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Hangzhou Foreign Languages School

China, Hangzhou

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The school at a glance
Instructs in Mandarin, English
Fees RMB 90,000
Ages 12 - 18 years
Type Co-educational (boarding)
Opened 1964
Bus Service No
Academic offering
Curriculum Chinese National Curriculum, British Curriculum, Cambridge International AS Levels, Cambridge A Levels
Taught languages English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish
Strengths Languages, STEM, Academic Enrichment
Clubs Academic and Intellectual, Arts and Creative, Cultural and Language
Stages Middle School, Secondary School, High School
Introduction

Hangzhou Foreign Languages School (HFLS) was founded in 1964 and is administered by the Zhejiang Education Department. The school is sited in the Xiaoheshan higher-education zone in west Hangzhou and operates an integrated middle- and high-school programme. The campus covers more than 150 mu (building area near 70,000 m²) and the website lists facilities including dormitories, laboratories, a library with over 120,000 volumes, a gymnasium, tennis courts and a soccer field with running tracks. HFLS emphasises foreign-language study: English is the main foreign language and the school also teaches French, German, Japanese and Spanish. The site records that HFLS introduced a UK A‑level pathway in 2008 and runs a Cambridge international high-school project; the school also has a formal recommendation quota for admission to top Chinese universities. Recent website notices show about 54 classes and more than 2,000 students on campus.

309 Liuhe Road · Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China ; 309 Liuhe Road · Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

The Essentials

Hangzhou Foreign Languages School has instruction in Mandarin, English.

Location
Hangzhou Foreign Languages School (HFLS) is located in the Xiaoheshan higher-education zone in west Hangzhou; the school's English page lists its campus address as 299 LiuHe Road. The campus is part of an area with several universities and research institutes, and Hangzhou's road and public-transport networks connect the district to the city; Shanghai is commonly described as about a two-hour drive away. For exact transit options and commute times from a particular neighbourhood, contact the school or check local maps.

Stages
HFLS is a secondary school covering middle and high school levels (typically grades 7–12). The school also runs an international/A‑Level programme (the “Cambridge”/A‑Level centre) for senior students as a separate international track.

Type
HFLS is a public, co‑educational secondary school administered under Zhejiang provincial education authorities. The main campus includes dormitory buildings and the school operates boarding for some students/programmes (for example the A‑Level programme uses a boarding model).

Additional learning support
The school's public materials (official English page and municipal summaries) do not list detailed Additional Learning Needs/SEN services or a dedicated SEN department. Parents of children with assessed learning needs should contact the school's admissions or student‑support office directly to discuss individual provisions and any possible accommodations.

Country affiliation
HFLS is a Chinese public school managed under the Zhejiang Provincial Education Department; it is not affiliated with another country.

Religious affiliation
The school does not list any religious affiliation in its official descriptions or public profiles.

School day structure
The school's public website describes campus facilities (teaching buildings, canteens and dormitories) but does not publish a daily timetable or exact start/end times. Boarding students typically follow an extended day that includes evening study sessions; parents should request the current daily schedule (start/end times, break and meal arrangements) directly from the school.

Bus service
There is no clear public listing of regular school‑run bus routes on HFLS's English website or municipal profiles; some neighbouring schools in Hangzhou do operate dedicated school buses, so arrangements vary locally. If a school bus is essential for your family, contact HFLS admissions or the front office for up‑to‑date information on any routes, pick‑up points, costs and booking procedures (the school's English contact details and address are shown on its website).
Diving Deeper

Boarding Arrangements
The school has on-campus dormitory buildings and an on-campus guesthouse.

Food Options
There is a dining area with three canteens for students and one canteen for faculty; vending machines and a school store are available.

Governance and Ownership
The school is administered directly by the Zhejiang Education Department. It was founded in 1964.
Fees

Annual tuition at Hangzhou Foreign Languages School ranges from RMB 90,000 for 2026/27.

