Introduction
The International School of Nanshan Shenzhen (ISNS) is one of a small number of schools in mainland China where a foreign-passport family can enrol a child and have them graduate with a Canadian provincial diploma. It is a day school with no boarding, and it sits on Shenzhen Metro Line 7 — ten stops from the Huanggang border crossing without changing trains.
Every graduate leaves with the Canadian (New Brunswick) High School Diploma. About half also earn the full IB Diploma: in the Class of 2026, 53% of the 32 graduates took both, and the rest earned IB certificates alongside the Canadian diploma. Enrolment is limited to holders of a foreign passport or a Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan ID; mainland Chinese nationals are not eligible.
Alifa's full data profile for this school, including facilities and enrichment programmes, is in the Alifa International School Database.
2026-27 fees and the refund thresholds that decide what a withdrawal costs, who may apply, the two diplomas and their requirements, accreditation checked against each awarding body's own register, and how to reach the campus. Where a fact is not publicly confirmed, this page labels it rather than filling the gap.
Fees and the real first-year cost
ISNS publishes a 2026-2027 tuition and fees schedule. These are the headline figures. Confirmed ISNS 2026-2027 Tuition and Fees Schedule, retrieved 2026-08-25 · source
| Grade band | Annual tuition (RMB) |
|---|---|
| K2–K5 | 219,000 |
| G1–G5 | 249,000 |
| G6–G10 | 269,000 |
| G11–G12 | 274,000 |
A one-time, non-refundable application fee of RMB 2,500 applies to new students. The school bus is optional at RMB 14,000 per year.
What tuition includes
More than families usually expect. Tuition covers all textbooks and resource materials, technology, stationery, wireless internet, sports, music and art facilities, and Week Without Walls. It also covers learning support — and that includes EAL (English as an Additional Language), alongside Literacy, Math and Guidance. Many international schools in China bill EAL separately, sometimes at five figures, so it is worth checking this line against any school you are comparing. Confirmed
Note that EOTC and Week Without Walls trips are a compulsory part of the curriculum for G4–G12 students and involve international travel. All students must hold a valid passport and the appropriate visas. Confirmed
What tuition does not include
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| IB assessment fees | Excluded from G11–G12 tuition. Amount not published. Not currently confirmed |
| Pamoja fees | Excluded from G11–G12 tuition. Amount not published. Not currently confirmed |
| Devices | G1–G3 use school-owned iPads, G4–G5 school-owned laptops, G6–G7 a school-owned MacBook. From G8 to G12 the one-to-one MacBook is a family purchase, through the school's vendor at a discount or from an outside supplier. Confirmed |
| Deposit fee | An annual, non-refundable deposit secures a current student's seat for the following year and is credited against tuition on full payment. Amount not published. Not currently confirmed |
| Uniform | Compulsory, purchased through the Eton Kidd WeChat platform before the first day. Price not published. Not currently confirmed |
| Lunch | Included in tuition for K2–K5. G1–G12 students load a smartcard for the school cafeteria. Confirmed |
The refund schedule, which is where the real money is
This is the part of the fee schedule most worth reading before you sign anything, and it is not carried on any other page we could find. For the 2026-27 year: Confirmed
| Written withdrawal received | Refund |
|---|---|
| Before 1 June 2026 | Tuition refunded, less the deposit |
| 1–30 June 2026 | Tuition refunded, less 20% of annual tuition |
| 1 July 2026 to the first day of school | Tuition refunded, less 50% of annual tuition |
| After the first day of school, or after the student's start date | No refund |
What that means in practice. A G11 family that withdraws on 2 July 2026 forfeits roughly RMB 137,000. A family that withdraws four weeks earlier forfeits the deposit alone. The single most expensive decision in the admissions process is the date you commit, not the school you choose.
