2020: New School Places In Singapore
A wave of international schools will open and expand in 2020, helping to meet the demand for places in Singapore, particularly within the early years and primary sector. As well as helping to reduce waiting lists across the city-state, these new schools will offer parents more choice in terms of curricula, cost of tuition, and location.
Three new British public-school exports will open in 2020. While Dulwich College (Singapore) has been the one and only since 2014, it will now have to compete against three new UK independent schools. These include The Perse School Singapore, North London Collegiate School (Singapore), and Brighton College (Singapore).
One World International School (OWIS) will open a pre-school for children aged three to six years at a new Mountbatten campus in eastern Singapore in January 2020. EtonHouse Sentosa is expanding to accommodate more primary students by opening Years 4-6 from August 2020. And Nexus International School will move to its new larger, purpose-built campus in Geylang in January 2020, where it will have the capacity to increase its student body from 1,200 to 2,000.
New School: North London Collegiate School (Singapore)
The prestigious British independent school, North London Collegiate School (NLCS), will open a campus in Singapore in August 2020. This academically selective school says it will offer a curriculum “based largely on that of NLCS (UK)”. This means that we can expect an education that's based on features of the UK National Curriculum and the IB programme.
NLCS Singapore is registered with the Committee for Private Education (CPE), which regulates Singapore's private education sector. It is accepting applications from students from Pre-KG to Grade 10 for entry in the 2020/21 academic year; the school will open Grades 11-12 in subsequent years.
Read our full review for NLCS Singapore here.
New School: The Perse School
This well regarded British independent school plans to open a primary campus in Bukit Timah in 2020 for up to 480 students aged six to 11 years, subject to regulatory approvals from Singapore’s Ministry of Education.
With annual tuition fees of around $25,000, The Perse School, Singapore, will be significantly cheaper than many other top-tier schools in Singapore where average fees can reach $39,000. This new primary school, which is due to enrol students from early next year, will follow the Cambridge International Primary Curriculum combined with elements from the Perse Prep curriculum. There are plans to extend to a secondary school in the future.
Read our full review for The Perse School here.
New School: Brighton College (Singapore)
Brighton College plans to open a nursery and primary school for students aged 18 months through to 11 years in Singapore in September 2020, subject to regulatory approvals from Singapore’s Ministry of Education.
In line with all other Brighton College campuses, teaching is expected to follow the UK National Curriculum in all year groups. The school, which will have capacity for 550 students, expects to be open for applications by end of November and open for visitors by end of 2019.
Read our full review for Brighton College (Singapore) here.
New School: One World International School (Mountbatten)
One World International School will open its new Mountbatten pre-school in eastern Singapore in January 2020 for children aged three to six years. OWIS is currently open for EC1 through to Grade 12 at its Nanyang campus in Jurong, which offers an IB education for low annual fees of $17,514-20,136.
The new Mountbatten campus, which will enrol students in EC1 to EC3, will deliver an early years education based on the UK National Curriculum and an inquiry led, play-based learning approach. It will offer a full day programme from 9am-3.30pm that includes PE, music and arts lessons at a campus with “dynamic indoor and outdoor play spaces specifically designed and built for young children”.
Read our full review for One World International School (Mountbatten) here.
School Expansion: EtonHouse Sentosa
EtonHouse Sentosa is expanding its primary school by adding on Years 4-6 from August 2020. Housed in a three-storey heritage building in Sentosa, this pre and primary school is currently open from nursery up to Year 3; teaching follows the Reggio Emilia influenced bilingual programme for children aged 18 months to six years, and then the IB PYP (Primary Years Programme) curriculum in common with EtonHouse Thomson, EtonHouse Orchard and EtonHouse Broadrick.
This small campus is one of only two international schools on the island of Sentosa; the other is Invictus International School, which opened a second campus for Grades 1 and 2 located in Ocean Way in August 2019.
Read our full review for EtonHouse Sentosa here.
New Campus: Nexus International School
This all-through school currently offers a combination of the International Baccalaureate programme and the UK National Curriculum at a site in Bukit Timah. It will move to a purpose-built vertical campus in Geylang, where it will have the facilities to increase its capacity from 1,200 to 2,000 students.
Nexus’ new campus will open on January 13, 2020, and parents have the opportunity to visit the new school from November 14. Located on Aljunied Road, between the PIE (Aljunied Flyover) and the Pelton Park Connector, the campus is around a 20-minute drive away from the current site.
Read our full review for Nexus here.
