To take relocate family overseas to HK when they are in fantastic schools?

[Halfeatenlunch]

I have an opportunity to move out of the UK - both of us fully onboard.

Lifestyle will be great, weather is better, good food and more convenient, and culture suits us better.

Financially, kids would be in international schools so no issue on language and so on.

So it's great on all fronts really.

However... our little ones are in simply outstanding schools (primary) and I have a serious fear of taking them out of somewhere they are happy, confident and with a clear path towards 11+ and so on.
If we were to come back, I suspect we will no longer be as ready for the secondaries.

Is this a terrible idea to rip something so good from them?

We did something similar - both kids settled in ‘impossible to get into primary’ nicely set up little lifestyle with a highly convenient p/t role for me, lovely house etc. but we got an opportunity to go abroad. It’s the best thing we did as a family. I mean it’s great they are on track for 11+ and you have it all mapped out but think of how a HK experience will shape and expand their view of the world, the people they will meet and the trips you will surely go on. Ours did the international school too and whilst it wasn’t as rigours academically it was worth the trade off and have come back and got into competitive schools. Haven’t missed their old school once. Best of luck

I moved overseas as a teenager with my family, loved it. Your kids will gain so much from it - the first few months will have some challenges but once you're settled you'll probably never want to come back! I'd say just go for it. Is it better to regret going, or not going? ! If it feels right then do it. I'm always on the lookout for my own opportunity!

Average fish in a national pond or average fish in an international pond? To co-opt a phrase.

I think I’d go for the international pond if it were me deciding.

Tutors exist if you’re really worried.

If your kids are under the age of 8, yes, absolutely go for it! I wish we’d done it but my kids are now at secondary (in amazing state school) and I wouldn’t move them now.

How old are they?

Go. You couldn’t give them a more enriching experience.

Ours were in outstanding primary and we moved to Singapore and they’ve had an amazing time! We didn’t have a clear secondary route, so are moving back to a different part of the country, which feels like less of a big decision than moving out of London. Lots of people here have also been in HK - majority prefer HK I would say :)

I absolutely love HK so am not the best person to ask because I'd just say go!

I grew up in 3 countries due to my dad's work. Never did any of us any harm.

3 sisters.

I think an international upbringing brings a huge international look on life.

England was -is! - always great about that, sadly Brexshit had ruined all off that.

Life is international now.

Oh, and my son travelled to China via Hong Kong (before Covid). Had a great time.

He's working in Spain now. His room is still here if he needs it.

Oh yeah, go for it. We did similar. Not HK but somewhere nice for 5 years. Great memories!

I'm biased as HK is an awesome city, and I raised my kids there; now doing IB and predicted in line with red brick uni requirements, one looking at Oxbridge. So in my eyes, you should go and just keep them there for secondary :)

I've seen many families move back at different stages of schooling, I've yet to see any miss out academically in terms of slotting in where they should do. If they weren't 11+ material in HK they won't suddenly become it by moving back to the UK. Equally, those who were flying continued to do so regardless of which country they were in. HK international schools know the kids move back at key stages and I can't recall much being missed out. HK is also teeming with tutors; it's an enormous industry, so anything you're genuinely worried is missing from the curriculum can be picked up.

I would definitely say go for it, but like I say a tad biased!

Ours were 5, 3 and 1 when we moved from the UK to Singapore and it was such a great experience for the entire family. The standard of international schools in Singapore is very high (I assume same in HK) and the children learnt so much. I think it was also very bonding as a family - this is a unique experience that we shared. All three have continued to do well in school and the youngest speaks Mandarin fluently from her time in Singapore. Absolutely, definitely, go!

Schools in Hong Kong are great and the lifestyle is fab.
However, rents are extortionate and tuition fees will be high. Make sure to do your homework before you go.

Hi we've just moved back the other way. HK was amazing until 2019 but we didn't feel comfortable with the political situation and CCP-ification of the law and education system. You very much need to watch your step these days and freedom of expression is pretty much gone. Think heavy censorship, snitching, watching your mouth, phones being tapped, not being able to express certain things to family/friends back home over messages/calls.

We went through giving birth to our daughter during zero covid when they were separating newborns from their mothers, I was thrown in quarantine camp twice as a so called close contact, I spent 6 months isolating myself for fear of being separated from my child. We couldn't see family for 3 years. My husband is a lawyer and we worried about longer term job security. Almost all of our friends left between 2019 and 2022.

As young children they probably won't notice these kind of things but they will need to watch what they say. As older kids I'd really advise thinking twice about coming due to issues with freedom of expression.

The education system is very pushy so need to prepare for that. The lifestyle and travel opportunities are next level though, we would have stayed on had it not been for the changes.