Other terms worth knowing: late payments carry a 1% penalty per week, the school reserves the right to withhold reports and transcripts for unpaid fees, and all withdrawal notices must go in writing to admissions@isnsz.com. Discounts exist — early payment, sibling and loyalty — but the rates are not published and are set in each family's individual payment details. Fapiao are issued against RMB payments, and HKD or USD payment options are available on enquiry, which matters for the Hong Kong and Macao families the eligibility rules admit. Confirmed
Who can enrol, and what you need
ISNS is a 外籍人员子女学校 — a school for the children of foreign personnel. That is a licensing category under Chinese law, not a marketing description, and it determines who may enrol. The school's admissions page states the requirement directly: applicants need to hold foreign passports, or an ID from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan. Confirmed
Mainland Chinese nationals cannot enrol. For families from the CIS, ASEAN, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America relocating to Shenzhen, this is the reason the school is available at all.
Documents required
- Copy of the student's birth certificate
- Copy of the student's foreign passport with Chinese visa and immigration record, or Hong Kong / Macao / Taiwan ID
- Copies of parents' or guardians' passports
- One recent passport-sized colour photograph
- Up-to-date health and vaccination records
- School transcripts or report cards for the last three years, in English, for G1–G12 applicants
- Copy of the student's medical and accident insurance policy, after acceptance
Assessment and timing
| Entry point | Assessment |
|---|---|
| K2–G1 | Face-to-face interview and group screening |
| G2–G5 | Math test, reading test, writing sample |
| G6 and above | Math test, reading test, language application test, writing sample |
The school uses the MAP test for math and reading, and the Cambridge English assessment framework for language. Admissions run on a rolling basis; applications received after 1 April are ordinarily considered for the following school year starting in August. Files are not processed until all required materials are submitted. Confirmed
ISNS does not publish any requirement regarding the parents' own residence permit or visa status in China, beyond the passport copies listed above. We have asked the school to confirm whether one applies. Not currently confirmed
Curriculum and the two diplomas
ISNS teaches an English-medium Canadian curriculum from the province of New Brunswick, delivered inside the IB framework. It was the first school in Shenzhen authorised to run all three IB programmes, and it holds authorisation for the Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and Diploma Programme, all dated 1 August 2016. Its IB school code is 051105. Confirmed
Which diploma does a student actually get?
Both, for about half the class. This is the question most pages about ISNS leave unanswered, and the school's own Class of 2026 results give the split:
| Class of 2026 | Share |
|---|---|
| IB Diploma and Canadian (New Brunswick) Diploma | 53% |
| IB Certificates and Canadian (New Brunswick) Diploma | 47% |
The structure, plainly. The Canadian (New Brunswick) High School Diploma is the universal exit credential — every graduate leaves with it. The full IB Diploma is the stretch layer on top, taken by roughly half the cohort. Students who do not take the full Diploma still take IB courses and receive IB Certificates alongside the Canadian diploma. This is a materially different arrangement from an IB school that offers a Canadian option on the side. Confirmed
Getting into the full Diploma Programme
Entry into full DP in Grade 11 is not automatic. The school sets internal thresholds: an MYP Personal Project score of 4 out of 7 or higher in Grade 10, completion of the MYP Community Project in Grade 9, and subject-level guidance of a minimum 3 out of 7 for Standard Level subjects and 5 out of 7 for Higher Level, along with good academic standing. School-reported
What the New Brunswick diploma requires
New Brunswick's graduation requirements are set by the province, not the school. Under the Pathways to Graduation framework introduced in September 2023, students graduating in 2026 or later must accumulate 100 credit hours across Grades 10 to 12 — roughly 25 courses — split between required subject clusters and electives. Students must also complete the Grade 9 programme, hold a documented career-life plan, achieve a minimum of 60% or a Pass in each course, and pass the province's English Language Proficiency Assessment. Publicly reported
Offshore schools follow the same framework. Atlantic Education International, the agency created by the province in 1997 to run its offshore programme, states that offshore students follow the New Brunswick curriculum and provincial assessments so that they meet the graduation requirements for the New Brunswick High School Diploma, with annual inspections and results verification before the province issues it. ISNS appears on AEI's own list of offshore schools, categorised as International K-12. Confirmed
On how IB work counts toward the Canadian credential, ISNS states that for courses aligned or blended with MYP or DP, an IB score of 2 or higher earns New Brunswick credit. We could not locate a published provincial or AEI document setting out the formal conversion rule, so treat the mechanism as described by the school rather than as a published provincial rule. School-reported
Accreditation, verified
ISNS displays a row of accreditation and membership marks on its website. Those marks represent four different kinds of relationship, and they are not equivalent. We checked each on the awarding organisation's own register rather than accepting the logo.
