Uppingham School to Open Its First Asian Campus in Vietnam This August

Uppingham School, one of England's oldest independent schools, is preparing to open its first campus in Asia in August 2026. The school is located in Ecopark, a planned residential community in Hung Yen Province about 25 minutes' drive from central Hanoi, and will offer the UK national curriculum from kindergarten through to A Levels, according to VnExpress International.

Founded in 1584 and long associated with academic rigour and co-curricular breadth, Uppingham becomes the latest in a series of established British independent schools to plant a flag in Southeast Asia. It is the school's second international campus after Uppingham Cairo, which opened in Egypt in 2024, and the first time the Uppingham name has appeared in Asia at all.

The campus and the partnership

The school has entered an exclusive partnership with Viet Capital Education, a Vietnamese property and education group. The partnership was signed in August 2025, with a groundbreaking ceremony held the same month. Viet Capital is developing the 4.7-hectare site to Uppingham's specification, with capacity for around 2,000 students at full roll. Facilities include a sports complex, performing arts centre, football pitch, advanced science laboratories and a modern library, all designed to standards the school says are consistent with its UK home.

Academically, the school will run the UK national curriculum, leading to iGCSE qualifications and A Levels. The A Level pathway is a deliberate selling point in a market where applications to British universities are growing steadily among Vietnamese families. Kirsty Lowery, the founding headmistress, represented Uppingham Vietnam at the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference in May 2026, where she spoke about the school's approach to international education leadership.

A crowded but buoyant market

Vietnam's international school sector has grown rapidly in recent years, with British curriculum operators particularly active in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Rugby School is set to open a Hanoi campus in September 2026, and Taylor's Education Group backed the Sentia school in the city earlier this year. Uppingham's arrival adds a heritage name with global recognition to a roster that until recently was dominated by newer or mid-tier brands.

Tuition fees have not been formally published. The Ecopark location, a premium development favoured by upper-middle-class Vietnamese families and expatriates, suggests the school will position itself at the top of the Hanoi market. At Uppingham's UK home, boarding fees run to well over £50,000 a year. The Vietnam campus will operate as a day school, though what that means for the fee schedule remains to be announced ahead of the August opening.