North London Collegiate School to open in Phuket

• The Cherng Talay campus will serve students from Early Years all the way through to Year 13

• Planned facilities include boarding provision, a 50m swimming pool, covered tennis courts and football pitches

• The new school will be targeting local, expatriate and internationally-facing families

Read more: North London Collegiate School campus planned for Hong Kong

North London Collegiate School Phuket - the school will initially have space for 1,000 pupils

Read more: How to nail a place at an international school

One of Britain’s highest-ranked independent schools will be opening a campus in Phuket.

North London Collegiate School has signed an agreement with VLC Group, the owner of multiple hotels and resorts across Phuket and Khao Lak, to develop NLCS Phuket. 

The through-school will serve students from Early Years to Year 13 and will operate as a co-ed day and boarding school in Cherng Talay, a residential district on the west coast of the island. The school is aimed at local, expatriate and internationally mobile families.

Founded in 1850, NLCS is one of the United Kingdom’s most sought after independent schools and was named Independent Secondary School of the Year in the recent Sunday Times 2026 Parent Power Guide.

The school is expected to open in 2028 with capacity for around 1,000 students, with scope to expand to approximately 1,500 children over time. Planned facilities include boarding provision, junior and senior school spaces, science and technology facilities, a 50m swimming pool, sports hall, covered tennis courts and football pitches.

Boarding will be a central part of NLCS Phuket, giving families access to an NLCS education without having to send their children abroad. It’s also hoped the school will strengthen Phuket’s appeal as a regional education base, allowing students to remain closer to family, home markets and Asia’s major travel hubs.

The agreement was signed at Courtyard by Marriott Phuket, Patong Beach Resort by Daniel Lewis, managing director of NLCS International and Naruj Chirayus, managing director of VLC Group and NLCS Phuket.

“Phuket offers an exceptional quality of life, but 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 Chirayus. “Our aim is to help make Phuket a more complete place to live, learn and build community.”

Lewis emphasised that there is “authentic connection” within the NLCS family, it is not simply a well-known name over a door. “The strength of NLCS lies in the authentic connection between our schools, the quality and depth of our academic support, and our shared belief that happy, confident students are best placed to achieve exceptional outcomes.”

NLCS has campuses in Jeju, Dubai, Singapore and Kobe, with a school opening in Hong Kong in 2027.