

Boarders live two to a room with their own bathroom, with boys and girls on separate floors and bilingual staff on each floor, the school says. FEIS does not publish fees online, so ask admissions for the full schedule, including boarding. A useful question on a visit: how pupils who arrive mid-way through primary, without PYP experience, are helped through the early switch to the British secondary programme.

Fees at Foshan's international schools

LEH Foshan's 2026-27 sheet sets annual tuition at CNY 200,000 for Year 2, CNY 210,000 for Years 3 to 6, CNY 231,000 for Years 7 to 11 and CNY 241,500 for Years 12 and 13, with a 3% discount for paying the year in one instalment. Boarding adds CNY 52,500 a year up to Year 11 and CNY 73,500 in Years 12 and 13. At Guangdong Country Garden School, published fee bands run from roughly CNY 100,000 to CNY 120,000 for kindergarten, CNY 156,000 for the PYP, CNY 156,000 to CNY 200,000 for the MYP and CNY 220,000 for the Diploma; ask whether these figures are current for 2026-27. At a rough 7.1 yuan to the dollar, school-age tuition across the three runs from roughly USD 22,000 to USD 34,000.

One legal point affects families with a Chinese-national child. China's Compulsory Education Law, Article 11, requires parents or guardians to enrol children in school once they reach six years of age, and allows a delay to seven only in areas where conditions are not yet in place. Schools for children of foreign personnel, such as LEH Foshan and FEIS by their registered names, are generally not the route for Chinese citizens, which is one reason many mixed families in Foshan look at Country Garden School.

• Application fee: CNY 2,000 at LEH Foshan, non-refundable.
• Enrolment deposit: LEH holds a one-time refundable, non-interest-bearing deposit for the length of enrolment.
• Meals for day pupils: at LEH, lunch and snacks cost CNY 3,240 in Term 1, CNY 2,385 in Term 2 and CNY 2,475 in Term 3.
• Uniform and sports kit: charged separately at LEH.
• External exams: IGCSE and A Level entries and any resits are billed on top of tuition.
• Music and trips: individual instrument lessons and residential trips are extras.
• Sibling discount: LEH offers 5% off tuition for second and later siblings, not on boarding.

Practical advice for Foshan families

Decide on the Guangzhou question first. LEH Foshan says the metro gets you to Guangzhou in about 30 minutes and that Hong Kong is a 47-minute high-speed train ride away; that is the school's own claim, and your door-to-door time will depend on where in Guangzhou you work. Do the journey yourself on a weekday morning before you commit to a district.

Use boarding as a tool, not a default. All three schools board, but in different ways: British-style boarding at LEH, where the fee covers weekend activities and meals, twin rooms with their own bathrooms at FEIS, and a large residential campus at Country Garden. For families with one parent travelling frequently, a few nights a week of boarding can be the difference between a workable arrangement and a stressful one. Ask whether flexible or trial boarding is possible; LEH, for example, offers a boarding trial.

Ask about class composition. In a city where some schools enrol mainly foreign passport holders and others mainly Chinese nationals, the languages your child hears in the playground will vary a great deal. Ask for the nationality mix in your child's year group, not just the school-wide figure.

Compare Foshan with the rest of Guangdong

If Guangzhou or Shenzhen is still in the running, compare these schools with the wider province in our ranking of the best international schools in Guangdong.

More guides to schools in Foshan

• How to choose an international school in Foshan
• International school fees in Foshan
• International school admissions in Foshan
• Bilingual schools in Foshan
• best international schools in Guangdong

Frequently asked questions

Is it realistic to live in Foshan and work in Guangzhou with children at school?

Yes, many families do. LEH Foshan in Chancheng says it is five minutes from Wanhua metro and six minutes from Guangzhou South station, and that Guangzhou is about 30 minutes away by metro. Your real journey depends on where you work, so test the route on a weekday morning before choosing a district.

Which international school in Foshan offers the IB Diploma?

Guangdong Country Garden School in Beijiao, Shunde, offers the full IB continuum. It was authorised for the Middle Years and Diploma Programmes in 2001 and the Primary Years Programme in 2011, combining them with the Chinese national curriculum. Published fee bands put the Diploma at about CNY 220,000 a year.

How much does boarding cost at international schools in Foshan?

At LEH Foshan, 2026-27 boarding costs CNY 52,500 a year up to Year 11 and CNY 73,500 in Years 12 and 13, on top of tuition of CNY 200,000 to CNY 241,500. The boarding fee covers meals, laundry, weekend activities and on-campus medical care. Foshan EtonHouse also boards, but quotes fees on request.