Dulwich College (Singapore)

Since 2012, Nick Magnus BA QTS. He is the founding head and Dulwich family ‘old hand’ as the previous founding head of Dulwich College Suzhou. His first headship, at a British international school in Kenya, was at the tender age of 32 and, in his own words, he ‘went to school aged 4 and hasn’t left since.’ An educator through and through.

Together with wife, Sonia - a teacher and deputy head of early years and two children at the college - Mr Magnus embodies the Dulwich family approach and is regularly seen at the college entrance or cheerily roaming the halls each day. A consummate headmaster, he talks the talk and walks the walk, which parents love, and there is little doubt that the college is in good hands.

With a strong sense of decency and humour, he unconsciously prompts good behaviour from all around him, though luckily not enough to stop parents letting their hair down at the annual Dulwich Ball.

At the end of the 2024/25 academic year, Nick Magnus will be leaving. David Ingram has been announced as his successor. Details to follow.

Academically selective. Students are assessed in an age-appropriate manner, with junior and senior applicants required to produce a written essay in addition to having CAT scores assessed, which are viewed in relation to the current cohort. No rolling admissions, but two application pools (November and March) for admission the following September.

In 2024, the most popular destinations included the United Kingdom (47 per cent), the United States and Canada (14 per cent), and Australia (14 per cent). Of the 55 students heading to the UK for tertiary education:

Notably, five students secured places at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. Fifteen students were accepted into the elite 'Big Four' London universities: Imperial College London, the London School of Economics and Political Science, King’s College London, and University College London.

In total, 80 per cent were accepted to Russell Group universities and 91 per cent secured their first choice offer for university, with 100 per cent securing spots at their top two choices.

The school is supportive of transitions, both in and out, with the offer of extra support for students during the settling in phase, as well as when they are moving on. In fact, this is one of only a few schools that openly offers a programme to prepare younger children for a school move. While the college doesn’t teach to the Common Entrance exam, it does implement the rigour in its year 7–9 curriculum - and 7+, 11+ and 13+ entry into British schools is supported with an after school programme. This is highly welcomed by families. After all, as expected in an international school, families leave for a varied list of destinations and, with a high achieving community, destinations include reputable independent schools in the UK, including Eton, and overseas.

This is an international school with a strong British independent school ethos imbued from its 400-year Dulwich College heritage. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a franchise school. Far from it, this seventh of the international colleges wears its Dulwich badge with pride and graduating results would suggest rightly so.

As one of Singapore’s few academically selective schools, you would expect results to be high, but the picture is more than that. In DUCKS (toddler to year 2) and juniors (years 3 to 6), Dulwich follows the English national curriculum, but enhanced to reflect its international standing, the dual language Mandarin programme a particular highlight. The rigour of juniors sets students up well for the IGCSE programme in seniors which, unusually for Singapore, commences in year 9 and is run across three years. According to the college, this allows them to extend the teaching and learning opportunities beyond the curriculum and prepare them for independent learning as they move into the IB Diploma. For parents the view is more mixed with some feeling the children drop some subjects too early.

The school has a superb Mandarin English dual language programme in DUCKS, that is cited by many parents as a big pull. Within this there is a full-time 'Lao Shi' (Chinese teacher to the uninitiated) in every class, with children quickly integrating Mandarin into everyday life and learning. As students move up into juniors, Mandarin is continued through the junior school Mandarin Learning Centre with allocated weekly teaching time matching that of maths and English. Moving into seniors, this tails off in intensity and by year 7 children have the option to also pick up Spanish, French or German. For a few families there is a sense of disappointment that their children’s Mandarin skills peaked so young but for many, and especially those arriving in older years, the offering and options sit comfortably.

Class sizes are slightly smaller than other similarly sized international schools, with 22 students per class from years 1 and above, and 10 classes per year group.

Teachers are young, with an average age of 39, bringing bags of enthusiasm into the classrooms. Staff are often recruited from within the Dulwich Group, with plenty celebrating more than ten years in the ‘family’.

This is a school where parent expectations run high. The college sets the bar for this with its selective admissions process, the rigour of its programmes and higher teaching fees but it is successfully delivering. The view is that teachers are excellent, students are challenged and that there is a student culture where academic achievement is celebrated. It’s cool to work and student agency is top of the agenda.

The libraries and their study areas are frequently highlighted as a positive by parents, as are the librarians who do a great job of getting younger children interested in reading. With cardboard cut- outs of teachers holding their favourite books dotted around the library, it seems the librarians also do a great job of encouraging staff.

The performing arts is lauded. The Alleyn Theatre, with the only pipe organ found in a Singapore international school (and the second largest in Singapore), is a fabulous facility that the college and students make the most of. Public speaking and performance opportunities abound. Impressively, every single junior student not just learns an instrument but is taught to read music and is encouraged to take their loaned instrument home for practice throughout the year.

Design technology and creative arts are woven into the programme early, with even the youngest of students spending time in the much loved DT lab and graduating cohorts include those heading to become design and fashion design students.

While the CCA (co-curricular activities) after-school offering is extensive, the tangibility and cost are sometimes questioned, leading some families to seek group activities outside of school. For others, the school day is more than full enough as it is.

Dulwich is unashamedly competitive on the sports fields. There is a ‘sport for all’ approach, with students participating in teams for sports of their choice but if you are in the top teams there is no doubt you are ‘in it to win it’.

The range of sports on offer is extensive and the list of sporting achievements long, with netball, rugby, gymnastics, swimming, riding and more all taken to a high level at inter-school competitions and overseas cups such as FOBISIA. The Student Athlete Support Programme journeys many high-performing sports students through a talent pathway, with football already having seen two students move on to play U18 football in the European Premier Leagues.

With many of the college’s buildings looking onto its main sports pitch, running track and 25m swimming pool, competition must reach fever-pitch as students vie for a coveted place in the Dulwich Olympiad, a celebration of sports, drama, music and art across the Dulwich family of schools.

Time and time again we hear that children are nothing but happy at Dulwich. No one is saying that the usual friendship and teenage issues don’t arise but that the school is good at addressing them and communicating with parents.

Importantly, the school community pulls together to support families and children during challenging times and on the rare occasion when a serious issue arises, the school is swift to act sensibly and sensitively.

British students are the dominant nationality here, with over 30 per cent holding a British passport but Australian and other Asian nationalities are on the increase and the College is described by parents and students alike as very inclusive.

While students are unassumingly proud of their school, the parent community is even more openly fervent and delight in sharing the College’s success at every turn.

The Friends of Dulwich parent committee work hard and families tell us that they are made to feel very welcome from the moment they join, especially at DUCKS and Junior levels. A parent café on campus is well-used and a class parent structure is finally seeing off the dreaded round-the-clock bombardment of WhatsApp year group chat.

Dulwich College (Singapore) is part of the Dulwich College International network of schools. With 10 schools in seven cities across Asia and three sister schools, the DCI is certainly going strong.

This for-profit backdrop to school fees is always present in the mind of families not lucky enough to benefit from an expat education allowance but a means-tested financial support programme is available on a case-by-case basis at the discretion of the college.

Parents are rightly demanding of transparency on expenditure but with a top notch campus and the recruitment of excellent teachers there are few complaints beyond the pricing of school trips.

Much like its students, Dulwich is confident, not arrogant, in its ability to successfully deliver a global education. Families looking for academic rigour and a healthy level of competition will love it here. Once in the Dulwich fold, you will surely find it hard to leave and those that do, must frequently find themselves looking back wistfully.