Singapore · History
From Ulu Pandan to Aljunied: Nexus International School's First Fifteen Years
Founded through an acquisition in 2011, Nexus International School (Singapore) grew from a rebranded campus in the west to a purpose-built vertical school in central Singapore, carrying its Malaysian parent brand into one of the city-state's most internationally diverse IB communities.
Origins
The school's roots sit in Malaysia, not Singapore. According to the school's own history page, Taylor's Schools established the Nexus International School brand in 2007, opening its first campus in Putrajaya. Four years later, Taylor's moved into the Singapore market by acquiring Excelsior International School and rebranding it as Nexus International School (Singapore), with the first learners enrolling in July 2011.
That original Singapore campus sat in Ulu Pandan, in the west of the island. It was a conventional site, not purpose-built for the Nexus model, and the school operated from it for eight years of what its leadership later described as rapid growth.
The Move to Aljunied
In January 2020, Nexus relocated to a purpose-built campus at 1 Aljunied Walk in central Singapore. The new building, designed by Broadway Malyan, is a twelve-storey vertical school set on a compact site between the Pan Island Expressway and the Pelton Canal. The architects resolved the tight footprint by stacking the junior school on the lower floors and working upward, producing a campus of around 60,600 square metres that can accommodate up to 2,000 students.
Teachers were involved in shaping the internal layout before it was built. The result is a building of open-plan, flexible learning hubs in place of conventional closed classrooms, a two-storey auditorium, two sports halls, an astroturf pitch, and a fifty-metre indoor swimming pool fitted with Omega touchpads. The aquatics centre became one of the campus's most-discussed features among Singapore expat parents almost immediately after the school opened its doors there.
Curriculum and Accreditation
Nexus is an IB World School authorised for all three major programmes it teaches: the Primary Years Programme (PYP) in early years and primary, the Middle Years Programme (MYP) in Years 7 to 9, and the Diploma Programme (DP) in Years 12 and 13. Between MYP and DP, students in Years 10 and 11 sit IGCSEs, giving the school a hybrid British-IB pathway that is deliberately designed so the external Cambridge exams prepare students for the rigour of the Diploma.
The school holds accreditation from the Council of International Schools (CIS), re-accredited in June 2022, and from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). It also carries EduTrust certification from Singapore's Council for Private Education. In 2024 it joined FOBISIA, the Federation of British International Schools in Asia. Nexus is additionally recognised as an Apple Distinguished School, a status that reflects its formal integration of technology across the curriculum.
Community and Identity
One feature Taylor's Schools built into the Nexus Singapore model from the outset was deliberate nationality diversity. No single nationality is permitted to exceed roughly fifteen to twenty per cent of the school roll, and the result is a community drawn from more than sixty countries, with individual classrooms typically containing upward of eight nationalities. The school also operates what it describes as the first co-working space inside a Singapore school campus, allowing parents to base themselves on site during the school day.
Results and Leadership
The Class of 2026 achieved a mean IB Diploma score of 35.7, against a global average of 30.88. Two students hit the maximum 45 points, two scored 44, and 98 per cent of the cohort cleared 30. In the 2025 IGCSE sitting, 54 per cent of all grades awarded were A* to A or the numeric equivalents of 9 to 7.
Karrie Dietz took over as principal in August 2026, replacing interim principal Simon Mann. Dietz brings more than thirty years of leadership and classroom experience across schools in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and the United States. She holds a Master's in Education from Hamline University, an executive certificate in innovation and entrepreneurship from Stanford University, and a fellowship at Columbia University. Her appointment was announced as the school prepared to mark its fifteenth anniversary in 2027.
The campus is currently being expanded ahead of the 2026-2027 academic year, with upgraded flexible learning spaces, additional sports courts, and extended IB facilities. Enrolment sits at approximately 1,500 students, with the school's stated capacity at the Aljunied building set at 2,000.