ISF foundation year

Erminator

Is it difficult to get in? Assuming no debenture and siblings

Adiezz

Quite difficult
ISF K, debenture and siblings occupy most of the seats

964000

Erminator 發表於 23-6-4 08:45
Is it difficult to get in? Assuming no debenture and siblings

Not too difficult, they like families who show a commitment to learn Chinese.

Erminator

Is it better to aim for their K?

Adiezz

Erminator 發表於 23-6-4 20:12
Is it better to aim for their K?

Yes, most of the ISF K2 students can go to foundation year.

bigheadshrimp

Erminator 發表於 23-6-4 20:12
Is it better to aim for their K?

If you are really sure you want your child to go to ISF Academy, going to ISF Preschool is your best bet. Over 90% of ISF Preschool will get accepted by ISF Academy. You have to account for the fact that Preschool will actively tell parents whom they think are not a good fit for the Academy to leave though. Most parents say the Academy is A LOT better than Preschool, but you just have to tough it out for 2 years if you are aiming for Academy.

I believe there are 60-80 seats for kids from other kindergartens. Most of these kids are from schools like Victoria and Rightmind. I do know quite a few people who got into FY without buying the debenture, so it’s not unheard of. But, it’s also true that admission has become more competitive as more families are looking for alternatives to the LS system.

simonchan1986

ISF is a PIS, so if you hold SAR passport it should have a higher chance than holding FP

Adiezz

bigheadshrimp 發表於 23-6-5 06:36
If you are really sure you want your child to go to ISF Academy, going to ISF Preschool is your bes ...

Agree, ISF K can occupy almost 140 seats out of 200.

The remaining 60 seats are allocated to applicants in debenture, siblings and non-priority groups. And there are 20 extra seats in ISF G1.

Goodluck2022

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Do you have FP ?

dem0cracy

Goodluck2022 發表於 23-6-6 13:16
回覆 Erminator 的帖子

Do you have FP ?

Why do you keep asking everyone on the forum about their passports, even when it clearly doesn't matter for ISF?

Goodluck2022

Its not a shameful thing to have or not have FP.

By knowing fellow parents background and preferences, we can give better advice for them.

This is a support group.

dem0cracy

Goodluck2022 發表於 23-6-6 14:35
Its not a shameful thing to have or not have FP.

By knowing fellow parents background and preferenc ...

I'm not saying is shameful. I'm saying it's irrelevant for ISF, which is a PIS.

I understand you're new to the forum and probably don't know much about IS and PIS. But one of the replies above has already stated this point.

Goodluck2022

回覆 dem0cracy 的帖子

I know about IS and PIS.
As a matter of fact, I even attended an IS and studied overseas.

Please bear in mind that not all children who attend PIS have no FPs.

Thanks.

964000

Goodluck2022 發表於 23-6-6 15:13
回覆 dem0cracy 的帖子

I know about IS and PIS.

Oh good, then you should have alumni priority which is higher than foreign passports, so really don’t need to worry.

Erminator

I was once told by someone who knew IS well that there were many FP holders in the school, and if the school were to change to IS, 70% FP requirement would be satisfied too.  
I also hear story about some parents who prefer sending kids to VEO or CW Vic for K and then apply for Foundation as they  think Pre-School is not as good.  Of course, they also have debentures on hand to play this game.

Further question….. do you think the school maintaining an unofficial student population between local and mainlander families? If so, what are they like

JaneHopper

Erminator 發表於 23-6-7 09:31
I was once told by someone who knew IS well that there were many FP holders in the school, and if th ...

That's what I heard too from a friend - that some people actively choose to avoid ISF K and apply directly for Foundation Year.

Adiezz

JaneHopper 發表於 23-6-7 13:31
That's what I heard too from a friend - that some people actively choose to avoid ISF K and apply di ...

Only those who have sibling priority or debenture holders would choose Victoria and apply ISF foundation.

I know kids who got ISF foundation or Y1 offers without priority but they are all outstanding.

bigheadshrimp

Erminator 發表於 23-6-7 09:31
I was once told by someone who knew IS well that there were many FP holders in the school, and if th ...

From what I’ve heard, about half of the Chinese students are from Mainland China. In general, most families are very hands on and invested in their kids’ education.

Goodluck2022

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Mainlanders are the the key to a schools success.

融入國家大局最首要元素。 Their presence in such a large scale (i.e. more than half of the population) can endure that what the school teaches is in line with the policy and direction of the Mainland China, with great emphasis in Chinese culture.

ISF is a very promising school !!!

MandyLam22

Yes ISF pre school is less than useless and you waste 2 years to trade for a 90% chance of getting into FY. If you are determined to join ISF Academy, it doesn't really matter you wasted two years of learning as they'll quickly catch up in FY but if you want your kid to change to another school, God bless! As for passports, they don't care so long as you also have permanent residency in HK as in order to qualify for PIS they need I think 60 or 70% of their students to be "locals". I remember seeing some foreigners in the intro talk session cringing when they heard that.