Virtual School in Taiwan: After Junior High, and the East Coast the Schools Never Reached

By Brendaliz Chelangat, Head of Academics · October 2026 · 9 min read

Taiwan’s compulsory education runs for nine years, six of elementary school and three of junior high, and ends with the Comprehensive Assessment Program that sorts students into senior high. That is the point where an international route stops being a second track and becomes a real choice. It is also the point where geography starts to matter. The international schools sit in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and Taoyuan, and almost nowhere else. A family in Tainan, Chiayi, Pingtung or along the east coast who wants A-Levels or AP has very little within reach. This guide is about those three years after junior high, and about the parts of Taiwan where a virtual school is the only English-medium option on the map.

The decision at fifteen

At the end of grade nine a student sits the Comprehensive Assessment Program and moves into senior high, general or vocational, which is where the General Scholastic Ability Test and the national university route begin. Senior high is not part of compulsory education, so from around fifteen a family has more room to choose. Some will take the national route, which is strong and leads well into Taiwan’s universities. Some will want a full-time international route instead, with Cambridge A-Levels, Pearson Edexcel International A Levels or AP. Many will want to keep both doors open for a year while they decide. Families planning full-time study outside a Taiwanese school at this age should still confirm their arrangement with the local education bureau, and we help them write down what the plan is.

Tainan, Chiayi and the south

Tainan is Taiwan’s oldest city and, with the Southern Taiwan Science Park, one of its most important for semiconductors. Engineers and their families come from abroad, and Taiwanese engineers go abroad from here and return. Yet the international schooling is in Kaohsiung, a drive away, and the bilingual options in the city are limited. Chiayi and Pingtung have less again. For a student in the south who wants three A-Levels in Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, the practical choices are a long daily commute, boarding, or a live class. We teach those subjects in small groups, with the same teachers across the two years, toward the same examinations a Taipei student would sit.

Yilan, Hualien and Taitung

The east coast is a different country in schooling terms. It has universities, hospitals, tourism, a strong indigenous heritage and growing numbers of families who have moved there for a quieter life, often after years abroad. It does not have international schools. For a returning family whose children grew up in English-medium schools elsewhere, or a local family whose child is ready for something the senior high cannot timetable, a virtual school is not a convenience here. It is the only way to keep an international route open without leaving the coast. Connectivity is good across Taiwan, so the class works the same in Taitung as in Taipei. The one real cost is travel: exam sittings mean a trip west, which families plan for at the start of each year.

Running A-Levels or AP well

Two years of A-Levels or AP is a serious commitment, and we plan it like one. Three A-Levels chosen for the target course are better than four chosen out of ambition. For US plans, the American curriculum with a focused set of AP courses, plus SAT preparation where the universities ask for it, is often the cleaner route. Taiwan is five hours ahead of Nairobi all year, so our Nairobi morning teaching lands in the Taiwan afternoon, and later classes run into the early evening. Every lesson is recorded. Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel examinations are sat at authorised exam centres, which in Taiwan are mainly in Taipei and Taichung, so southern and eastern students usually travel for the sitting. Families book the centre, and it is confirmed per family, per session.

Where the record leads

Taiwan’s leading universities, including National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University and National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, run admissions routes for students with international qualifications, with requirements set per programme and worth checking early. UK universities read A-Levels directly through UCAS. US universities read AP and the American diploma through the Common Application. Canadian universities can be reached through the Ontario Secondary School Diploma, earned online through our Ontario partner school. Australian, Japanese and other universities assess A-Levels and AP routinely. The point is that one record, built over the two or three years after junior high, works whether the student stays in Taiwan or goes. We would rather a family planned for both than discovered at seventeen that one door had closed.

Grade nine is where Taiwan steps back and the family chooses. For students in Tainan, the south and the east coast, a full-time international route has rarely been close enough to choose. A live class makes it possible, with the national route still open if the family wants it. Book an assessment for your child, or start with our Taiwan hub and the Kaohsiung and Taichung pages.

Frequently asked questions

Is senior high compulsory in Taiwan?

No. Compulsory education runs to the end of grade nine. Families planning full-time international study after that should still confirm their arrangement with the local education bureau.

We live in Hualien. Is a virtual school realistic?

Yes. There are no international schools on the east coast, and broadband is good across Taiwan, so a live class works the same as in Taipei. Exam sittings usually mean a trip to Taipei or Taichung.

Can a student keep the national route and do A-Levels at the same time?

Yes, for a year or so while the family decides, with two or three subjects running alongside senior high. It is a heavy load, so we keep the subject list short.

What time are classes in Taiwan?

Taiwan is five hours ahead of Nairobi with no daylight saving. Morning classes in Nairobi fall in the Taiwan afternoon, later ones in the early evening, and all are recorded.

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