Leading international schools have seen sharp increases in the number of applications for admission in September - confounding predictions of an exodus of expatriate students as the global financial crisis bites.
Long waiting lists remain at all seven top international schools surveyed by Education Post, with only one, Hong Kong International School, seeing the number of applications for entry in September fall, from 850 last year to 835 this year.
Canadian International School in Aberdeen has had a 30 per cent rise in applications across the board, with the number of students applying for pre-reception to Primary Two classes up by 35 per cent to 40 per cent.
At German Swiss International School, on the Peak, there has been a 15 per cent increase in applications for the coming school year, with 929 received so far this year compared with 806 last year.
And at Discovery Bay International School, waiting lists have reached record levels, with applications to the key entry-level groups of nursery to Primary Four up by 13 per cent.
Across the English Schools Foundation's nine primary schools, the number of applications for entry to Year One has risen by more than 10 per cent - from 1,342 last year to 1,487. However, there has been a fall in applications to the entry form of its five secondary schools, Year Seven, from 254 last year to 229 for this year.