The International Schools Review Forum

Which city in the world do you think has the greatest concentration of top schools? Please explain your answer....

Wed have to define what a top school is, but Tokyo. The Tokyo metropolis is the largest city in the world, meaning more people = more students = more schools, and Japans education system is pretty brutal (meaning academically rigorous) and from a management standpoint, their philosophy and standards of practice in how they manage teachers and staff is pretty efficient and clear.

Lets say from an academic/ environment/ facilities/ quality of staff perspective. For example if you were a parent you'd be thrilled with all the great options in the city.

Still Tokyo

Tokyo rocks, lived there for 5 years.

Avoid Singapore though, you will get bored after a few months and its EXPENSIVE.

I wouldnt avoid Singapore. I guess you could get bored if you require adventure. Singapore is an easy city to live in, and it is after all an island. It is expensive though, and for many people outside work, Singapore is just shopping, eating out, and going to the beach on weekends.

[quote="PsyGuy"]Still Tokyo[/quote]

I love Tokyo, but does it really have a concentration of top schools (compared to places like Beijing, or even Bangkok)?

It really comes down to the morphological definition of a "city" are we limiting it to the Beijing Metro, Beijing Municipality or Hebei province?
Likewise in Tokyo are we talking "Tokyo City" "Tokyo Prefecture", the whole "Tokyo Metropolis", "Greater Tokyo" or all of the Kanto region???

But really my moneys still on Tokyo.

[quote="PsyGuy"]It really comes down to the morphological definition of a "city" are we limiting it to the Beijing Metro, Beijing Municipality or Hebei province?
Likewise in Tokyo are we talking "Tokyo City" "Tokyo Prefecture", the whole "Tokyo Metropolis", "Greater Tokyo" or all of the Kanto region???

But really my moneys still on Tokyo.[/quote]

Not really. No matter how you define Tokyo, how many top schools do you consider there to be in "Tokyo"? I'm assuming you don't consider Yokohama to be in Tokyo?

Spent 4 years living in Tokyo and two at the top school. I would agree there is a pretty high concentration of top schools and some nice up and coming schools too. Still many large Asian cities are starting to become very competitive.

After spending two years in Singapore would avoid it under all circumstances.

[quote="seashell"]Spent 4 years living in Tokyo and two at the top school. I would agree there is a pretty high concentration of top schools and some nice up and coming schools too. Still many large Asian cities are starting to become very competitive.

After spending two years in Singapore would avoid it under all circumstances.[/quote]

Again, I loved Tokyo, but when I was there, it was ASIJ and then everyone at least a tier below. What other schools are now being considered as top schools?

After visiting these campuses and/or talking to people who worked or had children there I would put these in the top tier for certain.
ASIJ
Seisen
Nishimachi
St. Mary's

YIS, is right next door!

I think having five is quite good...

Up and coming
Tokyo International School (I would absolutely work here in a heartbeat!)
K international school (I've talked to 3 people who have loved working though I've never visited. It sounds like recently things have been difficult).

Yeah I'd count YIS as being part of Tokyo. Tokyo's got 6 or so top schools, Beijing has 2 or 3.

[quote="seashell"]After visiting these campuses and/or talking to people who worked or had children there I would put these in the top tier for certain.
ASIJ
Seisen
Nishimachi
St. Mary's

YIS, is right next door!

I think having five is quite good...

Up and coming
Tokyo International School (I would absolutely work here in a heartbeat!)
K international school (I've talked to 3 people who have loved working though I've never visited. It sounds like recently things have been difficult).[/quote]

Seriously? Yokohama is Tokyo?

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree (although it's obviously way subjective and even a question of semantics in some cases). I also have visited most of those schools and talked to people who worked there and I wouldn't quite lump them in with ASIJ and say they are all 1st/top tier schools (which isn't to say that they aren't good schools).

From what I remember, some of those campuses don't compare favorably with Dulwich in Beijing (which is a good school, although not a 1st/top tier school, imho).

I tend to think of Beijing as being pretty elite.

Certainly WAB and ISB are in a tier all their own. BCIS is often considered 'right there'. Dulwich Beijing won British school of the year this past year. So I'd say that's a pretty sweet top four.

I also always think about who attends international schools. Who is paying the tuition and in some respect where do they students come from. Certainly Beijing, the political center of the world new economic powerhouse, would attract is large number of Gov. Officials, NGO's and mega-businesses and their families. While their employers could afford the tuition to create 'great schools'.

Most large Asian cities have a pretty decent set of int'l schools because their is so much foreign investment in the Asia market.

The top though? I would think Tokyo (along with HK, Shanghai & Singapore) would be there- but I gotta think Beijing has a little more power at the top.