This call covers only enrollment/waitlist realities for international/bilingual schools plus homeschooling legality and community — not the full School & Education category.
Good to know
Good to Know
- Most Taipei international schools (notably Taipei American School and Taipei European School) traditionally require the enrolling child to hold a foreign passport — this matters if you're planning to enroll a Taiwanese-passport-holding child.
- Nearly all schools also require the parent to hold appropriate residency status (ARC) before or shortly after enrollment — coordinate this with your visa timeline well in advance.
- Headline tuition figures rarely include the full cost: expect extra charges for enrollment/capital fees, laptops, buses, lunch, and school trips, which can meaningfully increase the effective annual cost.
- Popular entry points like Grade 6 and Grade 9 at the legacy schools fill up early — plan to apply 9–12 months ahead if targeting TAS or TES.
- If you're on a longer-term stay, the newer 'bilingual experimental' schools are worth investigating — they're substantially cheaper than TAS/TES and a growing number now lead to the IB Diploma.
- Some schools listed here (e.g. Morrison Academy Taipei, Kang Chiao International School) are technically in New Taipei City rather than Taipei proper — worth factoring commute time into any housing decision.
- If you're relocating to Taipei outside the main October–March admissions window, don't assume you're locked out — many schools explicitly say they can accommodate late or mid-year applications once your document file (passport copies, ARC, transcripts, references) is complete, though the most popular schools and grades (kindergarten, Grade 1, Grade 6) are the ones most likely to have real waitlists.
- If you want a realistic shot at Taipei American School or Taipei European School for Grade 6 or Grade 9 entry, start the process 9–18 months ahead — these are the two schools most often described as genuinely competitive.
- Homeschooling is a fully legal, government-regulated option in Taiwan open to foreign families on an ARC, but it runs on a fixed twice-yearly application window (by April 30 or October 31) — you can't just start any time, so plan your paperwork around those dates if this is your backup or primary plan.
- Get transcripts and records translated (and ideally notarized) before you start applying — this is the step that most commonly causes delays for arriving families.
Schools And Curricula
- Overview
- Taipei has the largest concentration of accredited international and bilingual schools in Taiwan, clustered mainly in the Tianmu/Shilin area of northern Taipei, with a few notable schools in adjacent New Taipei City. The market splits into legacy foreign-passport-only international schools (American/British/IB), Catholic and Christian mission-linked schools, and a fast-growing tier of government-licensed bilingual experimental schools that teach mostly in English on a modified Taiwanese curriculum.
Schools
Taipei American School (TAS)
- Grades
- Pre-K (KA) through Grade 12
- Location
- Shilin District, Tianmu (northern Taipei)
- Curriculum
- American — AP courses and US High School Diploma
- Notes
- Founded in 1949; the largest and best-known international school in Taipei, historically requiring a foreign passport for enrollment. Over 33 nationalities in the student body.
Tuition
- Period
- 2025–2026 school year, per student per year
- Grade 6 12
- NT$1,029,470
- Grade Pk 5
- NT$933,526
- Extra Costs
- A non-refundable NT$50,000 enrollment deposit, capital/building fees, laptop purchase (~NT$43,500 for grades 6–8), bus fees, and lunch are all billed separately and are not included in the headline tuition figures above.
Taipei European School (TES)
- Grades
- Ages 3–18
- Location
- Shilin District, Tianmu (Swire Primary and Secondary campuses)
- Curriculum
- Multi-section European primary programs — British, French, German, Spanish and Belgian sections — all converging into a single shared IB Diploma Programme (IB DP) at secondary level; British section also offers IGCSE/A-Level pathways
- Notes
- Formed from the merger of the former Taipei British School, École Française de Taipei, and Deutsche Schule Taipei into one non-profit foundation; considered unique in Asia for offering multiple national primary curricula under one roof.
Tuition
- Period
- 2025–2026 school year, approximate published range
- Extra Costs
- Sibling discounts apply (roughly NT$10,000–15,000 off per semester for 2nd/3rd child); one-time enrollment and capital fees add to first-year cost.
Dominican International School
- Grades
- Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12
- Location
- Zhongshan District, Taipei
- Curriculum
- American, including AP courses
- Notes
- Catholic school owned and governed by the Dominican Sisters; formerly operated as a U.S. Department of Defense contract school for American military dependents in Taipei.
