The British School in Tokyo, commonly known as BST, is an international

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

in central Tokyo with over 1,300 students from over 65 nationalities. BST takes students aged 3–18 that have been rated in all eight areas examined by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). A third of BST students are neither British nor Japanese and there are no entry requirements other than fluency in English. The curriculum follows the

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with state or othe ...

. The school is based on two sites with students aged 3–11 based at the

Azabudai Hills is a complex of three skyscrapers in the Azabudai business district in the ward of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Upon its completion in 2023, the Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower in the development became the List of tallest structures in To ...

campus and students aged 12–18 based at the Showa campus at

Showa Women's University is a women's private university in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. Programs The university has undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs and five research institutes. It also contains affiliated schools that span from kindergarten to high scho ...

. As of today, BST is a full member of FOBISIA.

History

Established as a trust in 1988 to meet the needs of parents who wished their children to receive a British style education in Tokyo, BST was officially opened by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

in September 1989, with 63 students, and rapidly expanded. By 1993 there were 200 students in the entire school. The existing site could no longer accommodate the growing demand for places and a modern building with improved facilities (the current BST Shibuya site) was opened in

Shibuya is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in Tokyo, Japan. A major commercial center, Shibuya houses one of the busiest railway stations in the world, Shibuya Station. As of January 1, 2024, Shibuya Ward has an estimated population of 230,60 ...

on 14 May 1998 for over 300 children aged three to eleven. In 2000 the School opened a second site at the municipal Shibuya Elementary School (SES) to accommodate a small number of older students up to age thirteen; the

Upper School Upper schools in the UK are usually schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. England The three-tier model Upper schools are a type of secondary school found in a minority ...

. In 2003 SES was demolished and the Upper School had to be moved to another municipal facility on the far side of Shibuya Station, the Owada Junior High School. To address the issue of inadequate facilities, part of the school was moved in August 2006 to newly renovated accommodation on the campus of the Showa Women's University, located a 10 minute bus ride away to the west of Shibuya station. The original site, BST Shibuya, now accommodates 350 Nursery to Year 3 pupils in refurbished facilities. The Showa campus underwent construction during the summer of 2017 to accommodate the rising number of students joining the school, adding new classrooms, libraries, study areas and more. BST Showa offers educational provision from Year 4 to 13 for over 620 students with extra-curriculars, such as sports fixtures and music clubs. Key Stages 4 and 5 include

IGCSE The International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) is an English language based secondary qualification similar to the GCSE and is recognised in the United Kingdom as being equivalent to the GCSE for the purposes of recognising ...

A-Levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

, AQA BAC and the International Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Locations

BST has two campuses: Nursery through Year 6 attend the

campus, and students in Year 7 through Year 13 attend the Showa campus in building 5 of

in Setagaya Ward. Before the

campus opened on 28 August 2023, students from the age of 3-12 were taught at a campus in Shibuya (pictured on the left). The Showa campus opened on 28 August 2006.

Showa campus facilities

Not owning its own land on Showa campus, BST has had to rent out gyms, fields and halls from

and

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, both of which are located on the same campus and are in close proximity of one another. The main indoor sports facilities of BST Showa campus are the old gym (owned by Showa), the west gym (owned by Temple university), and the new gym (owned by Showa). The main outdoor sports facilities of BST showa are the Astro (big field outside school building), Leo ground (field mainly used by BST), and South Ground (mainly used by BST). Hall/Performance facilities of BST showa are Hitomi hall (seats 1000+), Green hall (slightly smaller, seats 500+), and other halls either on Showa territory or Temple university territory. As of 2021, BST showa used the pool which is located in the basement of a Temple university building, and is also under the west gym (mentioned above). However, before 2019, the specified pool was under construction, meaning the school had to create a contract with the pool of a nearby gym (approximately 500m away), where students would travel to have their swimming lessons and swim team practices.

Curriculum

Throughout the whole school, BST offers a large range of subjects, including English (Language and Literature), Numeracy, Sciences, ICT, Wellbeing, History, Geography, Art, Drama, Photography, Economics, Business Studies,

Music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

and

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

, all of which are offered at IGCSE and A Level. In addition, two Modern

Foreign Languages A foreign language is a language that is not an official language of, nor typically spoken in, a specific country. Native speakers from that country usually need to acquire it through conscious learning, such as through language lessons at schoo ...

are offered – Japanese from Nursery and French from Year 3. Spanish is also offered for IGCSE and A Level.

Accreditation

BST is accredited by the

Council of British International Schools The Council of British International Schools (COBIS) serves English International Schools around the globe, representing over 450 Member Schools in 79 countries and over 150 Supporting Associate organisations. Objectives COBIS exists to serve, s ...

(COBIS) and has been inspected by ISI. It is also a member of Kanto Plains Schools Association and the Japan Council of International Schools (JCIS).http://www.jcis.jp/

Sports

BST offers a range of competitive and recreational sport, with morning or after-school clubs available throughout the school year. Some of these sports include, but are not limited to: *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

Futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

* Athletics *

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

Extra-curricular activities

The following are secondary clubs, as of December 2021: * Strategy games club * Philosophy discussion club * Diversity and inclusion club * Science ambassador club * Geography club * DJ and Music production club * Debating club * Football squad(u10-18) * Girls football squad(u10-18) * Chess and Shogi club * Rock 'n' Roll/Live club * Science fiction club * Tai Chi club * STEP maths club * NHK learning Japanese * Nrich maths for Y7 and Y8 * Model United Nations club * Art sustainable fashion workshop

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:British School in Tokyo, The International schools in Tokyo High schools in Tokyo

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Japan–United Kingdom relations Educational institutions established in 1989 1989 establishments in Japan Minato, Tokyo Setagaya Shibuya