Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We recommend that parents apply mid-January as soon as admissions opens for the following school year. Our academic year begins in mid-August and ends in mid-June. 

We do offer rolling admissions, which means that families may apply at any time of the year. Given limited seats per grade level, we encourage families to submit a completed application as soon as possible. 

Please request the current or past kindergarten/nursery teacher to issue a official letter or development report that includes information on what your child has learned and how your child performed and progressed within their programmes. If your child has never attended nursery/pre-kindergarten, please inform the admissions office before moving forward with the application process and clearly indicate this in your application. 

This document is required upon entry into Grade 9 (semester 2 applicants only) to Grade 12 . Please ask the current school to issue the "Unofficial Transcript" during the application phase which includes information such as subjects taken and grades/credits earned by your child during their time spent in High School.

When your child is offered placement into the programme an "Official Transcript" is required to transfer credit from your previous school to UNIS Hanoi. The final official transcript must be submitted prior to your child starting school. This is an important document because it is an official representation of your child's learning to date and will be required as part of any university application.

As part of the admissions process, assessments are coordinated if an applicant does not have standardized tests taken within the last year to submit. UNIS Hanoi administers various assessments based on each division:

Elementary School Assessments

• MAP Screener (shorter version of the MAP Growth Assessment) is given to applicants who have attended an English-speaking school for a minimum of one year.
  • Grade 1: Math early numberacy and reading early literacy 
  • Grades 2-5: Language, math and reading
• English as an additional language assessment is given to students applying to grade 1-5 who are new to an English-speaking school to determine their English level.

Secondary School Assessment

• ISEE Assessment is given to all applicants entering grades 6-12 if they have not taken a standardized test within the last academic year. The ISEE Assessment is proctored online by a member of the admissions team who will be contacting families ready for an ISEE.
• WIDA English Assessment is scheduled to determine an applicant's English-level. In secondary school, applicants are required to meet the minimum entry requirements for the programme. The WIDA Assessment can be administered either online or in-person based on campus access restrictions and the location of each applicant.

The cut-off date for grade level placement is 31 August according to the UNIS Hanoi Age Placement (2026-2027 / 2025-2026) guidelines. It is educationally best practice to place elementary aged students into their age appropriate grade levels. Students excel when grouped with those of a similar age and this is especially true for our Lower Elementary classrooms.

In Early Years through Grade 1 applicants will be placed, without exception, in accordance to their age as of August 31.

Students who have completed Grade 1 and above and are academically continuous to a grade level they are too young for (according to UNIS Hanoi grade placement guidelines) may be considered for a higher-grade placement if they are transferring from another international school. Under these circumstances, a student's academic, social and emotional development will guide the student's grade placement.

Grade placement decisions are always based on what is academically, socially and emotionally best for each child to be successful within our programmes. Grade allocation cases are individually evaluated to determine best placement for each student. Students are typically placed in the grade level that they are academically continuous to, depending on the school system the student is transferring from. A gap in education is not supported by UNIS Hanoi. 

Final grade placement decisions for students who apply from schools or educational systems with a different school calendar, such as those commonly found in Korea, Japan, or Australia, will be based on a combination of factors including the:

• Student's age
• Type school curriculum studied
• Percentage of the school year the student has completed in his/her/their last school
• Percentage of the school year remaining in our school calendar
• Student academic performance
• Social and emotional developments

Admissions policies applied to our school, such as prioritisation, cultural diversity and caps on EAL and Learning Support programmes, do not guarantee placement in advance for each child whose deemed admissible.

If Enrolment is not immediately available due to space constraints, applicants will be placed in a wait pool. Completed applications shall be placed on the relevant grade level wait pool for the remainder of the academic year. When a student withdrawals from the programme and a seat becomes available, the Admissions Office will contact eligible applicants in the wait pool following prioritizations within the Admissions Policies. 

The wait pool only applies to the year applying and if you want to be considered for the following school year, you must reapply with updated school reports, teacher recommendations, testing (if applicable) and pay the application fee. 

Please do not hesitate to contact the Admissions Office staff directly for information regarding your child's application status.

We aim to maintain our class sizes per grade level in order to offer students maximum opportunities for instruction and learning. The classrooms of our early learners have both an international teacher and a local teaching assistant to support students (the number of teaching assistants per grade level decrease as children grow in independence).

Our preferred class sizes vary depending on grade level and schedules for middle and high school students:

• Early Years 3 / Early Years 4: Multi-age classes
  • 16 students 
    • 6 students from Early Years 3 
    • 10 students from Early Years 4 
• Kindergarten: 18 students
• Grade 1: 20 students
• Grade 2: 20 students 
• Grade 3 - 5: 22 students
• Secondary School (Grades 6 - 12): 22 - 24 students 

Total capacity per grade level:

• Early Years 3 / Early Years 4: 80 students
• Kindergarten: 72 students
• Grade 1: 80 students
• Grade 2: 80 students 
• Grade 3 - 5: 88 students
• Secondary School (Grades 6 - 12): 88 students per grade

Families with three or more children simultaneously in attendance will receive a discount on tuition fees. The discount on tuition and fees is 10% for the third child and a 15% discount on tuition fees for the fourth child and any subsequent children. 

The UNIS Hanoi Scholarship Programme offers the opportunity for Vietnamese students from low-income families, who are excelling at their local schools, to apply for entry into the secondary school if accepted with a full (100%) tuition and fees waiver until graduation. Please see the details in our website's Community section for Scholars. This programme is part of the School's Philanthropy Programmes and is funded through The Scholarship Fund.

We require that parents maintain medical insurance coverage for each child enrolled. All fees and costs pertaining to medical treatment is the responsibility of the parents.

Vietnamese National Health Insurance:

UNIS Hanoi is required to provide health insurance for all students that are Vietnamese Nationals, the fees associated with the Vietnamese Student National Health Insurance will be charged to each family household. 

In order to complete a child’s transition into the school, families must submit a completed medical examination and full immunisation history that must be approved by the school nurses before the child starts school.

We appreciate that many families will have to consider planning for a child’s medical examination during an overseas transition. You can choose to have your child’s family doctor complete the health check or you can access medical facilities within Hanoi. The School Health Centre stresses the utmost importance of vaccinations and requires all students to be properly immunised as per the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. Please refer to the CDC immunisation schedule to make sure your child has received all of the required immunizations to start school.

UNIS Hanoi has a multifaceted identity and at its centre is its relationship with the United Nations. We are not an agency of the United Nations, but we are one of only two UN international schools in the world, educating agents for change. We define our identity with the United Nations as follows:

The United Nations International School of Hanoi is committed to inspiring and equipping young people to build a better world. We bring the world together on one campus and guided by the Principles of the United Nations mentor peace makers and problem solvers. Our young global citizens are curious, compassionate and confident to take action against issues confronting humanity; bold in the face of complexity and resilient in an uncertain world. We are a learning community that cares enough to create a better tomorrow. Starting today. Together.

We encourage you to apply as soon as you are ready. We open applications for the new school year in mid-January, and offers typically begin in March, though rolling applications are accepted throughout the year.

If no space is available, your child will be placed in our wait pool and considered when a seat opens, based on our admissions priorities.

Yes. Students whose first language is not English may be assessed to determine their English proficiency and support needs.

Yes, as part of our prioritisation lanes, sibling and staff-family (and sometimes alumni-family) applications may receive priority. We strongly advise contacting Admissions to clarify your priority lane.

For our Lower Elementary and Kindergarten programmes we follow age-based entry rules in line with the IB Primary Years Programme. We recommend checking with Admissions for the current year’s age requirements and cut-off date.