KingLead 2026 World Internationalized Schools Rating Indicators

Research Objects

Cities worldwide with at least one internationalized school rated in the KingLead 2026 Internationalized Schools Comprehensive Competitiveness World Top 500. Among the cities meeting the above criteria, the cities are ranked by their composite city index scores, and the top 100 cities are selected for presentation.

Data Sources

The data for the KingLead 2026 World Internationalized Schools City Index comes from all schools rated AAAAA, AAAA, or AAA in the KingLead Internationalized Schools Comprehensive Competitiveness World Top 500, together with their corresponding city affiliation information. Schools located outside cities are classified by the town, village, or other settlement in which they are located.

KingLead's standard rating data is based on its dynamically updated global database of international schools and field research conducted by international education experts from KingLead Research.

Evaluation Methods

The KingLead 2026 World Internationalized Schools City Index Model assigns scores on a gradient basis according to the rating received by each school in the KingLead 2026 Internationalized Schools Comprehensive Competitiveness World Top 500. By aggregating city total scores and applying benchmark-based conversion, it quantifies the relative level of quality internationalized school resources in each city. All selected cities have at least one quality internationalized school rated AAA or above.

The KingLead World Internationalized Schools City Index Model is constructed as follows:

1. Single School Scoring Standard: Each internationalized school is assigned a score based on its rating on the KingLead World Internationalized Schools Comprehensive Competitiveness Standard Rating (AAAAA = 30 points, AAAA = 10 points, AAA = 5 points).
2. City Initial Total Score: The scores of all listed schools within the same city are summed.
3. Index Conversion: The highest initial total score among all cities is taken as the benchmark and set to 100 points. The index scores of the remaining cities are calculated using the following formula: City Index = (City Initial Total Score / Highest City Initial Total Score) × 100. The final city index results fall within the range of 0–100.
4. Ranking and Presentation: Cities are ranked in descending order of their City Index scores, with equal scores receiving the same rank. For cities with equal scores, those with more AAAAA-rated schools are displayed first, followed by comparisons of the numbers of AAAA- and AAA-rated schools, as needed. If these numbers are identical at all three levels, priority is given to the city whose highest-rated school ranks higher in the KingLead 2026 Internationalized Schools Comprehensive Competitiveness World Top 500. After the presentation order is determined according to the above rules, the results for the top 100 cities are presented.

Note: "KingLead AAAAA/AAAA/AAA Schools" in the table refers to internationalized schools rated AAAAA, AAAA, or AAA in the KingLead Internationalized Schools Comprehensive Competitiveness World Top 500.