We moved from London and rent is much of a muchness tbh, but groceries are 2-3x more expensive if you want to eat in a similar way. Ideally school fees are covered, you will not want to put your kids in a local school.

In a nutshell, it's an amazing life changing opportunity but please be mindful of recent changes and how you feel about them.

I was coming on to say almost exactly this, my sister has just come back for the above reasons - she could have written the above post almost word for word!

Hk feels a very different place to 5 years ago now.

We are coming the other way, for reasons similar to @fleur89, but I'd still recommend it, especially if you have never lived overseas.

HK is a great place to live for a few years: convenient, comfortable, with easy access to the beach and mountains and city, and to most of Asia within a couple of hours. There are lots of international families so you will make friends quickly (especially as you have children). Many people come for a few years and stay for life.

We decided HK wouldn't be permanent home for us, partly because of the National Security Law. I haven't personally experienced the things @fleur89 mentioned, but we didn't want to raise our son to only know this environment.

On your practical question: international schools here are good (as in, your children will probably enjoy them) but most are not very academically rigorous. Local parents who choose international schools are mostly doing it because they don't want the very academic local system. Weirdly though, at the same time there is lots of tutoring and extra classes.

For the 11+ you will need to prepare. On the other hand, you will need to prepare if you are in the UK too.

Tutors here are expensive (£80/hr is cheap). If that's not a problem, or if you can prepare your children yourself, then I'd say go for it! To me, the pros outweigh the cons.

Also, the 11+ is never a given, even if you stay in the UK, and is certainly not impossible if you move to HK. So it seems a shame to give up what will probably be a great and enriching formative experience for that reason.

I should add that there are international schools here that run on the UK system so may prepare your children better for 11+ than our son's school, so don't rely solely on my view of the schools here.

I’d think very carefully about moving to Hong Kong in the current climate.

I’d take heed of some of the advice above regarding recent changes in HK. Since covid HK has become much less ‘international’ and has returned to many of its pre-British ‘ways’. Family of mine have returned to the UK with their young family for similar reasons to @fleur89 and others above. It’s not got the freedom it used to have and has changed significantly is the last 3-4 years.

As you mention coming back... remember the 11+ exam is end of yr5/beginning of Yr6. You might not be able to do it from abroad (presuming you mean State grammar) and would have to be resident in the UK for Secondary applications.

As with PP... I know quite a few people who have left China in the last few years. (But know no one in Hong Kong). Especially teachers in the international schools... they've moved on to Thailand, Singapore, Japan etc as the conditions are better.

I haven't lived in HK but visited in 2011, before the changes, and loved it. I lived in other typically expat places as a teenager though and loved that too. I was so glad my parents took the risk and gave us that opportunity.

Regarding the changes in HK, I haven't experienced this but remember that anywhere you live outside of the U.K. you're likely to find some aspects of the culture and lifestyle more or less appealing than others. For example in the Middle East, anything LGBTQ+ isn't ok. During the pandemic, primary age children were told they weren't allowed to draw rainbows. And of course there are always discussions around human rights etc.

Only you can decide if some of the aspects of life in HK will be ok for you and your family, but remember that it's not forever, you can enjoy all the good things for a few years and come back. Some great advice from people here who have first hand experience. Being away may even change your perspective on what you want when you return, or you might decide to move to another country, instead!

@Halfeatenlunch

no way on gods earth I would go to Hong Kong now.
china is now a terrible place
in the last decade it has changed
HK is now China.

i know many business people who won’t go there no and ones that have too take burner phones and not lap tops.

its not the place it was 10/15 years ago.

Hello everyone, thank you SO much for sharing your personal experiences and insights. It was such a niche question I really did not expect so many responses (if any at all).

It's given me a ton of reassurance that actually that others have done this before and majority seem to really enjoy it. I think we'll also love the lifestyle too to be honest! And while the plan is always to be there long term, if for some reason we have to return, it's probably not the end of the world to then slot them into a year 2,3,4 school place back in the UK - appreciating there's probably going to be a wait for a place potentially.

For those that mentioned the changes in HK, I keep hearing about these too - but on a day to day basis, and as someone that hasn't lived through the period of change, I think the only reality that'll affect us is the day to day - which means the morning school runs, eating out / groceries, hobbies and activities with the kids, and weekends out at the beach, hike, shops, biking, swimming and so on.

I think we've convinced ourselves that life in HK with the kids will be amazing, even with the transition which may be a little bumpy but will settle. So the remaining niggle we're trying to get over right now is just seeing how happy and confident they are at school right now - and if they will suddenly lose that spark / confidence / joy when they find themselves surrounded by people who speak a different language, in a different setting and so on...