Lifestyle

8 International Schools in Penang 2026: Where the RM60,000 Tax Line Falls, and the Year Group That Crosses It

Since 1 July 2025, private and international school fees above RM60,000 per student per academic year carry 6 per cent service tax. In Penang that line does not separate the expensive schools from the affordable ones. It cuts through the middle of individual schools. At Prince of Wales Island International School the Balik Pulau Year 10 fee is RM60,300, which is RM300 over. At Dalat the top grade is RM59,000, which is RM1,000 under. At Stonyhurst the Malaysian rate card tops out at RM59,850, RM150 below the line, while the non-Malaysian card crosses it four year groups earlier. Here is every published 2026/2027 number from eight Penang schools, read off their own fee pages.

Marcus Wong1 September 202613 min read

Penang has the densest cluster of international schools in Malaysia outside the Klang Valley, and most of them sit within a few kilometres of one another along the island's north coast. Choosing between them usually comes down to curriculum, commute and money. Money is the part where the published numbers quietly stop being comparable.

Since 1 July 2025 there has been a new reason to read a Penang fee table line by line. On that date education services became a taxable service under Group M, First Schedule, Service Tax Regulations 2018, and the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (RMCD) began charging 6 per cent service tax on private preschool, primary and secondary education where the fees charged exceed RM60,000 per student for each academic year. The threshold does not apply to a school. It applies to a student, year group by year group.

That produces the finding this article is really about. In Penang the RM60,000 line does not separate expensive schools from affordable ones. It runs straight through the middle of individual schools, switching on partway up the year ladder. At two of the eight schools below, the top year group sits within RM1,000 of it.

What the RM60,000 rule actually says

The source is RMCD's own Guide on Private Education Services, published 9 June 2025, read together with its FAQ on the 2025 service tax expansion and Service Tax Policy No. 4/2025, whose Amendment No. 2 is dated 17 October 2025. All three are on the MySST portal.

The rate is 6 per cent and it bites only above the threshold. RMCD's worked example is blunt about how granular this is: a school charging RM57,000 in Grade 4 and RM63,000 in Grade 5 becomes a taxable person for its Grade 5 students only, and had to register in August 2025 for those year groups. Liable schools registered online from 1 August 2025 using form SST-01.

What counts toward the RM60,000. Paragraph 24 of the guide lists tuition fees, registration fees, admission charges, co-curricular charges, teaching aid or facility charges, and "any other charges or fees relating to education imposed by the institution". Deposits count if they form part of the payment for the service.

What does not count. Appendix A of Service Tax Policy No. 4/2025 exempts book charges, uniform charges, food and beverage charges, transportation charges, accommodation charges, refundable deposits that are not part of the tuition fees, Parent-Teacher Association fees, fees for educational trips inside or outside the country that are not part of the tuition fees, and student pass or visa charges. Boarding, in other words, is outside the tax. Amendment No. 2 adds two further exemptions: children and dependants of foreign diplomats who produce a confirmation letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and education fees "fully sponsored by educational institutions, higher learning institutions, companies, foundations, or other organizations". Worth flagging plainly: the education FAQ still live on the same portal answers an older question by saying company-sponsored tuition is taxable, which the October 2025 policy appears to reverse. If your employer pays the school directly, that contradiction is worth putting to the school's finance office in writing.

Who actually pays is the genuinely unsettled part. RMCD's English guide (paragraph 14) and its English FAQ both say "Malaysian citizens and holders of a valid OKU card" are exempt under Item 10 of the Service Tax (Persons Exempted from Payment of Tax) Order 2018, which reads as two separate groups. The Malay version of the same FAQ says "warganegara Malaysia dan memegang kad Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) yang sah", which reads as one group: a Malaysian citizen who holds a valid OKU card. RMCD's own worked example taxes a Grade 5 student on RM63,000 without mentioning nationality at all. And Stonyhurst International School Penang, the only school in this list to publish a full note on the point, states that the tax "will affect all pupils regardless of nationality, except Malaysian pupils with OKU cards who are exempted". Three of those four signals point the same way. Until RMCD says otherwise in plain terms, assume the stricter reading, and ask your school to confirm its position in writing rather than relying on a verbal answer at an open day.

The eight schools

Every figure below was read off each school's own published fee page during this run, and every one is the 2026/2027 academic year unless stated. Fees move; treat these as the schools' current published positions rather than a quotation.

How to pick, once you have the numbers

Convert everything to an annual figure before you compare. Uplands bills twice a year, POWIIS and Stonyhurst publish termly and annual columns, and Tenby, Straits and Sri KDU publish per-term figures across three terms. A Tenby Year 7 term fee of RM15,639 and a Stonyhurst Year 7 annual fee of RM56,400 are not the same kind of number, and the gap between them is not what it looks like at a glance.

