Rugby School to Open Its First Vietnam Campus in September

Rugby School Group will open its first campus in Vietnam this September, admitting children from Early Years through Year 2 to a purpose-built pre-prep facility in Hanoi's Ciputra compound near West Lake. According to Tes, the campus will be followed by prep and senior provision from September 2027 on a separate site roughly 500 metres away, completing an unbroken British education pathway from early childhood through to IGCSE.

The school has been developed in partnership with Khai Sang Corporation, a Vietnamese education investor led by Tuyen Nguyen and currently operating five schools across the country. Rugby School Hanoi will be the ninth institution in Rugby School Group, whose international campuses already span Thailand, Japan, Nigeria, and Dubai. The founding UK school in Warwickshire was established in 1567 and is among Britain's most recognised independent boarding institutions.

What pupils can expect

The school will deliver the British curriculum under the group's "Whole Person Whole Point" ethos, which places intellectual development, character formation, and imaginative growth on equal footing with academic results. Co-curricular provision will span sport, music, and the performing arts, in keeping with the model deployed at Rugby School's other international campuses. The Hanoi campus will operate initially as a day school; boarding has not been announced for the near term, consistent with the norms of Hanoi's existing international school market.

Applications are open now for the September 2026 intake, covering Early Years 1 through Year 2. Fees have not yet been published, leaving families to gauge the school's positioning against Hanoi's established British-curriculum operators. At premium British schools elsewhere in Vietnam's major cities, annual senior tuition typically ranges from USD 20,000 to USD 30,000 or above.

A city in demand

Rugby School's arrival is the latest in a rapid sequence of moves by recognised British brands into Hanoi. Uppingham Hanoi is expected to open in August 2026, and Taylor's Education Group announced a strategic partnership with established K-12 school Sentia just days ago. The clustering of British names in a single city reflects broader trends: Vietnam's international school enrolment has grown by roughly 18 percent over three years, with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City accounting for the majority of that expansion, driven by expatriate demand and a domestic middle class prioritising globally recognised qualifications.

For Rugby School Group, Hanoi represents its first foothold in Southeast Asia's fastest-growing international education market. Whether the school can build sufficient enrolment in the pre-prep years to sustain the planned 2027 senior expansion will be closely watched by operators and families alike, and will test whether the Rugby brand carries the same premium appeal in a city still developing its taste for new British school entrants.