Garden Rayong vs Wells Chonburi

Ask both schools to state the child’s proposed class, start date, age cut-off, core hours and next class. Garden publishes Nursery, Foundation and Years 1–13; Wells publishes Nursery, K1–3 and Grades 1–12 fee rows. Similar ages do not guarantee identical placement.

Garden operates through Year 13 and offers weekly or full boarding from Year 5. Wells’s campus, home and enquiry pages indicate different upper grades. Ask which classes are operating, accepting pupils and expected to progress next year, then put that answer in the offer.

Garden records English as the medium alongside Thai and additional languages. Ask how EYFS transitions into primary, how pupils prepare for IGCSE and how subject choices lead into the IB Diploma.

Wells records English and an American curriculum. Ask for Thai provision, the standards used in each subject, current upper-grade options and evidence that classroom work maps to the stated programme.

At both visits, request anonymised current work and the report format. Watch how teachers explain unfamiliar tasks, differentiate work and support pupils new to English. Curriculum labels matter only when the school can demonstrate daily implementation.

Garden’s latest published 2026/27 tuition runs from ฿147,000 Nursery half-day to ฿609,800 in Year 13. It publishes a ฿5,000 application fee, ฿60,000–฿120,000 enrolment and ฿40,000 refundable deposit. Bus was ฿18,000–฿32,100 per term and boarding ฿297,000–฿345,000 a year plus deposit.

Wells’s 2026/27 tuition runs from ฿320,000 Nursery to ฿760,000 Grades 11–12. Registration is ฿5,000 from K1, development is ฿150,000–฿220,000 and the Grade 1–12 deposit is ฿35,000.

Wells prices lunch at ฿15,000 per semester, support at ฿30,000–฿80,000 per semester and round-trip bus at ฿36,000–฿80,000 per semester. Garden's 2026/27 fee page gives a bus tariff by zone; request an address-specific quote and check any support charges.

Create totals for cash before attendance, complete first year and normal recurring year. Mark refundable, one-time and optional sums. Do not treat a published school-wide Garden range as a quote for your child or treat Wells’s senior fee rows as proof that those grades operate.

Garden publishes IGCSE and IB Diploma routes. Ask for current subject availability, cohort sizes, examination preparation and the school’s explanation of any conflicting A-Level wording.

Wells publishes an American route while official pages disagree on its upper-grade ceiling. Ask what completion credential the Chonburi campus offers, which courses run and whether any provision belongs only to another Wells campus.

Rehearse an international relocation after two years. Request the transcript, curriculum map, language evidence and teacher references each school would supply, then ask a likely receiving school how placement would be decided.

Wells publishes support bands of ฿30,000–฿80,000 per semester; Garden’s latest tariff does not publish a comparable learning-support price. Ask what assessment triggers support, whether it is required for admission, how often provision runs and which lessons pupils miss.

If support matters, request the responsible staff member, group size, minutes per week, review date, progress measure and exit criteria. Compare the plan for this child rather than assuming boarding, a longer pathway or a higher fee guarantees broader provision.

Ask Garden to attach its 2026/27 fee schedule to the offer and identify every line that replaces the 2026/27 public table. Check tuition, enrolment, deposit, bus, boarding, visa documents, examinations, trips, devices, uniforms and support individually. If a charge is unchanged, the written offer should still state the current amount rather than asking the family to rely on last year’s page.

Ask Wells to reconcile its campus page, homepage, enquiry selector and Grade 12 fee rows in one written answer. Record the highest grade operating now, the highest grade accepting a new pupil, subjects actually timetabled and the next grade planned for the present cohort. A future expansion plan is useful context but must not be described as an operating class.

Garden’s established IGCSE and IB Diploma route gives parents a named senior sequence, but the relevant questions remain subject choice, class size, examination support and recent campus-level outcomes. Wells belongs to a wider school brand, yet families should not inherit accreditation, courses or results from Bangkok campuses. Ask only what the Chonburi campus can evidence for the child’s likely graduation year.

For a younger pupil, write two pathway scenarios: staying through the advertised endpoint and transferring after primary. List the documents, curriculum change, likely application calendar and fee exposure for both. This makes the longer-term difference visible without pretending either route is guaranteed for a child enrolling today.

Garden is in Ban Chang, Rayong; Wells is in Ban Bueng, Chonburi. Drive both routes at intended arrival and collection times, including work and sibling stops. Record normal and rainy-day door-to-door time.

Garden’s published bus tariff needs an address-specific quote; Wells publishes route-dependent semester bands. Ask for pickup windows, vehicle time, supervision and late-bus rules. Garden offers boarding from Year 5 while Wells records none, so compare the lived residential week only if boarding is genuinely needed.

1. Placement: exact class, live operation and next class.
2. Learning: programme map, subjects, current work and reports.
3. Cost: matched fee year, acceptance cash, first year and recurring year.
4. Support: named provision, staffing, review and price.
5. Transition: Garden’s IGCSE/IB evidence or Wells’s American credit and completion evidence.

Save offers, fee schedules, calendars and placement answers together. Keep every missing charge or grade commitment open until admissions confirms it in writing.

Arrive before the class begins and watch the transition from gate to room. Record how quickly the child separates, who welcomes them, which language adults use and whether the routine is understandable without repeated prompting. Ask what happens on a difficult morning and how parents are informed. A polished tour after children leave cannot answer these questions.

Ask for a starting assessment, mid-year report and anonymised work from the proposed class. At Garden, trace British primary work into IGCSE and IB expectations. At Wells, ask how work maps to American grade-level standards and the subjects offered in the highest operating grade.

Record the balance of adult-led, child-initiated, individual and group activity during the visit. Ask how teachers adapt the same task for a child who is new to English, already reading or reluctant to join a group. The right environment is not defined by one teaching philosophy; it is the setting where staff can explain how this child will participate and progress.

Confirm arrival supervision, meals, allergies, illness procedures, late collection and activities. Garden’s inclusions vary by stage; Wells makes lunch mandatory unless home lunch is approved. Put standard hours, care charges and holiday arrangements in writing.

Place both calendars beside the family’s work calendar. Count closures that require alternative care and ask whether holiday programmes are offered, separately registered or guaranteed to enrolled pupils. A school-year tuition comparison does not capture care purchased during long breaks.

Garden is in Ban Chang and Wells in Ban Bueng. Verify each entrance, transport route and contract address before payment. Test gate queues, parking and the return journey with the person who will actually collect.

Garden publishes weekly and full boarding from Year 5; ask where pupils live, how weekends work, which deposit applies and how residential care changes the child’s week. Wells records no boarding.

For each school, finish the sentence: “This place works if…” Include the quoted total, language routine, classroom fit, support availability, care hours, travel ceiling and next-school plan. Then write the conditions that would trigger a review. This prevents a single attractive feature from hiding an unresolved cost or transition risk.

Run the same exercise for two future dates. At age six, compare Garden Year 1 with Wells Grade 1 on language, teaching approach, placement and total price. At age eleven, recheck Garden’s IGCSE/IB route and Wells’s operating grades, subjects and American credit system. Senior tariff rows are planning inputs, not proof of delivery.

Ask how each school handles a mid-year departure before assuming either transfer will happen neatly at the end of a stage. Record required notice, reports supplied, outstanding-fee conditions and whether unused services can be refunded. A family expecting relocation should weight these documented terms alongside teaching and price.

Do not pay while a condition remains material and unanswered. Ask admissions to correct the offer email, retain both fee records and note who supplied every grade answer. That makes the decision auditable despite the mismatched fee years and Wells’s conflicting upper-grade claims.