Explore Schools · Singapore

Dulwich College (Singapore)

DCSG
Opened
2014
Ages
2 to 18, one campus
Curriculum
British, then IB or STEM A Levels
Eligibility
Foreign pass holders open
The Key Insight

A British school that starts a child in two languages, and now ends with four routes out.

Dulwich College (Singapore) opened in 2014 and is affiliated with the Dulwich College founded in London in 1619, though it is a separate school on a single campus in Bukit Batok, and one of several Dulwich Colleges across Asia. For a Taipei family relocating on an Employment Pass, eligibility is open, and a Taiwan passport is a foreign passport here. What draws Mandarin-literate families is the start of the school rather than its end: from age two, every early-years class has a Chinese co-teacher working alongside the class teacher through the day, so the youngest children live in both languages before formal Mandarin lessons begin.

The end of the school changed in 2026. Sixth Form was long IB Diploma only, which distinguished it from Tanglin. From August 2026 it offers four routes: the IB Diploma, the IB Career-related Programme, a new A Level route restricted to the sciences and mathematics, and a Dulwich high school diploma. That widens the choice without matching Tanglin's broad A Levels, and the new routes are newly launched rather than long proven. This guide sets out the eligibility rule, what the school does and does not publish about its fees, the Mandarin program in detail, and the honest reading of a strong set of results.

What We See
Families who want a British school without giving up the Chinese, and are weighing it against Tanglin.

The Taipei families who ask us about Dulwich usually have two schools in mind, this one and Tanglin, and they are choosing between two versions of a British education in Singapore. Dulwich's case to them is the early years: a child who arrives at three or four keeps growing in Chinese every day rather than in a weekly lesson, and the Mandarin pathways run all the way to a bilingual IB Diploma. The question they bring is whether that holds up as the child gets older, what the new Sixth Form routes mean, and which characters the school teaches.

We work with relocating families remotely, the same way we teach families across roughly eight countries, and often before the move while the decision is open. What we see is the readiness the school assumes and assesses: age-appropriate English, since Dulwich runs no separate program for a child still learning it and expects one parent to be fluent, the mathematics and writing that its entry tests measure from Year 3, and, for a child arriving literate in traditional characters, the placement into the Mandarin pathways. Holding both languages steady across the move is the work we do.

At a Glance

The essentials.

The orienting facts, each drawn from the school's own materials and checked in September 2026. Figures are the school's own, in Singapore dollars.

Opened
2014
The seventh Dulwich College, affiliated with the London school of 1619
Ages served
2 to 18
DUCKS early years, Junior, and Senior on one Bukit Batok campus
Students
2,600
The school's own figure, from more than 50 nationalities
Sixth Form
Four routes
IB Diploma, IB Career-related, STEM A Levels, and a diploma, from 2026
Eligibility
Open
Foreign pass holders open. Citizens need an MOE exemption first
Boarding
Years 12 to 13 only
Through a partner residence, for families living outside Singapore

Dulwich College (Singapore) is a British-curriculum school run by a privately held group, taking IGCSE before a Sixth Form that now offers the IB and a science-and-mathematics A Level route. It is an IB World School, fully accredited by the Council of International Schools and WASC, and an accredited member of the Council of British International Schools, which inspects to the UK's British Schools Overseas standard. It teaches the British curriculum, not an American or Advanced Placement one, and Mandarin runs through it from age two. Its tuition is published in a fee factsheet on its own site, which this guide points to rather than reproduces, for the reason set out below.

Fees and Facts

Dulwich fees: what is published, and where.

Dulwich publishes its per-year tuition in a 2026 to 2027 fee factsheet on its website. This guide does not reproduce those figures, because at the time of checking they could not be verified from the school's own document, and the restatements circulating on directory sites disagree with each other. A family should read the factsheet directly. What the school states on its fees page in plain text is set out below.

Why the tuition table is not here

Two different sets of per-year figures circulate for this school, one apparently from the previous year and one labelled 2026 to 2027 and running higher, and neither could be checked against the school's own factsheet during this review. Printing either would risk repeating a stale or wrong number as the school's. The one-time fees below are the school's own, stated in text on its fees page.

