North London Collegiate School to Build a Boarding Campus in Phuket

North London Collegiate School (NLCS) is extending its international network to Thailand's resort capital. The group has signed an agreement with VLC Group, a hospitality firm with hotel and resort holdings across Phuket and Khao Lak, to build a co-educational day and boarding school in Cherngtalay, one of the island's fastest-growing residential districts, according to Tes.

The school, to be known as NLCS Phuket International School, is planned to open in time for the 2028 school year. It will serve students from Early Years to Year 13, with initial capacity for around 1,000 students and scope to expand to approximately 1,500. Planned facilities include a 50-metre swimming pool, a sports hall, covered tennis courts, football pitches, and separate junior and senior school buildings, with boarding accommodation integral to the campus from the outset.

A seventh campus for the group

The announcement makes NLCS Phuket the seventh international school in the group's overseas portfolio, alongside existing campuses in Dubai, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. Managing director Daniel Lewis said the aim was "to deliver an education that develops scholarship, in a joyful and exciting environment, that celebrates every individual for who they are." For VLC Group, the partnership fills what it described as a clear market gap.

"There has been a clear gap in the market for a highly academic school with a direct connection to one of the UK's leading educational institutions," said Naruj Chirayus, VLC Group's managing director. VLC's involvement brings the hospitality and property expertise needed to deliver the campus, while NLCS International supplies the curriculum framework, teacher training pipeline, and the brand recognition that premium families in the region have come to expect from British-affiliated schooling.

Beyond Bangkok

The Phuket deal reflects a broader dispersal of international school investment in Thailand. For most of the past decade, new openings clustered in Bangkok, where the largest concentration of expatriate families and internationally oriented Thai parents live. Phuket has attracted growing interest as a secondary location, partly because of its established expat residential community and partly because the island's physical geography allows for the kind of campus that Bangkok, constrained by land costs and density, rarely can.

The boarding dimension is particularly significant for NLCS International. Most of the group's existing overseas campuses operate as day schools. A Phuket boarding offer would allow families across Thailand and the wider region to access an NLCS education without sending their children to the United Kingdom, a calculation that has become more attractive as UK boarding costs have risen and long-haul travel added complexity to school selection. Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with the first students arriving the following year.