Application fees
- The school's published admissions notices for the Cambridge (中英合作/剑桥) programme show online registration steps but do not list a separate non‑refundable application or registration fee.

Tuition fees — by programme (per term / per academic year)
- Cambridge International High School (杭州外国语学校 剑桥国际高中): RMB 45,000 per semester — i.e., RMB 90,000 per standard two‑semester academic year.
- Mainland/domestic programmes (main campus primary, junior and senior sections): the school is a public (province‑level) boarding full‑time school; the school's public materials do not publish a single consolidated per‑term tuition table for domestic mainstream classes on the admissions pages consulted. Any domestic programme charges follow applicable public/municipal fee approvals rather than the international‑programme tariff published for the Cambridge project.

Billing schedule and payment terms
- For the Cambridge programme the tuition is stated and charged on a per‑semester basis (RMB 45,000/semester). Specific invoicing dates, payment deadlines and any instalment arrangements are set and communicated by the school's finance/admissions office and are not given in the publicly posted admission notice.

Boarding fees (if applicable)
- The school operates as a boarding (寄宿制) school. Boarding or accommodation costs are not included in the published RMB 45,000/semester Cambridge tuition and are shown as separate charge items; no fixed boarding fee amount is published in the admissions notice consulted.

Other costs and typical exclusions
- The school explicitly states the published Cambridge tuition does not include: career/college guidance fees, textbooks, accommodation, school uniform, study supplies, certain cooperative elective course fees, international/global examination fees and student‑selected external examination fees. Expect additional items such as cafeteria/meal charges, exam registration fees (e.g., Cambridge/IGCSE/A‑level global exam fees), and optional activity or trip costs.

Refund information
- A public refund policy or detailed refund schedule is not included in the school's published admissions statement for the Cambridge project; refund rules (if any) are handled by the school's finance/administration and should be confirmed at invoice/contract stage.

Fee payment options (typical practice)
- The school's admissions materials do not list specific payment channels. Common methods used by Chinese schools and universities for tuition are bank transfer/electronic bank payment, school online payment portals or campus account deduction; for international payments families often use bank telegraphic transfer or third‑party educational payment platforms (Flywire / similar). Confirm accepted methods, payee account details and currency with the school finance office when you receive an invoice.
Academics

Hangzhou Foreign Languages School teaches Chinese National Curriculum, British Curriculum, Cambridge International AS Levels, Cambridge A Levels for students aged 12 to 18.

Curriculum
Hangzhou Foreign Languages School (杭外) is a public, integrated junior‑and‑senior middle school (grades 7–12) directly administered under Zhejiang education authorities. It delivers the national compulsory curriculum at both junior and senior stages while emphasising foreign‑language specialism and offering English plus multiple additional languages (French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, Italian). The junior‑middle programme (初中, years 7–9) follows the standard national syllabus supplemented by language immersion, small‑class and a “one‑major, one‑minor” language teaching model with elective options. The senior‑middle programme (高中, years 10–12) prepares students for the national senior‑high diploma/Gaokao pathway and also operates a Cambridge international high‑school programme (剑桥国际高中项目) that readies students for Cambridge global examinations (this programme is run separately and has its own fee structure). The school is one of the Education Ministry‑recognised foreign‑language schools with qualification to recommend students under foreign‑language recommendation quotas and integrates language, culture and critical thinking across its curriculum.
Wellbeing

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
The school reports regular home–school activities and parent meetings that focus on student growth, stage-based feedback and class-level pastoral work; a May 9, 2025 parent meeting described invited psychological input and detailed class teacher reports to parents. The school's published profile also emphasizes whole-child development and moral/character education as part of its programme.

Special Educational Needs (SEN)
The school's admissions guidance requires students to be in ‘身心健康' (physically and mentally healthy) and lists specific medical/health conditions that make a student unsuitable for boarding (for example: asthma, heart disease, sleepwalking, epilepsy and certain other disorders), indicating health screening at intake. The website does not publish a dedicated SEN policy, named SEN team, or a clear list of the types of special educational needs it can support; it does not describe itself as a specialist SEN institution.

