Resources/Fees

Debentures, levies and nomination rights: what Hong Kong schools charge beyond tuition

The offer letter says yes, and then mentions a capital contribution that may not be in your budget. Here is what that money is, which parts of it come back, and what to ask before you sign.

Last updated 6 October 2026 · 6 min read

Tuition is only one line in the budget for an international school place. Debentures, capital levies and nomination rights are the others. Here is what each one is, and what to ask before you accept.

What a debenture is

A debenture is a large one-off payment, on top of tuition, that a school asks for when your child takes up a place. Mostly it is the international and private independent schools that charge one, and the straightforward description is this: it works like an interest-free loan to the school, held for as long as your child is enrolled.

The amounts are set school by school, so the first useful thing to know is the scale. Three schools that publish their charges today:

Kellett SchoolHK$40,000 a year

Annual Capital Levy · Non-refundable and non-transferable. Every student must be covered by a debenture or this levy. school's page

Chinese International SchoolHK$30,200 a year

Annual Capital Levy · Non-refundable; for students joining from the 2025-26 year. school's page

Hong Kong International SchoolHK$24,500 a year + HK$15,000 one-off

Capital levy + entry fee · Levy is billed per semester; the entry fee is charged once, to new students only. school's page

Chinese International SchoolHK$150,000 one-off

Reservation deposit · Payable on accepting a place, then offset against tuition. The school holds it, but it is not extra cost. school's page

Checked on the schools' own pages, 6 October 2026. These change year by year, so confirm your child's entry year with admissions.

The school invests it, builds with it, runs on it. When your child leaves, you ask for it back, and whether you get all of it, part of it, or none of it depends entirely on that school's written terms. Two schools can both say the word “debenture” and mean completely different financial commitments.

Which is why the word on its own does not tell you much. What matters is which kind of capital charge the letter is describing. And there are four.

The four kinds of capital charge

Schools use these four words differently, and sometimes interchangeably. A “debenture programme” at one school can be what another calls a capital levy, and a “nomination right” usually means priority rather than a guaranteed place. Tap each one to see what it normally means.

You hand over a lump sum, at international schools often six figures in HKD, and the school holds it, interest-free, for as long as your child stays. The point of a debenture is that it is refundable in principle: when your child leaves, you ask for it back. Whether you get all of it, and how fast, depends entirely on that school's terms.

Ask the school: Refundable in full? How long after leaving does repayment actually take?

Money that comes back, and money that doesn't

Before you compare two schools, sort every charge they mention into two piles:

Might come back

Debentures, if the terms say refundable, and sometimes minus annual depreciation. Treat it as savings you can't touch, not as a fee.

Doesn't come back

Application fees, assessment fees, capital levies, and almost always nomination rights. Annual levies belong here too, multiplied by every year you stay.

The comparison that matters is never the biggest number. A school with a large refundable debenture can cost a family less, in the end, than a school with a modest annual levy that runs for thirteen years. Multiply each one across the years you plan to stay. That total is what makes two schools comparable.

Which schools charge them

Government and aided schools: never. Tuition is free and there is no capital charge. This is the whole premise of the state sector.

DSS schools: tuition, yes; capital charges, rarely. The Direct Subsidy Scheme charges fees on top of a government subsidy, and a small number of DSS schools add their own building funds or levies. Ask. Don't assume either way.

Private independent and international schools: this is where debentures live. Not every one charges them, and the ones that do set very different terms: refundable or not, transferable or not, individual or corporate. The EDB's international schools directory publishes each school's tuition band, and the school's own admissions page carries the capital charges. You can also look any of them up in the finder and jump straight to its official site from there.

The eight questions to ask

Take these into the open day or the admissions call, and ask for the answers in writing. A refund timeline belongs in the offer letter, not in a phone call.

Before you sign, ask

0 of 8

If the refund timeline is not in writing yet, plan as though the money is not coming back. If the school still makes sense on that basis, a refund later is a welcome surprise rather than something the decision rests on.

Common questions

How much money are we actually talking about?

From the schools' own published pages, checked in October 2026: annual capital levies at the big international schools run HK$24,500 to HK$40,000 a year. HKIS charges HK$24,500, Chinese International HK$30,200, Kellett HK$40,000, none of it refundable. One-off charges on top range from HKIS's HK$15,000 entry fee to CIS's HK$150,000 reservation deposit, which is later offset against tuition. True refundable debentures sit above all of this, and their terms differ school by school; the figure only counts when read from the school's own current schedule.

What is a school debenture in Hong Kong?

A debenture is a large one-off sum, effectively an interest-free loan, that some international and private schools in Hong Kong ask parents to pay when a child takes up a place. The school holds the money while the child is enrolled. In principle it is refundable when the child leaves, but the exact refund terms differ by school and must be checked in writing before signing.

Do all Hong Kong schools charge debentures?

No. Government and aided schools charge no tuition and no debenture. DSS schools charge tuition fees but capital charges are less common. Debentures, nomination rights and capital levies are mainly a feature of international schools and some private independent schools. Always ask each school what it charges beyond tuition.

Is a debenture the same as a capital levy?

No. A debenture is a loan the school holds and repays when your child leaves, if the terms say so. A capital levy is a non-refundable contribution, charged either once on entry or every year. Over a full primary or secondary run, an annual levy can add up to more than a refundable debenture, so compare the total, not the headline.

Is a debenture refundable?

Sometimes fully, sometimes partly, sometimes not at all. It depends on the individual school's terms. Some debentures depreciate over the years a child is enrolled; some are transferable to another buyer and some are not. The refund clause in the school's own documents is the only answer that counts, so ask for it in writing before accepting a place.

Does paying a debenture guarantee my child a place?

Not necessarily. A debenture usually accompanies an offer rather than creating one, and a nomination right typically buys priority on a waitlist rather than a guaranteed seat. Ask the school directly what the payment secures, and get that answer in writing before you commit.