Tuition
- Amount
- NT$379,246
- Period
- 2024–2025 published figures, illustrative (varies by age/grade)
- Note
- Figure is a first-year cost for a young child including one-time fees; per-grade tuition scales up for older students.
Morrison Academy Taipei
- Grades
- Ages 5–17
- Location
- Linkou District, New Taipei City (roughly 30–40 minutes from central Taipei)
- Curriculum
- American, including AP courses
- Notes
- Faith-based (Christian) school network founded in 1961; the Taipei campus is the newest in the Morrison network alongside Taichung and Kaohsiung campuses. Included here because it is a commonly used option for Taipei-based expat families despite the New Taipei City location.
Tuition
- Period
- 2025–2026 published range
Kang Chiao International School (KCIS)
- Grades
- Grades 7–12
- Location
- New Taipei City (mountain-area campus, outside central Taipei)
- Curriculum
- American-style overseas college-preparatory program; authorized IB Diploma Programme for Grades 11–12
- Notes
- Accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). Does not publish fees publicly.
Tuition
- Note
- Fees not publicly disclosed by the school; contact admissions directly.
Taipei Kuei Shan School
- Grades
- K-12 (over 600 students)
- Location
- Taipei City
- Curriculum
- IB World School (IB programs), delivered within a private Christian school framework
- Notes
- Accredited by the Taipei City Government Department of Education and a member of the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI). Does not publish fees publicly.
Tuition
- Note
- Fees not publicly disclosed by the school; contact admissions directly.
Taiwan International Montessori Experimental School
- Grades
- Early childhood through elementary (Montessori-model)
- Location
- Taipei
- Curriculum
- Bilingual (English–Mandarin Chinese) Montessori
- Notes
- Aims to be a leading English–Chinese bilingual Montessori provider in Taiwan. Does not publish fees publicly.
Tuition
- Note
- Fees not publicly disclosed by the school; contact admissions directly.
Bilingual Experimental Schools (雙語實驗教育) — Category
- Location
- Various, across Taipei and New Taipei City
- Curriculum
- English-medium instruction on a modified Taiwanese national curriculum; increasingly offering the IB Diploma Programme as an exit qualification
- Notes
- A fast-growing, government-licensed school category distinct from the traditional foreign-passport-only international schools; typically mixes local Taiwanese students with strong English ability alongside some foreign/returnee families.
Tuition
- Illustrative Low End
- NT$300,000
- Note
- Reported to run roughly 40–60% lower than flagship schools like TAS or TES, with citywide bilingual-school fees generally starting around NT$300,000/year versus NT$1,000,000+/year at the top international schools.
Homeschooling
- Legal Basis
- Homeschooling has been legal in Taiwan since June 24, 1999, and is governed nationally by the Law for Non-School Mode of Experimental Education for Senior Secondary Education and Below (enacted 2014), which the Legislative Yuan passed specifically to protect homeschoolers' rights.
- Legal Status
- Fully legal and regulated
- Scale And Community
- As of a 2020 government count, roughly 3,441 students aged 6–18 were being homeschooled by parents nationally, with a further several thousand in pods, co-ops, microschools, or other non-school-based experimental setups — showing homeschooling is a genuinely established, if still niche, option in Taiwan rather than a rare exception.
- Outcomes And Recognition
- Students who complete homeschooling at the primary and junior-secondary level receive a graduation diploma from their district school; those completing senior-secondary homeschooling receive a certificate of completion that allows them to apply to universities in Taiwan, and homeschool graduates also have a distinct admissions pathway into Taiwanese universities.
- Foreign Community In Taipei
- There is a small but active homeschooling community among foreign families in Taipei; an English-language Facebook group ('Learn@Home in Taiwan') and Taipei-based supplemental-instruction providers catering specifically to homeschooled students are documented touchpoints for this community.
- Foreign National Eligibility
- Foreign nationals may homeschool in Taiwan without restriction. While foreign nationals are not strictly required to formally apply, doing so is advantageous if they want the homeschooling to be officially recognized by universities in Taiwan and abroad.
Application Process
- Deadlines
- Applications must be submitted by April 30 (for a program starting the following semester, around August) or October 31 (for a program starting around February) each year.