Then add the joining year separately. Registration, enrolment and application fees are one-time, but they land in a single academic year and they count toward the RM60,000. A new Year 11 student at Straits pays roughly RM50,181 of tuition, but adds RM2,000 registration, RM7,000 enrolment, RM250 cybersecurity and RM2,500 international fee, which lifts the first year past the line even though the tuition alone never gets close. The same arithmetic applies to a new Year 12 international student at Sri KDU.

Check whether the school quotes fees with or without tax. Tenby and Stonyhurst both state in writing that quoted fees exclude SST. Uplands names exactly which charges attract it. POWIIS prints "subject to 6% SST where applicable" on the schedule. Dalat says tax "may apply" depending on grade level. Straits and Fairview publish no note at all, which is not the same as saying no tax applies.

Read the discounts, because they are real money. POWIIS gives 3.5 per cent for full payment in advance and 5 per cent for a second child. Uplands gives 5 per cent early payment plus 10 and 20 per cent sibling reductions. Straits gives 7 per cent for a second child and 10 per cent from the third. Sri KDU gives 10, 15 and 20 per cent. Stonyhurst gives 3 per cent for a lump sum and 3, 5 and 8 per cent for siblings. On a RM60,000 fee, a 5 per cent sibling discount is RM3,000 a year, which is larger than most of the one-time fees.

Note what the fee does not include. Every school on this list excludes uniforms, books, meals, transport and external examination fees. POWIIS is unusually specific about what is included: basic stationery, use of facilities including medical facilities, and all tuition except one-to-one or small-group instrumental music, extra English and learning support. Stonyhurst charges learning support at RM2,500 a year if needed, and Sri KDU charges its ELLA English programme at RM3,200 a term for pupils scoring 75 to 89 on CAT4, while making it free for anyone above 90.

Finally, ask the withdrawal question before you sign. POWIIS publishes hard notice dates for the 2026/2027 year: give written notice by 15 August 2026, 1 December 2026 or 15 March 2027 to withdraw at the end of Term 1, 2 or 3 and recover your deposit. Uplands states that its RM5,000 enrolment deposit is non-refundable if you decline the place after accepting an offer. Dalat charges a 10 per cent monthly late fee on accounts more than 30 days in arrears. These are the clauses that cost money when plans change.

Penang international schools 2026/2027: top published annual tuition and where the RM60,000 SST line falls

School	Area	Curriculum	Top annual tuition (RM)	Crosses RM60,000 at
Uplands	Batu Ferringhi	IGCSE + IB Diploma	74,400 (Y12-13)	Year 7 (71,400)
Dalat	Tanjung Bungah	American / AERO	59,000 (G9-12)	Never on tuition (1,000 under)
POWIIS Balik Pulau	Balik Pulau	British + boarding	64,230 (Y12-13)	Year 10 (60,300, by 300)
POWIIS Tanjung Bungah	Tanjung Bungah	British	49,500 (Y7-8)	Never on tuition
Tenby (international)	Tanjung Tokong	England + IPC	90,561 (Y11)	Year 11 on tuition, Year 10 with fees
Straits	Bayan Lepas	British / Cambridge	50,181 (Y11)	Never on tuition, joining year does
Stonyhurst (Malaysian)	Tanjung Tokong	British	59,850 (Y12-13)	Never on tuition (150 under)
Stonyhurst (non-Malaysian)	Tanjung Tokong	British	71,250 (Y12-13)	Year 7 (66,150)
Sri KDU	Simpang Ampat	British	55,130 (Y12)	Never on tuition, joining year can
Fairview	Bukit Jambul	IB PYP / MYP / DP	Not published	Cannot be checked

The International School of Penang (Uplands)

Batu Ferringhi, on Jalan Sungai Satu, run by The I.S.P. Schools Association. IB Diploma at the top, IGCSE below it. The 2026/2027 schedule bills twice a year, on 10 August 2026 and 28 December 2026, and the annual tuition works out at RM26,000 for Reception, RM31,800 for Year 1, RM39,200 for Year 2, RM46,400 for Years 3 to 4, RM55,800 for Years 5 to 6, RM71,400 for Years 7 to 11 and RM74,400 for the Years 12 to 13 IB Diploma. This is the school where the tax line is most visible: Years 5 to 6 sit RM4,200 under the RM60,000 threshold and Year 7 sits RM11,400 over it, and the school states that Year 7 to 13 tuition, the application fee, the entrance fee and the school development fund all carry 6 per cent SST from 1 September 2025. Joining costs are heavy and mostly one-time: application RM800 for Reception to Year 6 or RM848 for Year 7 to 13, I.S.P. Schools Association membership RM1,000 for one parent, a non-refundable entrance fee of RM7,000, and a RM5,000 enrolment deposit that is refundable against breakage but non-refundable if you turn the place down. Add RM2,500 a year to the school development fund, RM40 a year for compulsory personal accident insurance and RM100 a year for the parent teacher association. Early payment by 3 August 2026 or 18 December 2026 earns 5 per cent off tuition; a second child gets 10 per cent and a third 20 per cent.

