Christian Alliance International School (CAIS) Hong Kong
Reviews & Information

The school itself is mostly well equipped, but the toilets need major improvements (they keep clogging). Teachers in general are very nice, but the quality of teaching fluctuates drastically. Some are very passionate, and really know how to present their subject, but most are either uninterested in doing more than making sure students pass, or they flat out don’t understand what they teach sometimes. Before you come to this school, or before you pick your courses, KNOW YOUR PROFESSORS. (Mr.Low [Drama], Ms.Ana Han[Social Studies], and Mr.KC[Physics] are some of the best teachers). The students are very strong in the arts, and Phase 2 is opening up new arts facilities like a black box theatre. While the drama training is genuinely amazing, students most likely need to self-study quite a bit for music and art. From my experience, the school only teaches the basics, and teachers face large classes so they don’t have time to help students one on one-so students need to refine their skills on their own. It’s hard to set a standard for CAIS academics. We do above average for the Alberta Diplomas, and most students’ averages (in my grade) sit comfortably above 75%. From my understanding, though, CAIS students rarely make it into the top universities of USA though, most of us opting to go for Canada because it’s much easier to get in. Phase 2 will be opening up many new sports facilities, including a swimming pool and a soccer pitch, I believe. We have a great gym with a high ceiling. Our sports teams are extremely unwelcoming. They expect students to have all necessary skills before joining the team, but the reality is that half of us are only able to play sports during P.E., where again, teachers face large classes and just aren’t able to keep track of every student’s skill developments. Also, we desperately need coaches, and we’re not really able to compete against other international schools (local schools would probably slay us). The sciences are great at this school. The teachers for Biology, Physics and Chem are all pretty good (although the Chem teacher is leaving this year), and the stuff we learn is more or less just as advanced as local HK schools. We have a lot of good lab equipment, and Phase 2 opens even more doors for STEM subjects. My one gripe is probably computer science. The teacher is a nice guy, but um.. students are probably better off self-studying.vThe homework load is very light until grade 10. During grade 11, all hell breaks loose. I’ve had up to 5 major assignments (essays, presentations, tests) due in one day even though technically that’s not allowed. And the worst part about it is all of students’ assessments are concentrated in the same two-three weeks, for all four terms. It gets a lot better in grade 12. Assignments are spread across the terms, but it’s still a big struggle. I would say that the homework load is a lot less compared to local schools up until grade 10. During grade 11-12, sometimes we have more things due.

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