- Where To Apply
- Parents apply to the local (municipal/county/city) educational authority covering their household registration or place of residence — in Taipei this is Taipei City's education-related authority, with information also published via Taipei City's New Immigrants portal.
- What Is Submitted
- An experimental education plan describing the purpose, method, and content of the homeschooling program, including curriculum and how learning will be assessed.
- Ongoing Requirements
- A learning status report is required after each school year as part of the legal reporting framework; local formats for this report vary by education authority.
International Bilingual School Enrollment
- Overview
- Taipei's international school sector is comparatively small and, apart from a couple of highly sought-after schools, less oversubscribed than regional hubs like Singapore or Hong Kong, so families who move quickly can often still find a place outside the main cycle.
- Practical Tip
- Having all academic and identity documents translated into English (or Mandarin, depending on the school) and notarized before starting the application is commonly recommended to avoid delays.
- Eligibility Basics
- Government of the Republic of China (ROC) rules require that a child hold a valid passport of a foreign country or recognized territory to enroll in an international school in Taiwan (ROC nationals generally cannot enroll unless they also hold foreign citizenship), and proof of legal residence in Taiwan (an ARC — Alien Resident Certificate) is a condition of enrollment. Most schools also require parents to hold appropriate residency status for the child to enroll.
- Priority Categories Example TAS
- At Taipei American School, admission priority categories are formally tiered: Category 1 includes families where at least one parent is employed by the American Institute in Taiwan; Category 2 requires at least one parent to hold a US passport; Category 3 covers families where both parents hold non-US foreign passports. Additional priority is given to applicants with siblings currently enrolled or accepted, or with a parent/sibling who is a TAS alum.
Application Fee
- Amount Local Low
- NT$3,000
- Amount Local High
- NT$15,000
- Note
- Fee range varies by school; most Taipei international schools charge somewhere in this band per application.
Waitlist Reality
- General Pattern
- The most popular schools and entry points — especially kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 6 — can carry waiting lists that make true mid-year placement difficult, while less oversubscribed schools with rolling, holistic admissions are more likely to have mid-year space.
- School Specific Notes
- TAS keeps a genuine move-in process for relocating families but usually maintains a waitlist; Dominican International School (DIS) accepts students on a rolling basis and is generally the most accessible for mid-year arrivals; TES and some other structured-cycle schools are harder to enter mid-year because they run fixed admissions cycles tied to entrance assessments.
Typical Annual Cycle
- Offers Issued
- February to April, with families typically given two to three weeks to accept and pay the enrollment deposit
- Main Cycle Opens
- October to January for the following August intake
- School Year Starts
- August (Northern Hemisphere calendar)
- Application Deadlines
- January to March for the most competitive schools
- Notes
- Taipei European School (TES) does not run rolling admissions: Semester 1 (August start) decisions go out in March/April and Semester 2 (February start) decisions go out in December, as seats become available.
How Far In Advance To Apply
- Mid Year Arrivals
- For a January/February mid-year intake, apply at least three months in advance; rolling-admissions schools can sometimes accommodate shorter notice if seats are open.
- Relocation Flexibility
- For families receiving short-notice relocation orders, Taipei's international schools are generally described as flexible, with admissions teams often able to accommodate late applications if places are available once a complete document file is submitted.
- Highly Competitive Schools Grade6 Grade9
- 9 to 18 months ahead, especially for Grade 6 and Grade 9 entry points at Taipei American School (TAS) and Taipei European School (TES), which are described as highly competitive at those grades.
Documents Typically Required
- Completed online application form
- Copies of the student's and parents'/guardians' passports and visa or ARC (Alien Resident Certificate)
- Two to three years of academic transcripts or school reports
- Teacher recommendation/confidential reference forms (often specifically from current math and English teachers, plus an administrator or counselor)
- Immunization records
- A recent passport-sized photograph
- Standardized test scores where required (e.g. ISEE for upper-level entry at American-curriculum schools such as TAS)
- A personal statement/essay for older applicants, and sometimes a parent statement of educational philosophy or, at faith-based schools like Morrison Academy, a family statement of faith
- The application fee
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
This section has no cited sources.
More About Taipei
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.