Image: The International School of Penang (Uplands)

Dalat International School

Tanjung Bungah, and the only school in this list on an American college-preparatory model rather than a British or IB one. Dalat publishes a complete 2026-2027 schedule in annual figures: Pre-School RM22,000, Kindergarten RM27,000, Grades 1 to 2 RM31,800, Grades 3 to 4 RM42,000, Grades 5 to 6 RM51,500, Grades 7 to 8 RM57,200 and Grades 9 to 12 RM59,000. That top figure is the quiet headline of this whole article: at RM59,000 it sits RM1,000 under the RM60,000 threshold, and even adding the Grade 7 to 12 technology fee of RM400 a year only brings it to RM59,400. The school's own note reads that 6 per cent SST "may apply to your fees, depending on the grade level and specific services provided". Dalat is also the only genuine boarding option here, at RM45,200 a year for room and board or RM22,600 a semester, and boarding is one of the charges Service Tax Policy No. 4/2025 expressly exempts. One-time costs: application RM800, placement test RM300 (or RM150 remotely), registration RM2,000 for pre-school and kindergarten or RM5,000 for Grades 1 to 12, and a RM1,500 refundable position-holding deposit with notification deadlines of 15 October and 15 March. English as an Additional Language support is a one-time RM3,000 for Kindergarten to Grade 3 and RM5,000 for Grades 4 to 8. Optional lunch runs RM1,980 a year for Kindergarten to Grade 4 and RM2,430 for Grades 5 to 12. Accounts more than 30 days in arrears attract a 10 per cent monthly late fee.

Image: Dalat International School

Prince of Wales Island International School (POWIIS)

Two campuses under MTT Learning Academy Sdn. Bhd. (200601013326 / 733077-D): Balik Pulau, at 1 Jalan Sungai Air Putih 6, and Tanjung Bungah, at 88 Jalan Loh Poh Heng. British curriculum, CIS accredited, and the only school here where you can watch the RM60,000 line being crossed by RM300. The Balik Pulau annual fees run RM56,370 for Years 7 to 8, RM58,890 for Year 9, RM60,300 for Years 10 to 11 and RM64,230 for Years 12 to 13. Year 9 is RM1,110 under the threshold; Year 10 is RM300 over it. The Tanjung Bungah campus never crosses at all, running from RM17,460 in Nursery to RM49,500 in Years 7 to 8, with RM22,380 for Reception, RM26,220 for Years 1 to 2, RM32,760 for Years 3 to 4 and RM38,760 for Years 5 to 6. The schedule prints "subject to 6% SST where applicable" and flags the assessment and registration fees specifically. Boarding, available at Balik Pulau only, is RM39,600 a year full, RM31,500 weekday or RM220 a night flexi, with a RM12,000 boarding deposit. Assessment fee RM1,000 (RM800 for subsequent children on the same campus), registration RM5,000, and course deposits that scale from RM5,000 in Nursery to RM18,000 for Balik Pulau Years 12 to 13. A 3.5 per cent discount applies to full payment in advance, with 5 per cent for a second child and 10 per cent from the third across both campuses. Term fees are due 18 August 2026, 29 December 2026 and 27 April 2027, and withdrawal notice must be given by 15 August 2026, 1 December 2026 or 15 March 2027 respectively.

