// Editorial · Vol. I · School file #07 · By Tim Paemi

Tara Pattana
International School.

British EYFS through A-Level under dual exam-board — Cambridge International Education and Pearson Edexcel — at a campus in Nongprue, Banglamung (not North Pattaya — a frequent misfile we corrected in our May 2026 audit). Founded 2010, joined the International Schools Partnership (ISP) global group in 2025. One of two British EYFS-through-A-Level schools in the Banglamung "Established" tier — and the one that's just stepped onto a global network.

฿264K → ฿606K /yr · plus ฿100K enrolment · ฿3K-฿5K application · A-Level cheaper than Y9-10 (see below) Established tier
British EYFS · IGCSE · AS/A-Level Ages 1.5-18 EDT Cambridge International Pearson Edexcel EN · TH · MN
// 01 · Quick facts
CurriculumBritishEYFS → IGCSE → AS/A-Level
Ages1.5–18Tara Tots (6mo+) → Grade 12
Founded201016 years operational in 2026
NetworkISPJoined 2025 · 80+ schools globally
AddressNongprueBanglamung · Chonburi 20150
Exam boardsCAIE + EdexcelDual-board — rare in directory
AccreditationsEDT · ISQMEducation Development Trust + ISAT
LanguagesEN · TH · MNEnglish-medium · Thai + Mandarin
// 02 · The review

A British school
just stepping onto
a global network.

TPIS opened in 2010 as a Thai-owned British international school in Nongprue — the same Banglamung sub-district as Mooltripakdee, but with a more conventionally British structure and a slightly older Sixth Form pathway. For 15 years it operated as an independent school, accredited by the Education Development Trust (the UK educational charity whose International Schools Quality Mark is one of the more rigorous British-international audits). In 2025 it joined the International Schools Partnership (ISP) — a global group of more than 80 schools spanning the UK, Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, and Asia. That move is one year old at the time of this editorial, which means the ISP playbook (centralised curriculum support, cross-network teacher exchanges, ISP-wide learning standards) is currently rolling in. For prospective families this is the interesting question: you're buying into a school that's mid-transition from independent to networked. That's either an opportunity or a risk depending on how you read it.

The pitch in one line: British academic structure with EDT credentials, now with an international school-network operating layer on top. What the network actually delivers in practice is the next 2-3 years' question to ask on tour.

The campus + the commute

The campus is at 88 M. 13 Pattanakarn Road, Soi Tungklom-Tanman 9, Nongprue, Banglamung — about 15 minutes inland from Jomtien and 20 minutes from central Pattaya. This is a directory correction. Previous versions of this site (and several other aggregators) list TPIS as a "North Pattaya" school. That's inaccurate. It's in Nongprue, the same general Banglamung sub-district where many of the Established-tier international schools cluster. For most Pattaya-resident families this is a daily school-bus commitment — TPIS publishes a transport service with multiple Pattaya routes. Budget for bus separately; not in tuition.

If you're touring TPIS and MIS back-to-back (both Nongprue, both British, both Established-tier), the day's drive is short and the comparison is direct. Different ethos, different fee curve — but the same Banglamung postal area.

The academics — Cambridge AND Edexcel, not Cambridge OR Edexcel

The differentiator most parents miss on a first tour: TPIS runs both Cambridge International (CAIE) and Pearson Edexcel as its exam boards. Most British international schools commit to one or the other — typically Cambridge in Asia, Edexcel less common. Running both means students can pick the exam-board-specific syllabus that best suits their target university or subject (e.g. Edexcel English Literature has a different syllabus from Cambridge English Literature). For most subjects the difference is small; for a few — Maths, Sciences, English — it can meaningfully affect what universities prefer or how grades transfer. Dual-board is a hedging strategy for Sixth Form.