| Body | Type | Status and date |
|---|---|---|
| ACS WASC | School accreditation | Accredited. Accreditation code 62 42182 999, grades PK-12, category Private School. Confirmed |
| Council of International Schools (CIS) | School accreditation | Accredited on 2 February 2024, per CIS's own announcement. Confirmed |
| International Baccalaureate | Programme authorisation | PYP, MYP and DP, authorised 1 August 2016. School code 051105. Confirmed |
| New Brunswick / AEI | Curriculum affiliation | Listed on AEI's offshore schools register as International K-12. Confirmed |
| ACAMIS | Membership | Listed in the ACAMIS membership directory. Confirmed |
| EARCOS | Membership | Listed in the EARCOS member schools directory. Confirmed |
| Cambridge Assessment English | Examination centre | The school states it is an authorised examining site. We did not locate an entry in Cambridge's public centre search. School-reported |
Two further marks appear on the school's site — PTC and the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award. We were unable to verify either in a public register. PTC does not publish a searchable public directory, so the absence of a listing is not evidence either way, and we make no claim about them.
One inconsistency worth knowing about. The school's own FAQ page still describes ISNS as a WASC "Candidate School," while its homepage and results materials describe it as fully accredited. The registers settle it: WASC lists the school as Accredited and CIS accredited it in February 2024. The FAQ page appears simply not to have been updated. If you are comparing schools from their own websites, this is a reminder that a school's pages can disagree with each other about which year you are reading.
Fast facts
| Founded | 2002 |
| Grades | PK / K2 to Grade 12 |
| Enrolment | The school does not publish a current enrolment figure. The EARCOS member directory lists peak enrolment of 790, a figure member schools supply themselves. School-reported |
| Community | Students and staff from more than 20 countries and regions School-reported |
| Head of School | Addie Loy |
| Boarding | Day school only — no boarding Confirmed |
| Address | 11 Longyuan Road, Taoyuan Sub-District, Nanshan District, Shenzhen 518055 中国深圳市南山区桃源街道龙苑路11号 |
| Admissions | 0755-2666-1000 · admissions@isnsz.com |
Boarding, and students whose parents live abroad
ISNS does not offer boarding. The school's FAQ states that it does not provide accommodation for students on campus, and the IB's own school profile records its boarding facilities as day only. There is no weekly or full boarding option, no boarding fee and no minimum boarding grade. Confirmed ISNS Admissions FAQ and IB school profile, retrieved 2026-08-25 · source
For a family relocating to Shenzhen together, that is a non-issue. For a family considering sending a child ahead, or keeping a child in Shenzhen while a parent works elsewhere, it is decisive — the child needs a home and an adult in the city.
The requirement the school does not publish. ISNS sets out no local-guardian policy on any of its public pages. Shenzhen's municipal authorities do. Where both parents of a foreign minor are outside mainland China, the city's published requirements for residence purposes include a notarised guardianship entrustment: a parental power of attorney authenticated by a Chinese embassy or consulate abroad, naming the entrusted guardian and the duration, together with that guardian's notarised undertaking and proof of Shenzhen identity or residence. Confirmed Shenzhen Municipal Government, 2024-12-10 · source
Families routinely discover this at the visa stage rather than the admissions stage. It is worth resolving before you accept a place.
Location and getting there
The campus is at 11 Longyuan Road in the Taoyuan sub-district of Nanshan, Shenzhen 518055.
By metro
The nearest station is Taoyuancun (桃源村) on Line 7, which appears on the school's own campus map. Line 7's published station sequence puts the school within easy reach of most of the city's expatriate districts: Confirmed Shenzhen Transport Bureau, Line 7 station sequence, retrieved 2026-08-25 · source
| Interchange | Lines | Stops to Taoyuancun |
|---|---|---|
| Antuoshan 安托山 | Line 2 / Line 8 — from Shekou, Houhai, Qiaochengbei | 2 |
| Chegongmiao 车公庙 | Line 1 / Line 9 / Line 11 — from Futian CBD | 4 |
| Xili 西丽 | Line 5 | 4 |
| Huanggang Port 皇岗口岸 | On Line 7 itself — no change of train | 10 |
For cross-border families. ISNS admits Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan ID holders, and quotes fees in HKD or USD on request. The Huanggang crossing sits on the same metro line as the school, ten stops away with no interchange, and the school bus separately runs a Futian–Civic Center–Huanggang route. Two independent routes to the same border point.
