Singapore · History
From a Competitive Tender to 2,600 Students in a Decade
Dulwich College (Singapore) opened in August 2014 after winning a government tender against 19 rivals. In eleven years it has grown from 884 students to a fully built-out campus in Bukit Batok West.
The road to Bukit Batok began not with a school plan but with a competitive pitch. The International Educator reported that Dulwich College International (DCI) was awarded the contract to open a school in Singapore in 2012, following a tender managed by the Economic Development Board in which it beat at least 19 other schools. Construction began in February 2013. Eighteen months later, on 27 August 2014, the gates opened.
Origins
DCI itself was co-founded in 2003 by Fraser White and Karen Yung, a British-Singaporean couple then living in Shanghai, after a chance meeting with the head of Dulwich College London. The London institution traces its founding to 21 June 1619, when actor-entrepreneur Edward Alleyn established it by letters patent from King James I. The Singapore campus became the seventh school to join the DCI network, following colleges in Beijing, Shanghai (two), Suzhou, Seoul, and Zhuhai.
Nick Magnus, previously the founding head of Dulwich College Suzhou, arrived in Singapore on 1 August 2012 charged with building the school before a single student had enrolled. He had first led Braeburn School in Nairobi, then spent five and a half years in Suzhou, where he oversaw significant building projects. Singapore was his third international headship.
When the doors opened, 884 students walked in, representing more than 40 nationalities. The intake ran from Toddler to Year 8 only; senior years would follow as the cohort aged through. Total investment to reach maximum capacity was projected to exceed SGD 200 million. The EDB's then-chairman Leo Yip framed the school's arrival as a deliberate move to strengthen Singapore's business infrastructure for attracting global companies.
Campus Growth
The second phase of campus development was already under way a year ahead of schedule when the school opened, with a stated capacity target of 2,500 students. In August 2018 a Performing Arts Centre was completed, housing a 742-seat theatre and a pipe organ described as the second largest in Singapore, alongside two black box theatres and suites of music and art rooms.
The final phase arrived in November 2023 with the opening of the Greenhouse, a seven-storey innovation hub certified Green Mark Platinum Zero Energy by Singapore's Building and Construction Authority, the first international school building in the country to achieve that rating. Its 290 integrated solar cells and rainwater harvesting systems offset more than 216 tonnes of CO2 annually. The building holds a 400-seat auditorium, a STEAM workshop, a professional teaching kitchen, film and media suites, three additional black box theatres, and a two-storey IB library. The launch was attended by Singapore's Minister for National Development and the British High Commissioner.
Curriculum and Identity
The school follows an enhanced English National Curriculum from Early Years through Key Stage 4, with students sitting IGCSEs in Years 9 to 11. The IB Diploma Programme runs in Years 12 and 13. The three divisions, DUCKS (toddlers to Year 2), Junior School, and Senior School, are colour-coded across the campus. Students aged two to seven are taught bilingually in English and Chinese; daily Mandarin classes continue through Year 8.
Dulwich Singapore was one of the first international schools in Singapore to introduce Forest School, accredited by the UK's Forest School Learning Initiative, into its early years programme. The school competes in FOBISIA games and the network-wide Dulwich Olympiad, and students can participate in more than 275 sports teams across football, rugby, netball, cricket, swimming, and other disciplines.
On the accreditation side, the school has held Singapore's four-year EduTrust certification since its inception, most recently reaccredited in 2024. The Council of International Schools (CIS) granted full accreditation in April 2022, and the school also holds accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and is a COBIS-accredited British international school. Nick Magnus was admitted to HMC international membership in 2024.
Present Day
Nick Magnus MBE led the college from its founding through August 2025, an eleven-year tenure that took it from 884 students to a fully developed campus. David Ingram succeeded him as Head of College from August 2025. The school currently enrols around 2,600 students from more than 50 nationalities, taught by a staff of approximately 300. It sits on a five-hectare site at 71 Bukit Batok West Avenue 8, within the DCI network that now spans Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Seoul, and Yangon. In 2024, Hillhouse Investment Group acquired DCI's Asian schools from Education in Motion.