The full pathway is the English National Curriculum throughout — Tara Tots Playgroup (ages 6 months-3), Early Years Foundation Stage (2-5), Primary (5-11), Secondary with IGCSE in Y10-11, AS/A-Levels in the Sixth Form (G11-12). NO IB Diploma. If you want IBDP optionality at age 16, this isn't the school — that's Regents Pattaya, Garden Rayong, or St Andrew's GV territory. (Editor's note: previous versions of this directory listed TPIS as offering IB Diploma. That was incorrect — we corrected it in May 2026 against the school's own learning-journey page.)

The Ror Dor Army Cadet Programme

One thing TPIS publishes that no other school in this directory does: the Ror Dor (รด.) Army Cadet Programme. This is a Thai Ministry of Defence training programme for Grade 10-12 students — paramilitary-style structure, weekly drills, summer training at a Ministry of Defence centre. For Thai-passport-holding students, completing the Ror Dor programme to Year 5 (the final level) waives the standard 2-year Thai military conscription requirement that all male Thai citizens face at age 21. For dual-passport families or Thai-passport families specifically, that's a structural reason to choose TPIS over a British-only school that doesn't offer the pathway. For non-Thai families it's irrelevant — but it's published on the school's site as a real option, so worth knowing it exists.

The ISP angle — feature or marketing?

TPIS joined the International Schools Partnership in early 2025. ISP is one of the larger international-school operating groups — schools in 25+ countries, several hundred million USD in operations, professional school-management infrastructure. What that practically means for a Pattaya family enrolling in 2026/27: ISP runs cross-network teacher CPD, has its own curriculum-support frameworks, and runs internal benchmarking against the rest of the group. What that doesn't mean is that staff at TPIS suddenly transfer in from ISP schools in the UK, or that Sixth Form students earn an "ISP qualification" (the qualifications are still Cambridge / Edexcel A-Level). For families: ask on tour what's already changed in the year since joining ISP, and what's planned for 2026/27. Network membership matters most in 3-5 year cycles, not month-by-month.

The unusual fee curve — why A-Level is cheaper than Y9-10

TPIS's published fee table has a quirk worth understanding: Grade 9-10 (IGCSE preparation) is the most expensive year at ฿605,850/year, and Grade 11-12 (A-Level Sixth Form) drops back to ฿543,900. Most schools have fees climbing through Sixth Form (Rugby's A-Level is the most expensive band, Regents' Y10-13 sits highest). TPIS inverts the curve. The school doesn't publish the reasoning, but a likely explanation: Sixth Form is genuinely smaller cohort and lower-supervision than the IGCSE prep years; staffing economics are different. For families with a Y10 and a Y12 enrolled simultaneously, the budget surprise is real — the older child costs less per year than the younger. Worth noting if you're modelling tuition over a 6-year window.

Comparison with the other British-Established schools

Three "Established" tier British schools sit in Banglamung-adjacent Nongprue: TPIS, MIS, and BPIS. TPIS is the most expensive of the three at the top end (฿605K vs MIS's ฿517K and BPIS's published fees), has the dual exam-board structure (the others are typically Cambridge-only), and is the only one in an active global network (ISP). MIS layers Montessori onto its EYFS — a rare differentiator. BPIS is the secondary-only sister school of the long-running BEST (Burapha) Thai-English bilingual primary. If you want British EYFS-through-A-Level under network management at the top of the Established tier, TPIS is the answer. If you want Montessori Early Years, MIS. If you want the bilingual-primary-to-international-secondary pathway, BPIS.

// 03 · Year-by-year fees

฿263,550 → ฿605,850.

Sourced directly from TPIS's published 2025/26 fee schedule and cross-checked against the international-schools-database 2025/26 record. First-year families pay tuition + ฿3K–฿5K application + ฿100K enrolment. Sibling discount: 5% (2nd child), 10% (3rd), 30% (4th). Full-year payment up-front earns a 2% discount on Term 2-3 fees.