By school bus
The school runs nine bus routes across Shenzhen at RMB 14,000 per year, with a bus monitor on every bus. Families must register at least two weeks before a student starts using the service, and places depend on availability. Confirmed ISNS School Bus Service page, retrieved 2026-08-25 · source
| Route | Coverage |
|---|---|
| Bus A | 福田-香蜜湖 Futian – Honey Lake |
| Bus C | 南山-蛇口 Nanshan – Shekou |
| Bus E | 南山-华侨城 Nanshan – OCT |
| Bus F | 南山-深湾 Nanshan – Shenzhen Bay |
| Bus G | 福田-市民中心-皇岗 Futian – Civic Center – Huanggang |
| Bus I | 罗湖-幸福里 Luohu – Xingfuli |
| Bus K | 南山-科技园南区 Nanshan – Southern Science Park |
| Bus L | 南山-太古城 Nanshan – Taikoo City |
| Bus N | 宝安-宝安中心区 Bao'an – Bao'an CBD |
Route-level pick-up points and timings are not published; the school directs families to its bus coordinator at bus@isnsz.com or 0755-8600-0982. Confirmed
Class of 2026 results
ISNS published its Class of 2026 outcomes in full. School-reported
| IB Diploma Programme | ISNS | Global |
|---|---|---|
| Diploma pass rate | 100% | 82.6% |
| Average diploma score | 36.41 | 30.88 |
| Average subject grade | 5.73 | 4.93 |
| Highest individual score | 45 | — |
| Scored 40 points or above | 29.41% | — |
| Awarded the bilingual diploma | 82.35% | — |
On the Canadian side, the school reports a 100% pass rate for the Canadian (New Brunswick) diploma, a highest grade of 94.4% and an average grade of 84.3 out of 100, with a 100% graduation rate for students completing the New Brunswick curriculum. Reported university destinations were 35% USA, 20% UK, 16% Asia, 12% Canada and 11% Australia, with total scholarships of over RMB 11.5 million.
How big was the class? 32 students. The school's English-language results announcement gives percentages only, but its Chinese-language graduation coverage states that 32 students graduated in the Class of 2026. School-reported
How to read the 100%. Full Diploma candidates were 53% of that class — approximately 17 students. The 100% pass rate describes that group, not all 32 graduates. The school does disclose the split, but the distinction is easy to miss, and it changes what the number means.
The figure of 17 is our own calculation, and it holds three ways: 53% of 32 is 16.96; 29.41% is exactly 5/17; and 82.35% is exactly 14/17. A class of this size is the right context for a 100% pass rate and a single score of 45 — these are meaningful results, but they describe roughly 17 students, not a large cohort. Estimated — Alifa calculation, inputs shown
What has changed
Families searching for this school will meet more than one name. It was founded in 2002 and operated for years as 深圳南山国际学校, the International School of Nanshan Shenzhen. Its official WeChat account carried that name until 21 October 2021, when the platform's own dated record shows it changed to 深圳市南山外籍人员子女学校. The change reflects a national naming rule requiring schools in this licensing category to carry the 外籍人员子女学校 suffix; it was not a change of ownership or programme. The English name, International School of Nanshan Shenzhen, is unchanged. Confirmed
We were not able to locate the Guangdong or Shenzhen education authority's approval document for the renaming, and we could not establish the school's sponsoring legal entity from any public source. Its WeChat verification names the school itself rather than a parent company, and no approval document naming a sponsor appeared on the education authority websites we searched. Not currently confirmed
On accreditation, both of the school's major school-level accreditations are more recent than its FAQ page suggests: CIS accredited the school in February 2024, and WASC currently lists it as accredited rather than as a candidate.
