Kuala Lumpur · History
From 70 pupils to 1,510: BSKL's sixteen years in Petaling Jaya
Founded in 2009 with a small cohort on a modest campus, the British International School of Kuala Lumpur has grown into one of Malaysia's largest and most decorated British-curriculum schools.
Origins
The British International School of Kuala Lumpur was founded in 2008 by trustees John Ordovas and Darren Brown, and opened its doors to students in 2009. It began with 70 pupils on a small, rented campus, its stated purpose straightforward: to deliver a quality British education to the expatriate families then flooding into greater Kuala Lumpur. The roll was modest; the ambition was not.
Growth and campus
Within a year the founders had outgrown their first site. In 2010 the school moved to a purpose-built campus in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, a leafy residential suburb to the west of the city, and enrolment climbed steadily through the early years of the decade. The 27,000-square-metre building was designed with capacity for more than 1,800 students.
The next major structural change came in 2016, when a new secondary campus opened on the same site, giving older students a dedicated, purpose-designed environment. That same year BSKL launched its first A Level cohort, completing the school's progression from early years through to sixth form. September 2016 was, in practical terms, the moment BSKL became a full through-school.
In December 2017 ownership and management transferred to Nord Anglia Education, which acquired BSKL as part of a seven-school deal with the British Schools Foundation that also included schools in Brazil, China, Uzbekistan, Myanmar, Russia, and the Philippines. Nord Anglia, headquartered in the United Kingdom and operating more than 80 schools across 37 countries, brought institutional scale and access to global partnerships with institutions including MIT, the Juilliard School, and UNICEF.
Curriculum and accreditation
BSKL follows the English National Curriculum from Early Years Foundation Stage through to Year 9, with students in Years 10 and 11 sitting externally assessed IGCSE examinations and those in Years 12 and 13 completing A Levels. The school is an accredited examination centre for both Cambridge and Edexcel.
On inspection, the school has been rated excellent in all areas by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. It was also, according to Schrole's school profile, one of the first schools in Asia to receive the COBIS Patron's Accreditation, the Council of British International Schools' highest recognition tier.
Results and present day
Academic outcomes have been a consistent selling point. In 2022, every A Level student at BSKL passed their examinations, with 68 percent achieving A* or A grades. At IGCSE in the same year, 80 percent of the cohort earned A* or A. For three consecutive years the school posted the best A Level results of any Nord Anglia school in Asia. In 2022, 47 students were recognised at the Pearson Excellence Awards for outstanding IGCSE and A Level performance, and two achieved best-in-the-world results in IGCSE drama and AS Level history respectively.
The campus today draws students from more than 60 nationalities. Facilities include twenty music rooms, two drama and dance studios, a 600-seat auditorium, two swimming pools, a dedicated STEAM corridor housing science, computing, and design technology labs, and a food technology lab described by the school as one of only a handful in Malaysia. The campus is divided into three interconnected sections: Lower, Junior, and Secondary.
BSKL currently enrols 1,510 students aged 2 to 18. Post-16 pathways lead to universities including Oxford, Cambridge, King's College London, and University College London. The school sits at No. 1 Changkat Bukit Utama, Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
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