Bearing the name "Harrow", all Harrow International Schools are expected to follow the broad philosophy of Harrow School in the UK. This might be summarised as an all-round education with priorities being to improve value-added academic performance and entry into Russell Group universities in the UK or their equivalent in other Western countries; provide a broad range of co-curricular pursuits; and provide strong pastoral care.

The mission statement of the Harrow International Schools is Leadership for a better world, which draws on the great tradition of famous leaders emanating from Harrow school such as Winston Churchill, Pundit Nehru and King Hussein of Jordan. The Schools are working towards basing their curriculum and extra-curricular programmes on The Integrated Framework, developed by HIMS as the basis for the learning experiences of the students in and out of the classroom. The Integrated Framework filters six leadership qualities which demonstrate Leadership for a better world (see below*) and integrates them into the Schools' curriculum structure, the way teachers teach (see Pedagogical Approaches) and the extra-curricular programme (see Extra-curricular Themes). In this way the whole learning experience of the students is orientated towards the notion of Leadership for a better world.