



History of the School
The ABC International School (originally the ABC English School) was established in 1995 at a time when Ho Chi Minh City lacked options in international education for children of foreign investors, expatriates and Vietnamese nationals. The school began with 12 students in a playgroup and nursery class and added new classes each year. By 2001 the school catered for 70 children from Playgroup to Year 6, teachers were increasingly recruited from overseas and the school formally began to follow the British National Curriculum. At this time, the school name was altered to the ABC International School to reflect the growth of the school and the increasing cultural diversity of the students and staff. In 2003, the school was registered in the UK with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
From 2003 onward the school became even more popular and embarked upon a very rapid phase of expansion. The school moved into its first purpose built campus in South Saigon in 2004 and shortly afterwards with a pupil population then exceeding 500 pupils, we moved to the yet larger campus that is now known as SS1 and which currently accommodates The Primary Key Stages. In 2005 the school was accredited by Cambridge University (UK) to teach the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and Advanced level examinations. In the same year, the school successfully applied for membership of the Federation of British International Schools in South and East Asia (FOBISEA / now FOBISIA). From 2005 pupil numbers continued to grow and stabilized at approximately 770 for a number of years when time and energy was unashamedly devoted to ensuring the very highest educational standards. At the same time as establishing outstanding academic credentials the schools’ owners/Directors and leadership were careful to pro-actively plan for further expansion. The culmination of these efforts saw the opening of a third brand state-of-the art campus dedicated to secondary age-range in August 2018. Now occupying three purpose built and age-appropriately equipped sites, the school is proud to be acknowledged as one of the very best international schools in Vietnam and Asia. Currently, the ABCIS sends graduating students onwards to leading colleges all around the world, and, is the only School in Vietnam to be acknowledged and accepted as a member of the Council of British International School (COBIS). The latter is a group of the most prestigious and best of UK curriculum schools worldwide that each uphold the very highest academic standards and are recognised by the British Government. Similarly, it is the only school in Vietnam to offer examinations from Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) board or to be able to offer the specialist entrance examinations for Medicine and Law to Oxford and Cambridge universities in the UK.