The British School in Tokyo

Established in 1989, The British School in Tokyo (BST) is the largest British international school in Japan, providing a broad and balanced curriculum for international students aged 3 to 18. Throughout the school’s history, families have been attracted to BST by its outstanding reputation for academic excellence, strong support for students, world-class teaching and learning and, of course, its central city location.

Through the truly holistic education BST provides, students learn in and beyond the classroom. Music, sports, art and drama are significant areas of strength. In addition, all students from Year 1 onward take part in overnight residential trips, visiting various places across Japan. Students benefit from being active, discovering new ways of learning and gaining a greater understanding of themselves through various individual and collaborative activities.

BST was selected as one of the world’s top 100 private schools in the Spear’s Schools Index in both 2025 and 2026.

Over the past three years, approximately one-third of our Year 13 graduates have gone on to study at universities ranked within the top 50 of the QS World University Rankings, including the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, McGill University, the University of Toronto and the University of Pennsylvania. Approximately two-thirds have entered universities ranked within the top 100, and four-fifths have entered universities ranked within the top 200. While the U.K. is the most popular destination for our graduates, one-third of the students joined non-U.K. universities.

The school started offering International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) for Years 12 and 13 from August 2025. The curriculum for other year groups remains unchanged, with (I)GCSEs continuing in Year 11.

As set out in our vision statement, we look to nurture each student’s unique potential and strive to help them create a strong sense of self, built around purpose and passion. This means that the focus is on each child as an individual. Based on the English National Curriculum, BST provides students with a balance between structured learning and opportunities to pursue their interests within each subject.Furthermore, teachers design engaging, creative and active tasks, ensuring that students can learn in ways they find exciting and inspiring. Learning activities are tailored to individual students rather than the class as a whole. Lessons, student-set targets and activities are designed to ensure that each individual makes progress at their own level. We aim for students to leave the school confident in themselves and in their own interests and abilities.