Verification ledger
Alifa Education checked each of the six decision facts below against a primary source, and checked every one of the school's nine affiliation marks against the awarding organisation's own register rather than against the logo strip on the school's website. Two of those marks Alifa could not verify in either direction, and this page says so rather than repeating them.
| Annual tuition | K2–K5 RMB 219,000 · G1–G5 RMB 249,000 · G6–G10 RMB 269,000 · G11–G12 RMB 274,000, 2026-27 Confirmed |
| First-year cost, G11 entrant | Tuition RMB 274,000 plus application RMB 2,500, optional bus RMB 14,000, a MacBook purchase, uniform, and IB assessment and Pamoja fees. A deposit also applies. Four of these amounts are unpublished, so a complete figure cannot be given. Estimated |
| Eligibility | Foreign passport, or Hong Kong / Macao / Taiwan ID. No parental residence requirement published by the school; Shenzhen authorities require notarised guardianship entrustment where both parents are outside the mainland. Confirmed |
| Operating status | Enrolling for 2026-27; listed among Nanshan District schools for children of foreign personnel. Confirmed |
| Curriculum and exit diploma | Canadian (New Brunswick) High School Diploma for all graduates; IB Diploma for 53% of the Class of 2026 and IB Certificates for 47%. IB PYP/MYP/DP authorised 1 August 2016, school code 051105. AEI-listed as International K-12. Confirmed |
| Boarding | Day school only — no boarding. Confirmed |
What we could not confirm
Four numbers a family needs in order to budget a first year are not published anywhere Alifa could find, including on the school's own WeChat account: the annual deposit amount, the IB assessment fee and Pamoja fee for Grades 11 and 12, and the uniform price range. The cost of the Grade 8–12 MacBook is a family purchase at market price and varies by model.
Neither the school's website nor its WeChat admissions posts state any requirement about the parents' own residence permit or visa status in China. We have asked the school directly. Two marks on the school's website — PTC and the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award — could not be verified in either direction; PTC publishes no public directory, so the absence of a listing proves nothing.
The sponsoring legal entity behind the school is not publicly disclosed. Its WeChat verification names the school itself rather than a parent company, and no approval document naming a sponsor appeared on the education authority websites we searched. The Guangdong or Shenzhen approval document for the 2021 renaming was also not located.
Checked but not included
Shenzhen (Nanshan) Concord College of Sino-Canada (SCCSC) is a separate school. It appears on Atlantic Education International's offshore register in a different category — Dual Diploma, Grades 10 to 12 — where ISNS is listed as International K-12. The two share a founding history and are easily confused. This page does not describe SCCSC.
What families should reconfirm directly with the school
- The deposit amount, and whether it applies to new entrants or only to re-enrolling students
- IB assessment and Pamoja fees for Grades 11 and 12
- Whether a parental residence permit or particular visa status is required
- Guardianship documentation, if the parents will not be resident in Shenzhen
- That the fee schedule quoted is the one that applies to the intended start year
- The refund date thresholds, before committing a deposit
Frequently asked questions
Who can enrol at ISNS?
ISNS is a school for children of foreign personnel, so applicants must hold a foreign passport or an ID from Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan. Mainland Chinese nationals cannot enrol. The school also requires the student's birth certificate, passport with Chinese visa and immigration record, parents' passports, health and vaccination records, and English-language transcripts for the last three years for applicants to Grades 1 to 12.
How much is tuition at ISNS in 2026-27?
Annual tuition is RMB 219,000 for K2 to K5, RMB 249,000 for Grades 1 to 5, RMB 269,000 for Grades 6 to 10, and RMB 274,000 for Grades 11 and 12. A one-time non-refundable application fee of RMB 2,500 applies to new students, and the optional school bus is RMB 14,000 per year. IB assessment fees, Pamoja fees, uniform, a MacBook for Grade 8 and above, and an annual deposit are additional, and the school does not publish those amounts.
Does ISNS offer boarding?
No. ISNS is a day school and does not provide accommodation for students on campus. The IB's school profile also records its boarding facilities as day only. Where both parents live outside mainland China, Shenzhen's published requirements include a notarised guardianship entrustment naming a local guardian, with a parental power of attorney authenticated by a Chinese embassy or consulate.
What diploma do ISNS students graduate with?
