King’s College School, Wimbledon was founded by King George IV in 1829, as the junior department of King’s College London. The growing number of pupils meant it soon needed larger premises and by 1897 it had moved to an enviable location in Wimbledon, facing the Common, where you will find it today.

The spirit of its foundation continues, both in the intellectual aspiration and progressive spirit which are its heritage, but also in its philosophy, which is to prepare its students for the world beyond school.  Since 2016, the school has rapidly expanded its global presence under the direction of Karl Gross, director of international schools. Under his guidance, King’s College School, Wimbledon has been working with partners in China and Monaco and has more recently developed a King’s College International School in Bangkok, Thailand. The team is now working with partners in Vietnam to open a King’s College International School in Ho Chi Minh City, which will launch in August 2026.

You will find below a detailed conversation with Karl Gross, about King’s International’s growth strategy and future plans. Enjoy the read.

What makes King’s College School, Wimbledon special?

King’s College School Wimbledon was founded as the school for King’s College London, one of the oldest universities in England, with an outstanding reputation for world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. As such, academic excellence has been deeply engrained in the school’s DNA since its inception almost 200 years ago. Today, our mission is to offer a true education in mind, spirit and heart, the enduring values of our foundation, and to furnish our young people with the very best preparation to create their futures in the world beyond school so that when the time comes, they are ready to make a purposeful and positive contribution in the wider world.

Our pupils achieve exceptional success in public examinations, and this places us consistently amongst the very best boys’ or co-educational schools in the UK and we are one of the world’s leading schools for British curriculum and the number one International Baccalaureate school in the UK. This in turn opens doors to the very best universities, and around 250 King’s pupils have gone to Oxford or Cambridge universities alone in the last six years and many students also go on to Ivy League institutions in the US.

British education is very attractive for international students, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. What is the international growth strategy for King’s College School Wimbledon?

I know from speaking to potential partners across the world that British independent school education is seen as the gold standard. The focus on the three pillars of academic excellence, outstanding pastoral care and a genuine focus on holistic education that develops skills and interests outside the classroom is seen as highly attractive.

We already have six international school partnerships globally and we are approached almost every week by potential new overseas partners. They like the fact that King’s Wimbledon has an outstanding track record in the UK, and that we are able to replicate our education authentically overseas as we have done at King’s College International School in Bangkok.

The key factor when looking to grow the King’s Wimbledon family of schools is always centred around finding the right partner. We place great emphasis on ensuring there is clear alignment of vision and aspirations – we want to establish world-class, leading schools.

Our ambition is to have a highly authentic King’s Wimbledon school in key cities around the world and we have created a large and dedicated international team in Wimbledon to enable us to grow at scale.

What types of partners are you looking for?

First and foremost, we see alignment in vision and ambition as the main ingredient for a successful relationship. We look for partners who share our drive for excellence and our aspiration to become the market-leader for top education in each country we enter.

In terms of structure, we are looking for partners who want the education at the new school to be based on the educational systems, standards, processes and expectations of King’s Wimbledon. We are eager to meet partners who buy into the concept of replicating our school authentically so that it provides the same quality and standard as our home school in the UK.

How many students are enrolled at your schools at large?

In total, there are around 7,500 students, with almost 4,900 students enrolled in our partner schools in Asia. In addition, there are over 800 students at our partner school in Monaco, and we have over 1,700 students here in Wimbledon.

Your school in Bangkok has been a huge success despite a challenging environment. How were the conditions in Thailand from an investment point of view?

When we were approached by our partner a few years ago, we knew that Bangkok was a highly competitive market. There were around 100 international schools operating in the city already, amongst them six UK branded schools, making it one of the most saturated markets in the world for international education. All market studies came back saying there was no demand for another international school in the premium market, which was backed up by another school in this segment opening with fewer than 60 students.

We went ahead for two main reasons. Firstly, our investment partner was clear about being motivated by excellence and they were as driven as us to create a world-class, leading school in Asia.

The second reason was that our partner had spotted a gap in the market. Often branded schools were seen as not providing the same quality and standard as the school in the UK despite charging similar fees. Therefore, our ambition was to develop a model that allows us to transfer not just the educational ethos at a high level, but the knowledge, systems, processes, procedures and expectations beneath it that enable this ethos to come to life. In short, we wanted the school in Bangkok to be as authentic as possible to King’s in Wimbledon.

And this has been a huge success with parents buying into this model in record numbers. Despite the challenging market environment, King’s Bangkok opened in the middle of the Covid pandemic in 2020 with almost 400 students, beating the target of 100 students comfortably. And the school has continued to flourish since then, now with over 1,500 students four years after opening.

We believe that we have created something unique within the premium segment and we were delighted to also win the ‘Exporting Excellence’ and ‘School Operator of the Year’ categories at the Education Investor Awards in the last two years based on the market-leading model we have built.

What about your stakeholders, what is their take on this growth story?

Our partner in Thailand is naturally delighted with the success, and they have also continued to invest in providing world-class facilities. Given the outstanding reputation that King’s Bangkok has achieved and the corresponding high demand for places at the school, we have also just opened a new, state-of-the art senior school building that increases the capacity significantly further.

We have also started to offer some means-tested bursaries to local Thai families so they can benefit from this world-class education. Within one month we received over 1,100 applications, further highlighting the standing King’s Bangkok has achieved in the market since its inception four years ago.

Parents have reacted very positively to this model, and so have staff. We have attracted teachers in record numbers, including over 16,000 applications for posts at King’s Bangkok alone, allowing us to select the very best candidates. We aim for our staff working internationally to feel part of King’s Wimbledon and our family of schools and there is an extensive professional network which enables colleagues to share best practice. We have recently invested in a bespoke, state-of-the-art professional development platform to facilitate even more and higher-quality training.

You are setting up the new school in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. When is it due to open?

We are very excited about this new school project ­– the school is set to open in August 2026. All pre-opening work-streams are already fully operational, and our ambition is to replicate the success of King’s Bangkok. The model is the same as King’s Bangkok and the vision is to make sure it is highly authentic to King’s in Wimbledon.

Like in Bangkok, our vision is for the school in Ho Chi Minh City to be instantly recognisable as a King’s Wimbledon school when you walk through the door. We want the same warm and welcoming culture with a deeply caring community at its heart that also enables students to study in an environment which values the highest academic endeavour and scholarship.

Are there any other new schools in the pipeline that you have agreed to proceed with?

We are very excited about bringing a true King’s Wimbledon education to many more cities globally and are exploring a number of opportunities across the world. The key for us is to find the right partners who share the same vision and ambition to create a world-leading school in new markets.

Are there any dedicated locations you are keen to reach?

We have been approached by partners about projects across the world, from the Americas to East Asia. In addition to ensuring we select the right partner, we look at the demand in the premium segment from parents who seek the very best education for their children and an education that also opens doors to the best universities globally. Whilst the ability to attract excellent teachers is also an important consideration, our significant investment in our teacher training platform increasingly allows us to train up local teachers.

Is there a change in the attitude from the investors? How does this model work for investors?

I think many investors are waking up to the fact that parents in the premium market are becoming increasingly sophisticated about what they want and expect. Parents are looking for more than just a name above the door, more than just the ethos – they want the entire DNA of a school. That is what we aim to provide. The King’s Bangkok model is the model we want to adopt for the future. This is where we have seen the success and the excellence that we want to create.

We are looking for investment partners who provide the capital and operational investment, and in return we take responsibility for replicating King’s College School Wimbledon’s outstanding educational practices in the most authentic way possible to ensure each of our international schools becomes a world-leading school in its own right.

by Murat Basboga in London