English as an Additional Language (EAL)
The school's website describes multilingual instruction (English plus options such as French, German, Japanese and Spanish) and a Cambridge international high‑school programme taught by Chinese and foreign teachers, showing a strong language curriculum. However, the site does not publish a specific EAL (English-as-an-additional-language) support policy, English‑language withdrawal/sheltered programmes, or named EAL staff, so targeted EAL provision is not publicly described.

Mental Wellbeing
The school's news items show it organises parent meetings that include input from external mental‑health professionals (for example, a psychological expert from the Zhejiang University medical/mental‑health centre spoke at a recent parents' meeting), indicating use of external expertise for adolescent mental‑health topics. Its admissions materials also state students must be ‘physically and mentally healthy', reflecting an institutional emphasis on students' health status, but the website does not publish a detailed, school‑run mental‑health programme or named counselling team.

Safeguarding
The school is a provincial, state‑affiliated public school under the Zhejiang education system (the site notes its status and oversight), but the website does not publish a standalone child‑protection or safeguarding policy, a named safeguarding officer, or explicit reporting procedures for safeguarding concerns. Therefore, specific safeguarding policies and staff roles are not publicly disclosed on the school website.
Parent Experience

History
Hangzhou Foreign Languages School (HFLS) was founded in 1964 as one of China's earlier secondary schools with an emphasis on foreign-language instruction. The school is a public secondary school administered by the Zhejiang Provincial Education Department. Over the decades HFLS added vocational and teacher-training language classes (notably in the early 1980s) as part of its program development. In 2013 the school's management model changed from a public-owned, private-run arrangement to a fully public-run structure.

Community
HFLS serves a student body across multiple grades and maintains regular grade- and class-level parent meetings, school assemblies and thematic events that bring students, families, and staff together. Recent school news describes parent conferences that include invited specialists (for example, a mental-health expert) and class-level meetings that review students' artistic, cultural and athletic activities. The school's campus sits within a higher-education zone in western Hangzhou and the school routinely programs arts festivals, cultural events, and interclass competitions such as chorus, jump-rope and tug-of-war.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
HFLS regularly convenes class and grade parent meetings and uses these forums for academic briefings, psychological-health talks, and planning for term activities; a recent notice describes an initial-year parent meeting that combined expert talks with class-level feedback sessions. Parents at HFLS participate in organizing and supporting student events—examples cited in school reports include preparations for the school's art and cultural festivals and coordination around class performances and sports competitions. The school's communications describe follow-up small-group class meetings after large assemblies so that teachers and parents can discuss individual students and class plans. Those parent gatherings also serve as a channel for volunteers and parent-led contributions to school activities and logistics. More broadly, Chinese guidance on school parent committees frames such parent groups as advisory and participatory bodies that collaborate with schools on matters affecting students and families.
Facilities

Facilities Overview
HFLS sits on a 50-acre campus in the Xiaoheshan Higher-education Zone in western Hangzhou. It includes dormitories, teaching buildings, laboratories and academic halls, a library, a gymnasium, a tennis court and a soccer field with running tracks. There are on-campus dining facilities with three student canteens and a separate faculty canteen, vending machines, a school store, shared showers, laundry service and drinking-water fountains. Dormitory buildings include an on-campus guesthouse. The campus is fully web-supported.

Sports Facilities
The gymnasium accommodates basketball, volleyball, badminton and table-tennis. There is a soccer field with running tracks. Outdoor basketball and tennis courts are available on campus.

Academic Facilities
The media center includes PC labs, reading rooms and a library with a collection of over 120,000 books. Teaching buildings have capacity for 3,000 pupils. Dormitories and an on-campus guesthouse support student life.