Every graduate receives the Canadian (New Brunswick) High School Diploma, issued by the province of New Brunswick. In the Class of 2026, 53% of students also earned the full IB Diploma, and the remaining 47% earned IB Certificates alongside the Canadian diploma. Entry into the full Diploma Programme in Grade 11 depends on internal thresholds including an MYP Personal Project score of 4 out of 7 or higher.
Is ISNS accredited?
Yes. ACS WASC lists ISNS as accredited under code 62 42182 999, and the Council of International Schools accredited the school on 2 February 2024. It is authorised by the International Baccalaureate for the PYP, MYP and Diploma Programme, all dated 1 August 2016, under school code 051105, and it appears on Atlantic Education International's register of New Brunswick offshore schools. It is also a member of ACAMIS and EARCOS.
What happens if we withdraw after paying?
For the 2026-27 year, a written withdrawal before 1 June 2026 is refunded less the deposit. Between 1 and 30 June, the refund is less 20% of annual tuition. From 1 July to the first day of school, it is less 50%. After the first day of school, or after the student's start date, no refund is made. All withdrawal notices must be sent in writing to the admissions office.
How do you get to ISNS by metro?
The nearest station is Taoyuancun on Shenzhen Metro Line 7. Antuoshan, the interchange for Lines 2 and 8, is two stops away; Chegongmiao, for Lines 1, 9 and 11, is four stops; and Xili, for Line 5, is four stops. Huanggang Port sits on Line 7 itself, ten stops from the school with no change of train.
Considering ISNS for your family?
Alifa Education Services places foreign-passport families into schools across mainland China, and advises on guardianship for students whose parents are not resident in the city. If you are weighing ISNS against other options in Shenzhen, or need to resolve the guardianship question before you accept a place, we can help.
Email admissions@alifaedtech.com · WeChat larry9455 · WhatsApp +86 152 0107 9455
Disclosure: Alifa Education Services is an independent education placement consultancy. We may earn a referral fee from partner schools when families enroll, at no extra cost to the family. Our recommendations are based on fit, not fee structure.
Sources and verification
Every figure on this page was taken from the school's own published materials, from an accrediting body's own register, or from a government source. Accreditation status was checked on each awarding organisation's register rather than taken from the school's website.
- ISNS, 2026-2027 Tuition and Fees Schedule — isnsz.com/admissions/tuition-fees.html
- ISNS, Admissions — isnsz.com/admissions.html
- ISNS, Admissions FAQ — isnsz.com/admissionsSt/FAQ.html
- ISNS, School Bus Service — isnsz.com/ISNS/school-bus.html
- ISNS, Grade 12 requirements for New Brunswick, Canada — isnsz.com/ISNS/g12-requirements-for-new-brunswick-canada.html
- ISNS official WeChat, Class of 2026 results — mp.weixin.qq.com/s/90X10Edhz2R1-S6AgFHdRA
- ISNS official WeChat, Class of 2026 graduation ceremony (Chinese), 3 June 2026 — account ISNS2002. WeChat does not expose a stable public permalink for this post; viewed in the WeChat app on 25 August 2026.
- ISNS official WeChat, About ISNS — mp.weixin.qq.com/s/BmMT0osFJDR7SG47ziQNZw
- International Baccalaureate, school profile — ibo.org, Find an IB School
- ACS WASC, Directory of Schools — directory.acswasc.org (search "Nanshan")
- Council of International Schools, newly accredited announcement — cois.org
- Atlantic Education International, offshore schools — aei-inc.ca/for-schools/offshore-schools
- ACAMIS membership directory — acamis.org
- EARCOS member schools — earcos.org/member_schools.php
- Government of New Brunswick, high school graduation requirements — gnb.ca
- Shenzhen Municipal Government, guardianship entrustment requirements for foreign minors — sz.gov.cn
- Shenzhen Transport Bureau, Metro Line 7 station sequence — jtys.sz.gov.cn
- Nanshan District Government, schools for children of foreign personnel — szns.gov.cn (PDF)
Last reviewed: 5th September 2026. Fees, accreditation status and transport arrangements change. If you find something on this page that no longer matches the school's own materials, please tell us at admissions@alifaedtech.com and we will correct it.
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