Annual tuition · academic year 2025/26 · THB
Year group Age Annual tuition
Tara Tots + Early Years
Nursery 22฿263,550
Kindergarten 13฿345,450
Kindergarten 24฿394,800
Kindergarten 35฿437,850
Primary
Grade 16฿437,850
Grade 27฿488,250
Grade 38฿488,250
Grade 49฿488,250
Grade 510฿488,250
Secondary (Key Stage 3)
Grade 611฿554,400
Grade 712฿554,400
Grade 813฿554,400
IGCSE (Key Stage 4) — peak fee band
Grade 914฿605,850
Grade 1015฿605,850
Sixth Form (A-Level) — fees drop
Grade 1116฿543,900
Grade 1217฿543,900
One-time + recurring extras
Application fee (Nursery + Kindergarten, non-refundable)฿3,000
Application fee (Reception – Grade 12, non-refundable)฿5,000
Enrolment fee (one-time, non-refundable)฿100,000
First-year total · typical Grade 6 day student11~ ฿659,400
First-year total · typical Grade 11 A-Level student16~ ฿648,900

Fees include textbooks (Primary + Key Stage 3 only), exercise books, lunch + snacks, accident insurance on campus and on school trips, and classroom stationery. NOT included: uniforms, residential trips, external IGCSE/A-Level exam fees, optional bus, Ror Dor Cadet training-centre fees, Duke of Edinburgh Award programme fees, LAMDA examination fees, ELLS (English Language & Learning Support) for non-native English speakers, Special Educational Needs assistance. Real first-year all-in is typically ฿30K–฿70K above the published tuition. Sibling discount waterfall: 5% (2nd child) / 10% (3rd) / 30% (4th) — the 4th-child rate is the most generous in this directory.

// 04 · Best for

The British-curriculum family that wants network-managed and dual-board options.

If you want a British school that's not at the ฿800K+ premium tier but you want the assurance of a global-network operating layer (ISP), a dual-exam-board strategy at IGCSE and A-Level (CAIE + Edexcel), and a recognisable British-international accreditor (EDT/ISQM) — TPIS sits in the strongest mid-band of the Established tier. The right family has a budget comfortable around ฿500K-฿650K/year per child, doesn't need IBDP optionality at Sixth Form, and values the predictability of a network-managed school. Bonus structural fit if you're a Thai-passport family with sons heading toward Year 10 — the Ror Dor Cadet pathway waives the 2-year military conscription at age 21, and TPIS is one of the few internationals in the region running it.

// 05 · Trade-offs

What you're trading.

  • No IB Diploma. Sixth Form is A-Level only. If your child wants IBDP optionality at age 16, Regents Pattaya or Garden Rayong are the head-to-head competitors, not TPIS.
  • Network membership is one year old. ISP took over operations in 2025. What that means for curriculum, staffing, and parent communication is still being figured out by the school itself. Ask on tour what's actually changed and what's planned — don't assume the network playbook is already running.
  • Y9-10 IGCSE-prep is the most expensive band. ฿605,850/year for the two pre-IGCSE years sits above the A-Level fee. Plan tuition modelling around the IGCSE-prep spike, not the A-Level number.
  • Enrolment fee is ฿100K non-refundable. Mid-range for the directory — lower than Rugby's ฿200K acceptance fee but higher than ISE's ฿45K. Budget for it as a sunk cost the moment you accept.
  • Daily bus from most of Pattaya. Nongprue is inland — 15-20 minutes from central Pattaya, longer from Naklua/Jomtien. School-bus zones are separately priced. Verify your zone on tour.
  • Smaller Sixth Form cohort. TPIS doesn't publish a current student count, but it's in the established-tier mid-band — meaning Sixth Form classes will be small. Some A-Level subjects may run with 4-8 students per class. Intimate teaching vs. thin peer group — the same trade-off ISE families face at G11-12.
  • "Tara Pattana" name confusion. Pattaya parents often mishear this as a Pattaya-City school. It's not — it's in Nongprue, Banglamung, ~15 min inland from Jomtien.
// 06 · Contact + visit

Visit the school yourself.

