TES is the only school in Taipei where a child can study the French Baccalauréat, the German Abitur, a British national curriculum from Primary through IGCSE or MYP, and the full International Baccalaureate Diploma or Career-related Programme at Post-16, all on a single campus. No other school in Taipei offers this range of national and international pathways in one place.
That structural breadth is the school's strongest case for the right family, and it is also the source of most of its complexity. Families evaluating TES are usually not choosing between TES and TAS. They are choosing TES because a particular section or pathway fits their child's language heritage, their partner's nationality, or their university planning in a way that an American or Taiwanese-international program does not.
In Harland's experience, the TES families who reach out to us are most often in the British section, prioritizing UK university placement, and working through the program from Primary through MYP and on to the IB Diploma.
Families new to TES are often surprised by how distinct the three national sections are. The British, French, and German sections each follow their own national curriculum through primary and into secondary, each with their own faculty and language of instruction at the primary level. Families typically choose a section at enrollment and their child progresses within it.
In Secondary, the sections begin to converge. British section students follow the British curriculum through Year 9, then move into IGCSE (for the final cohorts) or MYP, and typically on to the IB Diploma or IB CP at Post-16. French section students follow the French curriculum toward the French Baccalauréat. German section students follow the German Abitur pathway. The IB Diploma is the most common shared endpoint for British section students.
The practical implication for families: the choice of section at enrollment is significant and not easily reversible. Switching between national sections mid-program is complicated by the differences in curriculum sequencing, language of instruction, and assessment. Families benefit from being clear about the university and mobility outcomes they are planning for before committing to a section.
The roots of Taipei European School predate its current form. Before 2003, the British, French, and German communities in Taipei each operated their own separate schools, serving their respective expatriate populations through their national curricula. Over time, these institutions collaborated, integrated shared facilities, and eventually unified as a single consortium school.
A significant milestone came in the 1990s when the Swire Foundation provided integration funding to support the consolidation of the European educational offering in Taipei. The unified Taipei European School was formally established in 2003 on the current Yangmingshan campus, bringing the three national sections together under a single institutional umbrella while preserving each section's distinct curriculum, language of instruction, and pedagogical tradition.
TES has been authorized to offer the IB Diploma Programme since the early 2000s, one of the earlier authorizations in the region, and has subsequently added the IB Career-related Programme and the IB Middle Years Programme. The school holds accreditations from the Council of International Schools, British Schools Overseas, and Cambridge Assessment International Education. Its identity sits at the intersection of three national educational traditions and the IB framework.
TES operates three parallel national curricula from primary through lower secondary, converging at Post-16 (Years 12 and 13) around the International Baccalaureate Diploma and Career-related Programme. Mandarin is taught as an additional language across all three sections. Students typically choose a national section at enrollment based on language, heritage, and university planning.
National curriculum for England in Primary and Lower Secondary. Transitioning from IGCSE to MYP at Key Stage 4, with MYP becoming the sole pathway from 2026-27.
At Post-16, students move into the IB Diploma or IB Career-related Programme. Most British section students target UK, European, and international universities.
French national curriculum from Maternelle through the Baccalauréat. Taught in French with English and Mandarin as additional languages.
The French section operates within the framework of the French Ministry of Education and aligns to the curriculum of French schools abroad.
German national curriculum from Grundschule through the Abitur. Taught in German with English and Mandarin as additional languages.
The German section aligns to German federal standards for schools abroad, supporting students toward the Abitur qualification.
TES publishes its IB Diploma and Career-related Programme results in an annual Learning Outcomes report available on the school website. Results described here reflect the school's published summary framing.
TES students in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme consistently achieve scores in line with or above global IB averages, according to the school's annual Learning Outcomes report. The school emphasizes that its IB students routinely go on to competitive UK, European, and international university destinations, and that the IB Diploma at TES prepares students effectively for both applied and academic degree programs.
The IB Career-related Programme is a distinctive feature of TES's Post-16 offering. Students completing the CP earn both the IB CP certificate and a specialist career-related qualification in their chosen pathway, which together provide a pre-university foundation for students whose direction is more applied than purely academic. TES reports strong CP outcomes, with students successfully progressing to both degree programs and profession-oriented pathways after graduation.
A note on data availability. TES publishes its annual Learning Outcomes report on the school website. For granular subject-level data, prospective families can request the most recent report directly from the TES admissions office during the application process.
TES does not publish a named matriculation list, but the school reports that graduates matriculate to competitive universities across the UK, continental Europe, North America, Asia, and Australasia. The breakdown below reflects the school's published orientation and the typical pattern across the three national sections.
TES uses a holistic admissions review rather than a standardized external entrance test. Each section has slightly different admission criteria, reflecting the different national curricula, but all applications are processed through the unified TES admissions office. The school is generally accessible to both expatriate and some local families depending on section eligibility.
What we observe in the families we have helped navigate TES, alongside what is publicly known about the school. A useful filter before committing to a specific national section and the IB Diploma trajectory.
Our work with TES families sits primarily in the British section, from MYP into the IB Diploma. Our approach reflects what we have learned matters most for students in that pathway, particularly those aiming at UK universities.
The Taipei guide, school-by-school coverage, and two Harland Review editorials families often read alongside TES.
A consultation with our Student Coordinator clarifies which part of the TES journey matters most for your family right now, whether that is MYP subject support, IB Diploma planning, or UCAS preparation for UK university applications. We start by listening.