British School in Tokyo

About BST

Situated at the very heart of this dynamic, stimulating city, the BST community is warm and friendly and offers the highest standards of pastoral care. Having developed its reputation for high quality holistic education over more than a quarter of a century, today’s school has more than 1000 students aged 3-18, representing over 65 different nationalities. BST is run as a not-for-profit trust and is the only school in Japan offering A Levels and the National Curriculum of England. 

Curriculum & Facilities

From their early years in our Nursery and Reception classes, our children are given countless opportunities to develop the independence and resilience that will enable them to take the next step in their education – wherever it might take them – with confidence and a smile. BST follows the UK Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum, with the children working towards achieving the Early Learning Goals. They learn through a carefully planned blend of both teacher-led and independent activities set up across our indoor and outdoor learning environments. There are plenty of opportunities for hands-on, physical and creative activity as well as a focus on speaking and listening skills, personal, social and emotional development and physical skills to ensure readiness for early reading and writing. These are designed to support and challenge all ages and abilities.

Tomorrow’s world depends on the young people of today and their ability to meet the challenges of a future that’s equally inspiring and unsettling. At the British School in Tokyo (BST), we have no doubt that our young people—our future—have the energy, resilience and intellectual capacity to reimagine the way our world works. We are determined to give them the capabilities and connections that will empower them to make the future and their place in it all it should be.

Exam results

BST students are encouraged to explore and to take risks, to express their opinions and to listen to the ideas of others, to discover the joy of exceeding even their own expectations of themselves. This approach to education saw the Class of 2017 keen to emulate their predecessor’s success in their final examinations. Remarkably, 45% of all entries were graded A*/A, and over 70% were awarded a B grade or better. These results are well above the UK national average, where just 26% of entries attained the top two grades. It is no surprise then to see so many of our students being offered places on extremely competitive degree courses at prestigious UK Russell Group universities, including Cambridge, Edinburgh, Imperial and UCL. In keeping with our international outlook, BST students will also be taking up places at universities as far afield as Canada, the Netherlands and the USA and, closer to home, at Keio University here in Japan.

Recognising 'soft skills'

BST is so much more than an academic institution we recognise that education is not simply about passing exams. Sport, music and drama are woven into the fabric of school life from the very start, and both community service and adventurous activity are real strengths. We firmly believe that real education should extend well beyond the four walls of the classroom and we recognise that in today’s world so-called “soft skills” are every bit as important as paper qualifications. In keeping with our philosophy that education should extend well beyond the four walls of the classroom, BST Outdoors is an ambitious school-wide programme offering opportunities for students to develop some of the important skills and attributes that will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives. It includes participation in a broad range of adventurous expeditions and challenges, the International Award (known as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in the UK) and regular service-orientated activities.

BST Teaching

At BST we are passionate about excellent teaching in every classroom. Our teachers are innovative professionals at the cutting edge of best educational practice who provide a stimulating environment in the classroom that actively engages students and makes learning enjoyable and memorable. Almost without exception, we recruit our teachers from the best schools in the UK or from other highly rated British international schools around the world. Uniquely, because we know that finding the right people is crucial to our future (and to that of our students) we insist on seeing each one of them teach in their own schools before confirming any appointment. Only the best will do.

To find out more about BST get in contact with us

Email: comms@bst.ac.jp
Phone: +81 3 5467 4321