One-time and other fees, 2026 to 2027

ItemAmountApplies to
Application feeS$1,500Per application, non-refundable and non-transferable
Enrollment fee, one timeS$4,000After a successful assessment. Non-refundable, except if the immigration authority refuses the Student's Pass or the Ministry refuses a citizen's exemption
Capital levy, one timeS$4,500Before admission, all new students. Non-refundable
Refundable debentureNoneNo refundable deposit or bond
Card payment surcharge3 percentNon-refundable. Cash not accepted
Boarding, Years 12 to 13S$43,200 per year, the 2025 to 2026 figureThrough a partner residence, for families outside Singapore. Plus a boarding application fee and a deposit to the residence
Lunch, bus, uniform, tripsCharged separatelyThrough the school's providers

Source: the school's fees page. Checked September 2026. The three one-time fees together come to S$10,000 for a new student before tuition, as Harland's arithmetic on the school's stated figures.

Reference

Ages served2 to 18, Toddler to Year 13, on one campus
Enrollment2,600 students from more than 50 nationalities, the school's own figure
CurriculumEnhanced English National Curriculum, IGCSE over Years 9 to 11, then Sixth Form. British, not AP
Sixth Form routesIB Diploma. IB Career-related Programme. A Level in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics from August 2026. A Dulwich high school diploma
MandarinDual-language early years from age two. Daily Mandarin streamed by ability from age four. Three pathways from native to beginner, to IB Chinese and a bilingual diploma
Chinese, character variantNot published by the school. Confirm with admissions
New Sixth Form entryYear 12, with IGCSE results at grade B or above and a recommendation. Year 13 is not an entry point
AccreditationIB World School for the Diploma and Career-related programs. Council of International Schools and WASC, fully accredited. Council of British International Schools, accredited member. FOBISIA member
AdmissionsRolling, year-round. A waiting list by date of application with stated priority groups. Mid-year entry possible
English supportNo separate program. English required at entry, and one parent must be fluent
EligibilityForeign passport and FIN. Citizens, including dual nationals, in limited cases with an MOE exemption first
Class of 2026 IB145 candidates. Average 37.5 on the results page and 37.7 on the homepage. Pass rate 99.3 percent. Four scores of 45. 29 bilingual diplomas

Where a row reads "not published," the fact does not appear on any page the school publishes. Where the school's own pages give two figures, both are shown rather than merged.

Heritage

A 400-year name, a 2014 school, and a private owner.

The Dulwich name is old and the Singapore school is young, and a family should hold both facts at once, along with a third the school does not lead with: who owns it.

Dulwich College was founded in London in 1619 by the actor Edward Alleyn, and the Singapore school, opened in August 2014 as the seventh in the Dulwich family, draws on that heritage by affiliation rather than identity. The London school's Deputy Master inspects the Singapore college annually, and its house names, Shackleton among them, honor Dulwich alumni. But it is a separate school, run by Dulwich College (Singapore) Pte Ltd as part of Education in Motion, a privately held group founded in 2003 with headquarters in Singapore and Shanghai that operates the Dulwich Colleges across Asia. The school does not describe itself as non-profit, and a family for whom governance matters should read it as a for-profit institution within a group.

What the affiliation buys is real. Dulwich Singapore holds full accreditation from both the Council of International Schools and WASC, is an accredited member of the Council of British International Schools, which inspects to the UK government's standard for British schools abroad, and is an IB World School for the Diploma and Career-related programs. Its ethos is "Live Worldwise," the aim of raising global citizens who make informed choices and take inspired action, and its four houses, Shackleton, Mandela, Earhart, and Lee, are named for an explorer, a statesman, an aviator, and a pioneering Singaporean doctor. Its first head, Nick Magnus, led it from before opening until 2025. David Ingram, who founded the Shanghai Puxi college, took over that August.

Curriculum

A British curriculum, Mandarin from age two, and a Sixth Form that just widened.

Dulwich follows the English National Curriculum through IGCSE, then a Sixth Form that changed shape in 2026. Running through all of it, from the toddler room to the IB, is a Mandarin program more thoroughgoing than most British schools offer.

The lower school is an enhanced English National Curriculum through DUCKS, the early years and infant school for ages two to seven, and the Junior School to Year 6. The Senior School takes IGCSE over three years, Years 9 to 11 by the school's account, with Cambridge, Edexcel, and OxfordAQA boards. Sixth Form was for years the IB Diploma alone, with the IB Career-related Programme alongside. From August 2026 the school adds an A Level route in biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, with further mathematics as an option, and a Dulwich high school diploma. That is a real widening, but a narrow one: a student who wants A Levels in history, economics, or the arts will not find them here, and should compare Tanglin, whose A Levels run across the curriculum. The new routes are also new. They were marked as coming soon on the school's own pages at the time of checking, so a family choosing them is choosing a launch year. It is a British school throughout, not an American or Advanced Placement one, so a family from an AP school in Taipei, or weighing Singapore American School, is choosing a different system.