Extra Curricular Facilities
Student development programs include model United Nations, parliamentary debate, speech training, drama, a math talent training course and a readers' club. More than 30 student clubs exist on campus. Campus theme celebrations include the Foreign language festival, Culture Festival, Science Fair, Art Festival and Sports Meeting. Volunteering is valued, with groups of volunteers, students and teachers going to remote areas to teach in villages.
Extra-Curricular Activities

Cultural & Language
HFLS participates in the Zhejiang-Minnesota Education Cooperation Project; since 1986, a six-month teacher exchange occurs annually, benefiting more than 15,000 students over 25 years. HFLS was designated as Hanban base school in 2007; annually three HFLS teachers assist two Confucius classrooms in the UK and USA, and HFLS hosted over 70 exchange students from the UK through Chinese Bridge in 2009. HFLS has sister-school partnerships across Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania, including Sidwell Friends School in the USA and The King's School, Grantham in the UK; over 80 HFLS students participate in sister-school exchanges each year and more than 10 groups visit from overseas institutions. HFLS maintains overseas university partnerships with The University of Iowa, North Carolina State University, University of Toronto, ESIGELEC, Bocconi University, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and the University of Liverpool; in 2008 the UK A-level curriculum was introduced and a Cambridge International High School Experiment Program established, with the first cohort of 58 students admitted to top universities in the USA and UK, including 5 to Cambridge University and Oxford.
Languages

Language Provision
HFLS emphasizes foreign language teaching. The UK's A-level curriculum was introduced in 2008.
Reputation

Accreditations
1) Ministry of Education recognition — The school is identified by China's Ministry of Education as one of the 16 national foreign‑language schools that have the privilege to recommend a fixed quota of graduates for university admission (保送生推荐资格).

2) National Demonstrative/Model Foreign Languages School (全国首批示范性外国语学校) — listed as one of the first group of national model foreign‑language schools, a formal designation used in China to recognize schools with a sustained foreign‑language education focus and model practices.

3) Zhejiang Provincial Key Middle School (浙江省教育厅直属的省一级重点中学) — the school is administered directly by the Zhejiang Provincial Education Department and designated a provincial‑level key middle school, a provincial recognition of its institutional role and responsibilities.

4) Zhejiang Provincial Characteristic/First‑level Model School (浙江省首批一级特色示范学校) — designation by the province marking the school as an early example of a provincially recognized school with distinctive curricular or programmatic features.

5) Zhejiang Provincial Modernized School (浙江省现代化学校) — named by provincial authorities as meeting standards for modern campus facilities and information‑technology supported teaching.

6) Zhejiang Province Demonstrative Party Organization for Primary/Secondary Schools (浙江省中小学校示范性党组织) — the school is listed as a model Party organization at the provincial level, indicating provincial recognition of its Party‑building work.

7) HANBAN / Confucius‑Institute‑related base school (2007) — the English pages state the school became a HANBAN (Confucius Institute Headquarters) base school and is qualified to teach Chinese to overseas students; this indicates formal qualification/partnership with Hanban programs as recorded on the school site.

8) G30 Global Elite High Schools membership (入选G30全球精英中学组织) — the school is listed as having been selected into the G30 network of internationally connected elite secondary schools.

9) University partnership/designations with Peking University and Tsinghua University — the site lists cooperative bases and program designations such as Peking University “Boya” co‑education base (北京大学博雅人才共育基地), Peking University “Guoyou Plan” joint‑training base (北京大学“国优计划”联合培养基地) and Tsinghua University “Guoyou Plan” education practice base (清华大学“国优计划”教育实践基地); these are institutional partnership recognitions listed on the school site.

10) National science/AI education experimental designations — the school is listed on the site as a National Primary & Secondary Science Education Experimental School (全国中小学科学教育实验校) and as one of the Ministry of Science and Technology's first‑batch experimental schools for K–12 artificial‑intelligence education (科技部首批中小学人工智能教育项目实验校).