Website tpis.ac.th ↗
Location 88 M. 13 Pattanakarn Road
Soi Tungklom-Tanman 9
Nongprue · Banglamung · Chonburi 20150
Tier Established · International · British · A-Level
Suggest a correction [email protected]
// 07 · Sources + receipts

Every figure on this page,
traced to the source.

  • Year-by-year tuition TPIS's official tuition page: tpis.ac.th/admissions/tuition-fees and the fee structure page: tpis.ac.th/school-fees-structureAll grade-band annual tuition figures (฿263,550 Nursery 2 → ฿605,850 G9-10 IGCSE-prep peak → ฿543,900 G11-12 A-Level) sourced from these pages. Application fee ฿3K/฿5K non-refundable, enrolment ฿100K non-refundable, sibling 5%/10%/30% by 2nd/3rd/4th child — same source.
  • Fee cross-check International Schools Database 2025/26 record: international-schools-database.com — TPIS feesIndependent third-party aggregator. Tuition figures match the school's own page line-by-line. Confirms the unusual fee curve where G11-12 A-Level (฿543,900) is below G9-10 IGCSE-prep (฿605,850).
  • Founding year Doris.school school profile: doris.school — TPIS and gotouniversity profile: gotouniversity.com — TPISMultiple independent profiles list TPIS as founded in 2010. (Previous versions of this directory incorrectly listed 2014 — corrected May 2026.)
  • ISP network membership International Schools Partnership announcement: internationalschoolspartnership.com — Welcoming TPIS to ISPTPIS joined the ISP global group in 2025. ISP operates 80+ schools across 25+ countries. Cross-network curriculum, teacher CPD, internal benchmarking — what's actually changed in the year since the transition is the question to ask on tour.
  • Curriculum + exam boards TPIS's accreditation page (visible in the tuition-fees page footer): Cambridge International Education, Pearson Edexcel, Education Development Trust (EDT), International Schools Quality Mark (ISQM), ONESQA, ISAT, Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, LAMDA.Confirmed via tpis.ac.th homepage and learning-journey pages. No IB Diploma offering — previous versions of this directory incorrectly listed IBDP. Corrected May 2026.
  • Ror Dor Army Cadet Programme TPIS's published school-life page on the Ror Dor programme: tpis.ac.th/school-life/army-academy-programmeThai Ministry of Defence-aligned cadet training, Grades 10-12. For Thai-passport male students completing the full Ror Dor 5-year programme: waives the standard 2-year military conscription at age 21. Specific to Thai citizens — not relevant for non-Thai families.
  • Campus address EdArabia profile: edarabia.com — TPIS ChonburiAddress confirmed: 88 M. 13 Pattanakarn Road, Soi Tungklom-Tanman 9, Nongprue, Banglamung — NOT North Pattaya (a directory error in the original Vol. I listing). Phone +66 (0)63 383 4222.
Vol. II · Editorial · Verified May 2026 Fee table, accreditation list, founding year, ISP network membership, campus address, and curriculum structure all cross-referenced against TPIS's own published pages, the international-schools-database 2025/26 record, the ISP announcement, and independent profile aggregators. Two factual corrections shipped with this editorial: (1) location is Nongprue, Banglamung — not North Pattaya as previous Vol. I listed; (2) curriculum is British EYFS-through-A-Level only — no IB Diploma, contrary to previous Vol. I listing. First on-the-ground anonymous visit scheduled for Q4 2026. Edited by Tim Paemi, Pattaya Authority. If you spot a fee or fact that's drifted since publication, email [email protected] with the source — we update on the same day.

Back to
the directory.

14 schools verified. Eleven full editorials published (Rugby, Regents, St Andrew's GV, Garden Rayong, Highgate, ISE, TPIS, MIS, BPIS, EFIP, BJP). Three more coming through Q3 2026. Maintained, not abandoned.

PATTAYA SCHOOL GUIDE · A TIMPAEMI CO. PUBLICATION · MMXXVI