Of the four premium-tier schools on the Eastern Seaboard, Regents is the only one that runs both the IB Diploma Programme and A-Levels through Years 12–13. At every other shortlist school — Rugby, St Andrew's Green Valley, Garden Rayong — the decision is made for you at age 16, when the curriculum splits. At Regents the family looks at the child, looks at the universities they're targeting, and picks the pathway that fits. That alone is worth a serious comparison if your child is heading into Year 10 and the IB-vs-A-Level question is still open.
What you're buying beyond that single Sixth Form advantage is the Nord Anglia network. Regents is one of 80+ schools across 32 countries owned by Nord Anglia Education, all running variants of the same curriculum framework with the same shared programmes — a partnership with MIT for STEM, with The Juilliard School for performing arts, with UNICEF for global citizenship modules, and an internal Global Campus that lets students from any Nord Anglia school collaborate or transfer cleanly to another country. If your family is internationally mobile — Singapore today, Dubai in three years, Geneva after that — Nord Anglia is the network that handles the moves without breaking the academic record.
Regents sits in Pong, on the inland side of Banglamung — closer to Pattaya than Rugby's Bang Lamung campus, but still not walkable from the beach for families who live near Jomtien or Pratumnak. School bus is the standard answer. Fees vary by zone and run roughly in line with the regional norm of ฿18,000–฿32,000 per term per child. Add it to the budget. The campus itself was purpose-built and has been expanded over three decades — pool, sports halls, theatre, music suite, the typical premium-international full kit.
EYFS for ages 2–5. The International Primary Curriculum (IPC) at primary, which is a globally-mobile-family-friendly framework that maps cleanly across Nord Anglia's other schools. IGCSE in Years 10–11. Then the bifurcation at 16: either three or four A-Levels or the full IB Diploma. The teaching corps is overwhelmingly UK and Commonwealth-trained, with a meaningful number of staff who've rotated through other Nord Anglia campuses globally before landing in Pattaya — which is unusual in a region where most international teachers are first-postings.
Regents offers boarding from Year 3 (age 7) — which is early for international standards and which almost no family actually uses at that age. The realistic boarding cohort starts at Year 9 (age 13–14) and concentrates in Sixth Form. Boarding adds ฿422,000 a year on top of tuition — putting a Year 13 IB boarder at roughly ฿1.25 million a year before extras. Houses are on-campus, which means full pastoral coverage but limited exposure to the surrounding city for the boarders who choose Full (7-day) over Weekly (5-day).
This is the head-to-head most premium-tier families end up running. Rugby is bigger, more expensive at the top end (฿975K vs ฿829K), more sports-heavy, has the older alumni-network brand from Warwickshire, and offers A-Levels only. Regents is slightly cheaper, considerably more curriculum-flexible at Sixth Form, has the global network advantage if you move countries, and offers the MIT/Juilliard programme partnerships if those resonate with your child. If your child is bookish and academically curious, Regents probably edges Rugby. If your child is sport-first or you specifically want the English public-school atmosphere, Rugby probably edges Regents.
St Andrew's is in Banchang, Rayong — a 30-minute drive further south than Regents. It's CIS-accredited, smaller, runs a parallel Dutch-medium stream that's unique in Thailand, and has the Forest School ethos. Slightly cheaper at the top end. If you're a Dutch family, the choice is St Andrew's by default. If you want a smaller, calmer environment and the CIS quality assurance, it's a real comparison. If you want curriculum optionality and the Nord Anglia network, Regents wins.
Garden has the strongest single academic credential in the region — full CIS accreditation, 100% IBDP pass rate three years running, founding FOBISIA member. If your child is locked-in IB and a Sixth Form IB cohort with proven results is the priority, Garden may be the academic pick over Regents. Where Regents wins is the optionality of the A-Level alternative pathway, which Garden doesn't offer.
Sourced from the Nord Anglia tuition page and the international-schools-database 2025/26 record. The headline tuition is the easy number. The first-year all-in is what families actually write the cheque for.
| Year group | Age | Annual tuition |
|---|---|---|
| Early Years + Primary | ||
| Reception | 4–5 | ฿436,050 |
| Years 1–2 | 5–7 | ฿498,000 |
| Years 3–6 | 7–11 | ฿568,500 |
| Secondary | ||
| Years 7–9 | 11–14 | ฿654,000 |
| Years 10–11 (IGCSE) | 14–16 | ฿738,000 |
| Sixth Form | ||
| Years 12–13 (A-Level) | 16–18 | ฿787,500 |
| Years 12–13 (IB Diploma) | 16–18 | ฿829,350 |
| One-time + boarding extras (any year group) | ||
| Application fee (one-time, non-refundable) | — | ฿7,500 |
| School bus (per term, varies by zone) | — | ฿18,000–฿32,000 |
| Boarding · Y3–Y13 (per year, on top of tuition) | — | ฿422,000 |
| First-year total · typical Year 1 day student | 5 | ~ ฿503,550 |
| First-year total · Year 13 IBDP day student | 17 | ~ ฿896,850 |
| First-year total · Year 13 IBDP full boarder | 17 | ~ ฿1,319,850 |
Mid-band year-group figures (Years 1–11) are interpolated from the published Reception and Year 13 endpoints plus publicly verifiable Year 7 and Year 10 line items in the 2025/26 fee schedule. Verify directly with admissions for the year group you're enrolling — Nord Anglia occasionally adjusts mid-bands. Sibling discount: 5% on the 3rd child, 10% on the 4th and beyond.
If your child is heading into Year 10 and you genuinely don't know yet whether IB or A-Level is the right Sixth Form pathway — Regents is the school that doesn't force the decision early. If your family moves countries every few years, the Nord Anglia network is the single best operational answer in Pattaya for clean academic transfers. The right family has a child who's academically engaged (the MIT/Juilliard programme partnerships are wasted on a disengaged student), is comfortable above ฿800K/yr at Sixth Form, and either lives close to Pong or is fine with the daily bus.
Rugby and Regents are live. The other twelve schools roll out one editorial per week through Q3 2026 — anonymous visit, real fee table, "Best for:" verdict, honest trade-offs. Maintained, not abandoned.