11) China Association for Science and Technology “Talent Program” middle‑school base (中国科协全国“英才计划”中学培养基地学校) and Peking University science‑education research base cooperation (北京大学科学教育研究基地合作学校) — institutional training/research base designations recorded on the school site.
Admissions

Admissions
1. Check eligibility and timetable. Hangzhou Foreign Languages School (杭外) publishes an annual招生方案 with precise eligibility (for 2025 the intake was limited to students with primary school status in Hangzhou's main urban districts) and exact online registration windows; parents must confirm the current year's registration/opening dates on the school website or WeChat account because the school requires online-only registration and will not accept mailed or in-person initial sign-ups.

2. Register online and provide accurate personal information. Parents/guardians must complete the school's online报名 system (via the school website or the official WeChat platform) and ensure the student's name, ID number and in‑school (学籍) information are entered exactly as on official documents; the school explicitly states it will reject applications with inaccurate or unverified information. Keep your login details and watch the system for the registration deadline and any required uploads (e.g., identity or health information).

3. School verification and announcement of preliminary results. After online submission the school reviews each application for scope and eligibility (e.g., district residency and valid primary‑school学籍); families should check the online system on the date the school gives for审核结果 because only verified applicants proceed to the next stage. If the school finds missing or false information it may disqualify the application, so bring correctly issued identity documents if the system requests later verification.

4. Computerised allocation (派位) to select candidates for assessment. When applications exceed a set multiple of planned places the school conducts a supervised电脑派位 (for 2025 the ratio to determine the assessment pool was 1:6); parents should note the exact time the platform publishes派位 results and understand that the draw is done under municipal/provincial supervision and public‑security/公证 oversight. If overall applicants do not exceed the designated multiple, all applicants proceed to the next stage rather than being excluded by the draw.

5. Language‑learning ability assessment (语言学习能力测评). Students selected by派位 (or where numbers are lower than the threshold, all applicants) attend a school‑organised language learning ability test on the published date and at the published location; the assessment is used to evaluate language interest and aptitude and is a core criterion for admission. Parents must print and bring the test permit/准考证 and a valid ID; the school's notice specifies the testing venue and the items excluded/required (e.g., health suitability for boarding where applicable).

6. Final admission decisions and follow‑up formalities. Admission is offered based on the combined process (eligibility,派位 where used, and language assessment results) and in some cases on further selection rules for specialised streams (for example, the school's剑桥高中项目 uses separate English‑proficiency testing and ranking procedures). Once admitted parents must complete registration and any required fee payments or document submissions by the deadlines published in the offer notice; watch the school's system and WeChat for post‑offer instructions and the consequences of missing reporting deadlines.

Scholarships
Public admissions notices and the school's recent intake documents do not list any school‑run scholarship programme for the junior‑high public intake; the 2025招生方案 focuses on eligibility,派位 and language measurement and states the收费标准 for junior high follows municipal public‑school rules (it does not advertise need‑based or merit scholarships in that notice). For the school's international/high‑school (剑桥) programme there is a clearly stated fee schedule (the 剑桥项目 is recorded in local fee filings as 45,000 RMB per semester) and those programme notices similarly list which charges are excluded (textbooks, accommodation, some exams, etc.) but do not describe a published scholarship scheme—families asking about fee reductions, need‑based assistance or programme‑level scholarships should contact the school's finance or admissions office directly because any special awards or hardship assistance are typically handled case‑by‑case or through municipal student aid channels rather than via the standard admission notice.

Waitlist
The school's published procedure (most recently the 2025 plan) describes an online registration, an audit, a supervised computerised allocation to identify candidates for the language assessment, and then selection by measured results. In that scheme the computer派位 is the mechanism used to determine the assessment pool (e.g., 1:6 in 2025) and the school's notice does not set out a separate ongoing public “waitlist” process in the admissions announcement itself; if the number of applicants does not exceed the multiple, all applicants go forward to testing. Families should still monitor the online system and the school's announcements after the main offers are issued: in many local admissions systems any post‑offer vacancies are handled by the education authority or by published补录/候补规则 and are filled in order, so if you want to know whether a ranked候补 list will be published you should ask the school's招生办公室 or the local education bureau for the specific year's practice.
School Events
The school has not added events
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