Mandarin is where Dulwich stands out among Singapore's British schools. In DUCKS, from age two, a Chinese co-teacher works in every class alongside the class teacher through the whole day, in stories, play, and daily interaction, so the youngest children hear and use both languages before they are taught either formally. From Reception to Year 2 a daily Mandarin lesson of up to an hour is added, and from age four the daily classes are streamed by ability. Three pathways then run through the school: Mandarin A for native speakers, Mandarin B as a second language, and Mandarin C as a foreign language, the last taught through the school's own "Wo Hui" method, which separates speaking and listening from reading and writing and introduces characters by simplicity and frequency. At IB the school offers Chinese A literature, Chinese A language and literature, and Chinese B, a bilingual diploma is available, and the school reports that 62 percent of its students achieve top scores in IB Mandarin. It is a stronger program than Tanglin's Mandarin-as-a-subject, though not the half-day immersion of Canadian International School. The one thing the school does not say is whether it teaches simplified or traditional characters. Its parent group began in Shanghai, which points to simplified, and a family with a child literate in traditional characters should confirm before placing weight on the pathways.

Results

Strong results, with one small discrepancy worth knowing.

Dulwich publishes its IB and IGCSE results in full and they are strong. It publishes them twice, and the two figures for the same cohort differ slightly, which this guide shows rather than resolves.

For the class of 2026 the school reports 145 IB candidates, a pass rate of 99.3 percent against a global average in the low thirties, four perfect scores of 45, and 40 percent of students scoring 40 points or more, up from 30 percent the year before. Twenty-nine students earned the bilingual diploma. The average score appears as 37.5 on the school's academic results page and as 37.7 on its homepage for the same cohort. Both are the school's own figures, the difference is small, and the average is best read as about 37.5 to 37.7, not either figure alone. At IGCSE in 2025, 178 Year 11 students achieved a 100 percent pass rate, with 74 percent of grades at A* or A and 52 percent at A*.

On destinations, the school reports for a recent cohort of 160, of whom 19 entered National Service, four Oxbridge offers, five to medical school, and places including eight at Imperial, ten at the London School of Economics, twenty-one at King's College London, and ten at University College London, with a spread across the United States, Asia, and Europe. Those are offers and places for one cohort, not a per-student record across years, and the school frames its results as reflecting academic excellence and personal growth together. Read them as evidence of a school whose IB cohort performs well above the global norm, published transparently, with the caveat that the new A Level and diploma routes have no results yet because they have only just begun.

Admissions

Dulwich admissions: the residency gate, then a rolling waiting list with stated priorities.

The eligibility gate

Singapore's residency rule decides eligibility first. A child needs a foreign passport and a valid FIN, obtained through a Dependant's Pass or a Student's Pass the school applies for, before attending. A foreign family on an Employment Pass has open access, and a Taiwan passport is a foreign passport for this. The school treats any child holding a Singapore passport or citizenship as a Singapore citizen, dual nationality included, and admits citizens only in limited cases and only once the Ministry of Education has granted an exemption.

Admissions are rolling and accepted through the year. A family applies online, submits transcripts, records, teacher recommendations, and vaccination records, and pays the application fee to join the candidate list, and an assessment follows no more than twelve months before the intended start. The assessment fits the age: a face-to-face session and online interview in the early years, a cognitive test and a half-hour writing task in Years 3 to 6, a cognitive test and writing task in Years 7 to 11, and, for Year 12, IGCSE results at grade B or above with a recommendation. The school requires English proficiency sufficient for the curriculum and one English-fluent parent, does not release assessment results, and allows a re-sit after six to twelve months at the head's discretion. Children with additional educational needs are considered case by case, and the school states it admits only those for whom it can provide adequate support.

Where a year group is full, an eligible child joins a waiting list ordered by application date that rolls over annually, and the school states its priorities plainly: children of full-time faculty, children transferring from another Dulwich College, siblings of current students with a completed application, and children of alumni of the Dulwich schools. The school also sells a limited number of guaranteed placement rights, a financial contribution that secures priority on the waiting list in any year group, with proceeds funding its scholarship program. That is stated here as the school states it. Mid-year entry is possible where a place opens, and year placement is by age at the start of September. The child's pass must be in hand before enrollment completes, and the school applies for the Student's Pass on the family's behalf.

Who It Suits

An honest read, in both directions.

