🇹🇼 Taipei · Schools
Schooling and childcare in Taipei
A small international sector clustered in the north of the city, with strict eligibility rules that catch families out.
The thing people get wrongTaiwan restricts enrolment at licensed foreign schools by nationality and residency status, so a family's options depend on their passports as much as their budget. Check eligibility with the school before you plan anything around it.
The sector and who may attend
Taipei American School and Taipei European School are the largest, with Dominican International, the Japanese and Korean schools and several others alongside. Licensed foreign schools are intended for foreign nationals, and eligibility rules around citizenship and residency are applied — dual nationals in particular should confirm their position in writing early. Private bilingual schools following the Taiwanese curriculum are an alternative, and local public schools are free and taught in Mandarin.
- Foreign schools: eligibility depends on nationality and residency status — confirm first.
- Bilingual private schools follow the Taiwanese curriculum with English provision.
- Public schools are free, Mandarin-medium and allocated by household registration area.
- The international academic year starts in August; the local one in September.
Where they are
Taipei American School is in Tianmu and Taipei European School has campuses in Tianmu and Yangmingshan, which is why the expatriate family map of Taipei points north. Shilin, Tianmu and the Yangmingshan slopes have the larger flats and houses that follow from that, at the cost of a longer trip into the centre.
- Tianmu and Shilin are where most international-school families live.
- Buses run from the main residential areas; ask for the route map.
- The MRT Red Line serves Tianmu and Shilin well.
Applying
Apply directly, early, with the last two years of reports, and expect assessment and an English screening. Places in popular year groups are limited by the size of the sector rather than by demand management, so waiting lists are real. Fees sit at the top of the Asian range.
- Documents: passports, ARC, birth certificate, immunisation record, two years of reports.
- Application fee plus a refundable or place-holding deposit.
- Confirm eligibility in writing before committing to anything else.
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