Image: Prince of Wales Island International School (POWIIS)

Tenby Schools Penang

2 Lintang Lembah Permai 1, Tanjung Tokong, and unusual here in running two parallel schools on one campus: Tenby International School on the National Curriculum for England plus the International Primary Curriculum, and Sekolah Sri Tenby on the Malaysian national curriculum. The international stream publishes 2026-2027 fees per term across three terms: RM5,413 Nursery, RM5,800 Reception, RM7,627 Year 1, RM8,614 Year 2, RM10,480 Year 3, RM11,421 Year 4, RM13,149 Year 5, RM13,774 Year 6, RM15,639 Year 7, RM17,123 Year 8, RM18,128 Year 9, RM19,654 Year 10 and RM30,187 Year 11. Annualised, Year 10 is RM58,962 and Year 11 is RM90,561, so on tuition alone the tax line falls between them. Add the RM1,500 technology and learning support fee, which the school states is charged termly, and Year 10 reaches RM63,462, which moves the line down a year. Tenby is explicit that "all fees quoted are exclusive of all applicable taxes including, without limitation, sales and services tax". Two things on the published table are worth confirming in writing: the deposit column is headed "One Term's Fee (Refundable)" but the figure shown is half a term's fee in every row, and the Year 11 jump from RM19,654 to RM30,187 a term is far out of line with the rest of the ladder. The national stream is much cheaper, from RM5,863 a term in Standard 1 to RM8,201 in Form 5. One-time international fees are RM2,000 application and RM5,000 registration for Early Years or RM7,000 for Primary and above.

Image: Tenby Schools Penang

Straits International School Penang

Bayan Lepas, 11900, and the most affordable full international option on the island in this list. British and Cambridge curricula for ages 3 to 16, with no sixth form. The 2026-2027 fees are published per term across three terms: RM6,100 Nursery, RM6,700 Reception, RM8,800 Year 1, RM9,800 Year 2, RM10,807 Year 3, RM11,867 Year 4, RM12,867 Year 5, RM13,733 Year 6, RM14,233 Year 7, RM14,727 Year 8, RM15,687 Year 9, RM16,007 Year 10 and RM16,727 Year 11. Annualised, the top year group is RM50,181, so no year group at Straits crosses the RM60,000 line on tuition alone. The joining year is a different story. A new Year 11 student adds RM2,000 registration, RM7,000 enrolment, a RM250 one-time cybersecurity fee, a RM2,500 international fee per enrolment and a RM1,500 annual resource fee, and those charges together take the first academic year to roughly RM63,431, which is over the line. Straits publishes no SST note on its fee page at all, which is the single most useful reason to ask its admissions team the question directly. Nursery to Year 2 pay a higher resource fee of RM1,700 a year. The security deposit is 100 per cent of a term's fee. A second child gets 7 per cent off tuition and a third gets 10 per cent, and paying the full academic year upfront from Term 1 earns 5 per cent.

Image: Straits International School Penang

Stonyhurst International School Penang

Tanjung Tokong, the Malaysian campus of Stonyhurst College in the UK, and the only school in this list that publishes two entirely separate rate cards side by side, one headed "Malaysians only" and one headed "Non-Malaysians". The Malaysian card runs RM16,500 Nursery, RM20,250 Reception, RM29,250 Years 1 to 2, RM36,450 Years 3 to 4, RM43,650 Years 5 to 6, RM56,400 Years 7 to 9, RM59,700 Years 10 to 11 and RM59,850 Years 12 to 13. The non-Malaysian card runs RM21,600, RM24,750, RM35,700, RM44,550, RM51,150, RM66,150, RM70,050 and RM71,250 for the same year groups. Read against the RM60,000 threshold the pattern is striking: the Malaysian card never crosses the line, topping out RM150 short of it in the final two years, while the non-Malaysian card crosses at Year 7 and stays over. Stonyhurst is also the only school here to publish a full explanation of the tax, stating that from 1 July 2025 the 6 per cent applies to tuition, learning support, and application and enrolment fees for new pupils, and that it affects all pupils regardless of nationality except Malaysian pupils with OKU cards. Fees are stated exclusive of SST. One-time charges are the same for both cards: application RM1,000, enrolment RM6,000 for Nursery to Year 1, RM9,000 for Years 2 to 6 or RM9,500 for Years 7 to 13, and a RM6,500 security deposit refundable on one term's written notice. Learning support, if needed, is RM2,500 a year. A lump sum payment earns 3 per cent, and sibling discounts run 3, 5 and 8 per cent.