Often suits
The family for whom it fits
  • Foreign families relocating on an Employment Pass who want a British education and a child who keeps growing in Chinese from the earliest years.
  • Families entering at the early years, where the dual-language program with a Chinese co-teacher in every class runs at its fullest.
  • Families who want the IB Diploma in a British school with strong performing arts and sport, and who value a campus built for both.
  • Science- and mathematics-minded students who want A Levels in those subjects specifically, from the 2026 launch.
May not suit
Where to look harder
  • Students who want A Levels in the humanities, economics, or the arts. Dulwich's A Level route is science and mathematics only, and Tanglin offers the full range.
  • Families who want to see published per-year tuition on a comparison page before enquiring, since the figures sit in the school's factsheet rather than in text.
  • Families whose child is still building English, since the school runs no separate program for it and expects fluency at entry.
  • Families for whom a non-profit school, or a published statement of the Chinese character variant, is a deciding factor.
How Harland Helps

Where we fit, whichever way your family decides.

Harland is not a school and does not replace Dulwich. We are a 1-on-1 tutoring academy, and we work with relocating families remotely, often before the move, in the three places the schooling decision creates real work for a family: the entry assessment, the two-language transition, and the Sixth Form years.

01
Being ready for a school that assesses readiness.
Dulwich tests cognitive ability and writing from Year 3 and expects English fluency at entry with no support program for a child still building it. We prepare a child's academic English and the writing and mathematics the assessments measure, so a child arriving from a different system meets the school ready.
02
Carrying the Chinese into the right pathway.
A child arriving literate in traditional characters is placed into Mandarin A, B, or C by the school's own assessment, and the difference between pathways shapes the years ahead. Our content-based learning approach develops real Chinese through subject material rather than drills, so a child shows the literacy they have, in either script.
03
The IB or A Level years, and university.
Whichever Sixth Form route a child takes, our subject specialists support it 1-on-1, and our SAT and ACT preparation serves those adding United States applications alongside the IB or A Levels. We do not promise admission to any school or university. We prepare the work that earns it.
Common Questions

What parents ask about Dulwich College Singapore.

Can my family enroll at Dulwich College Singapore?

A child needs a foreign passport and a valid FIN, obtained through a Dependant's Pass or a Student's Pass the school applies for, before attending. A Taiwan passport is a foreign passport for this, so a family on an Employment Pass has open access. Singapore citizens, including dual nationals, may apply only in limited cases and need a Ministry of Education exemption before the school will admit them.

Is Dulwich College Singapore the same as Dulwich College in London?

No. It is affiliated with the founding school in London, which dates from 1619, and draws on its heritage, but it is a separate school in Singapore, opened in 2014 and run by the Education in Motion group. It is also distinct from the other Dulwich Colleges in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Zhuhai, Seoul, and Yangon.

Does Dulwich College Singapore offer A Levels or the IB?

From August 2026, both, with a difference. Sixth Form offers the IB Diploma, the IB Career-related Programme, a new A Level route limited to science and mathematics subjects, and a Dulwich high school diploma. A family wanting A Levels across the humanities or arts should compare Tanglin Trust School, whose A Levels are broad.

How strong is Mandarin at Dulwich College Singapore?

Strong. The early years run a dual-language English and Mandarin program with a Chinese co-teacher in every class from age two, daily Mandarin is streamed by ability from age four, and three pathways run from native to beginner through to IB Chinese and a bilingual diploma, 29 of which were awarded in 2026. The school does not state whether it teaches simplified or traditional characters, so a Taiwan family should confirm directly.

What does Dulwich College Singapore cost?

The school publishes its tuition in a fee factsheet on its website, and this guide does not reproduce the per-year figures because they could not be verified from the school's own document at the time of checking. The one-time fees the school states are an application fee of S$1,500, an enrollment fee of S$4,000, and a capital levy of S$4,500, all in Singapore dollars and non-refundable. There is no refundable debenture.

Relocating to Singapore and considering Dulwich?

Our Student Coordinator speaks with relocating families regularly, often before the move, and can help you think through eligibility, the Dulwich and Tanglin comparison, the Mandarin pathways, and how to prepare a child for the entry assessment. We work with families remotely. We start by listening.

Start the conversation
Sources: Dulwich College (Singapore)'s own published materials at singapore.dulwich.org, including its fees page, admissions overview, Mandarin program page, Senior School page, academic results page, and results announcements, together with the Singapore Ministry of Education and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority pages for the residency and pass rules. School-specific figures are the school's own, in Singapore dollars, checked September 2026. Per-year tuition is published by the school in its fee factsheet and is not reproduced here because it could not be verified from the school's own document at the time of checking. Where the school publishes no figure, this guide states that rather than estimating.