Image: Stonyhurst International School Penang

Sri KDU International School Penang

No. 2, Persiaran Mutiara 5, Pusat Komersial Bandar Tasek Mutiara, 14120 Simpang Ampat, and the only mainland option on this list, which matters if you live in Seberang Perai or commute from Kulim. British curriculum from age 3 to 18, accredited by COBIS, FOBISIA and CAIE, and it publishes its MOE registration number, PUBE001, in its own footer. The August 2026/2027 annual tuition runs RM19,090 for both Early Years stages, then RM30,050, RM31,670, RM33,880, RM38,220, RM40,960 and RM43,150 through Years 1 to 6, RM47,120, RM48,780, RM49,870, RM52,660 and RM52,660 through Years 7 to 11, and RM55,130 for Year 12 and RM52,500 for Year 13. No year group crosses RM60,000 on tuition, but the joining year can: a new international Year 12 student adds RM1,500 application and RM10,000 registration, which lifts the first year to about RM66,630. Sri KDU is the second school here to price by nationality, though only on the one-time charges rather than on tuition. Registration is RM4,500 for Malaysian Early Years and RM9,000 for Malaysian Years 1 to 13, against RM8,000 and RM10,000 for international students, and the Years 1 to 11 deposit is RM8,000 for Malaysians against RM10,000 for international students. The English Language Learning Academy is free for pupils scoring above 90 on CAT4 and RM3,200 a term for those scoring 75 to 89. Sibling discounts are 10, 15 and 20 per cent. Terms run August to December, January to March and April to June.

Image: Sri KDU International School Penang

Fairview International School Penang

Bukit Jambul, next to a lake in the suburbs, established in late 2006, and by its own account the only school in Penang authorised to offer both the IB Primary Years Programme and the Middle Years Programme to learners aged 3 to 16, with a Diploma Programme for 16 to 19. It is a WWF certified Eco-School and says more than 20 nationalities are represented in the student body. It is on this list for a different reason from the other seven: it is the one school of the eight that does not publish an annual fee. What Fairview does publish is the one-time side, a non-refundable application fee of RM1,000 and an enrolment fee of RM2,500 for the Primary Years Programme from Reception to Primary 5 or RM5,000 for MYP1 to MYP5 and DP1 to DP2. The annual figure sits behind a form that asks for your name, phone, email and campus before it will redirect you, and the heading above that form on the live page still reads "School Annual Fees For AY 23/24". Nothing about that is improper, but it does mean this is the only school in Penang whose position relative to the RM60,000 tax threshold cannot be checked by a parent from the outside. If Fairview is on your shortlist, ask for the 2026/2027 schedule in writing, and ask specifically whether any year group is above RM60,000 and whether quoted fees include SST. Admissions also requires a three-year transcript and a testimonial from the previous school, plus visa and permit details for both parents where applicable.

Image: Fairview International School

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the 6 per cent SST charged on the whole fee, or only on the amount above RM60,000?

On the whole taxable amount. RMCD's Guide on Private Education Services does not describe a marginal band. Its worked examples treat the RM60,000 figure as a switch that determines whether a year group is taxable at all, and once a school is a registered person for that year group, the 6 per cent applies to the education charges it invoices. That is why RM300 over the line at Prince of Wales Island International School matters more than RM300 sounds: it is the difference between a year group being outside the tax and being inside it.

Do boarding fees, school bus fees and lunch push a student over the RM60,000 line?

No. Appendix A of Service Tax Policy No. 4/2025, in its Amendment No. 2 dated 17 October 2025, expressly exempts accommodation charges, transportation charges, food and beverage charges, book charges, uniform charges, PTA fees, refundable deposits that are not part of the tuition fees, student pass or visa charges, and educational trips inside or outside the country that are not part of the tuition fees. That matters most at Dalat and at POWIIS Balik Pulau, the two Penang schools with real boarding programmes: RM45,200 and RM39,600 a year respectively sit outside the tax entirely.

Are Malaysian children exempt from the tax on international school fees?

This is genuinely unsettled and worth asking in writing. RMCD's English-language guide and FAQ both say exemption under Item 10 of the Service Tax (Persons Exempted from Payment of Tax) Order 2018 covers Malaysian citizens and holders of a valid OKU card, which reads as two groups. The Malay text of the same FAQ reads as one group, meaning a Malaysian citizen who holds a valid OKU card. RMCD's own worked example taxes a student on RM63,000 without mentioning nationality. Stonyhurst International School Penang publishes the stricter reading, stating the tax affects all pupils regardless of nationality except Malaysian pupils with OKU cards. Plan on the stricter reading and get your school's position in writing.

Which Penang international school is cheapest overall?

It depends on the year group and on whether you are counting the joining year. On tuition alone at the secondary level, Straits International School Penang is the lowest full international option, at RM50,181 a year in Year 11, followed by Sri KDU at RM52,660 for Years 10 and 11. At primary level Tenby's Year 1 is RM22,881 a year against RM26,220 at POWIIS Tanjung Bungah and RM29,250 at Stonyhurst on the Malaysian card. Sekolah Sri Tenby, the Malaysian national stream on the Tenby campus, is cheaper than every international option here, from RM17,589 a year in Standard 1. Fairview cannot be ranked because it does not publish an annual fee.

#International Schools#Penang#Education#School Fees#SST#Expat Families

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