Notes / Singapore
University Destinations from Singapore
Aggregate destinations from Singapore's international schools: Oxbridge, Ivy, MIT, Stanford, NUS, NTU, Tokyo, HKU, Tsinghua, and where each school feeds.
The brief
- Five Singapore international schools publish full destination lists: UWCSEA, Tanglin, SAS, Dulwich, and Stamford American. The same names cluster across them.
- Oxbridge, Imperial, UCL, LSE appear in every UK-tilted list every year. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Chicago, Penn appear in every US-tilted list every year.
- UWCSEA Dover places around 30% of every graduating cohort into a US top-20, the deepest American-research-university channel from any school outside the United States.
- NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD take a steady share of graduates, mostly Singapore-passport holders returning to local universities, plus a smaller pool of foreign-passport students paying international rates.
- Tokyo, HKU, Tsinghua, Peking form the recognisable Asian top tier. ACS (Independent), Hwa Chong International, and SJI International feed these strongest.
Singapore is the strongest international school market in Asia for university outcomes, and one of the strongest in the world. The destination lists at the top schools cover most of the global top 50: Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL, LSE; Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT; Toronto, McGill, UBC; Melbourne, Sydney, ANU; Tokyo, HKU, Tsinghua, Peking; NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD. Most cohorts spread across five or more regions, and the schools that publish full lists have done so for over a decade.
The local channel runs in parallel. NUS and NTU are global top-20 universities by most ranking systems, and a substantial share of Singapore-passport students at international schools return to them at degree level. Foreign-passport students do too, at full international tuition rates.
Where Singapore graduates go
The geographic split varies sharply by school. The aggregate, across the schools that publish, looks roughly like this in a typical year:
| Region | Share of graduates | Anchor universities |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 25 to 35 percent | Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Chicago, Penn, Brown, Cornell, Northwestern, Duke, UC system, NYU, USC, Carnegie Mellon |
| United Kingdom | 20 to 30 percent | Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, UCL, LSE, King's, Edinburgh, Durham, St Andrews, Bristol, Warwick, Manchester |
| Singapore (NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD) | 10 to 20 percent | NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD, Yale-NUS legacy cohorts |
| Australia and New Zealand | 8 to 15 percent | Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, Monash, ANU, Queensland |
| Canada | 5 to 10 percent | Toronto, UBC, McGill, Waterloo, Queen's |
| Other Asia | 5 to 10 percent | Tokyo, Kyoto, HKU, HKUST, Tsinghua, Peking, KAIST, Seoul National |
| Continental Europe | 3 to 8 percent | Sorbonne, Bocconi, IE Madrid, ETH Zurich, Maastricht, TU Delft, Leiden |
Bands derived from destination data published by UWCSEA, Tanglin, SAS, Dulwich, and Stamford American, 2020 to 2025. Individual schools sit at different points within each band.
The US is the single largest channel from the international schools that publish. The UK is second. Singapore itself is third in absolute terms, but the share rises sharply once Singapore-passport leavers are isolated. The Asian top tier sits below the headline regions but is structurally important for the local-system international schools.
The US channel
A quarter to a third of leavers, in any given year, at the top international schools. Singapore American School concentrates here: destinations span the full Ivy League, the top private research universities (MIT, Stanford, Duke, Chicago, Northwestern, Carnegie Mellon), the top public universities (UCLA, Berkeley, Michigan, Virginia), and the strongest liberal-arts colleges (Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Swarthmore).
UWCSEA Dover matches the depth: roughly 30% of each graduating cohort into a US top-20, a ratio that has held across more than a decade. Tanglin, Dulwich, NLCS, and Stamford American all place students into the Ivy and Ivy-adjacent every year, at lower volume because the cohorts tilt more UK or more international.
The UK channel
Oxford and Cambridge appear in the destination lists of every school in the top tier in a typical year. Tanglin's A-Level route runs the deepest, with regular Oxbridge offers on three predicted A\*s and a multi-generational UK alumni network. Dulwich and NLCS Singapore feed the same Russell Group cluster through the IB Diploma route: Imperial, UCL, LSE, King's, Edinburgh, Durham, and St Andrews every year.
UWCSEA Dover and East both place around 25% of leavers into UK universities. Brighton College Singapore's first secondary cohorts have not yet sat external exams; the UK parent school sets the benchmark.
NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD
The four Singapore national universities are global top-50 institutions. ACS (Independent) and Hwa Chong International feed NUS and NTU at scale. SJI International publishes regular placements into NUS, NTU, and SMU as a high share of the local-passport portion of its cohort.
Foreign-passport students at international schools also enter NUS and NTU but pay non-subsidised tuition roughly three times the citizen rate. Stamford American, Furen International, and Hwa Chong International publish data on NUS and NTU offers as a recurring channel.
Australia, Canada, and other Asia
Australian International School Singapore feeds the Go8 universities at scale through the dual IB and HSC pathway. Combined ATAR average 85, with 28% at ATAR-95 equivalent and 40% at ATAR-90, into Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, Monash, ANU, and Queensland.
Canadian International School Singapore is the structural fit for Canadian destinations: Toronto, UBC, McGill, Waterloo, Queen's. UWCSEA, Dulwich, and Stamford American also place steadily into Canada.
Asian destinations beyond Singapore appear most heavily in the local-system international schools' lists. Tokyo, Kyoto, HKU, HKUST, Tsinghua, Peking, KAIST, and Seoul National recur at ACS (Independent) and Hwa Chong International. The University of Tokyo's English-medium PEAK programme is a recurring choice across the IB-strong schools.
Which schools place strongly where
Each school has a centre of gravity. The destination patterns are stable.
| School | Strongest channel | Secondary | Notable cluster |
|---|---|---|---|
| UWCSEA Dover | US top-20 (around 30% of cohort) | UK Russell Group | Stanford, MIT, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Chicago annually |
| UWCSEA East | US top-20 | UK Russell Group, Canada | Mirrors Dover; geography drives the pick |
| Singapore American School | US top-50 plus Ivy | US liberal arts | Largest AP cohort outside America, mean 4.38 in 2025 |
| Tanglin Trust | UK Oxbridge and Russell Group | US top-30 | A-Level route with 33% A\*/A in 2024 |
| Dulwich College | UK Russell Group | US T20, Canada | CIS, WASC, BSO, COBIS quad-accreditation |
| NLCS Singapore | UK Russell Group | US T30, Asia | Cambridge, Imperial, UCL in early cohort outcomes |
| Stamford American | US T20 to T50 | UK, Canada | Parallel IB Diploma and AP route |
| ACS (Independent) | NUS, NTU, HKU | Oxbridge, Ivy | IB DP 41.2 in 2024, top three globally |
| Hwa Chong International | NUS, NTU, Tsinghua | UK, US top-tier | IB DP 38.3 in 2025, 46.4% at 40+ points |
| SJI International | NUS, NTU, SMU | UK Russell Group | Lasallian Catholic IB school on Thomson Road |
| Australian International | Go8 (Melbourne, Sydney, UNSW, Monash, ANU) | UK, US | ATAR average 85, dual IB and HSC pathway |
| Canadian International | Toronto, UBC, McGill | US, UK, Singapore | IB DP 35 in 2025 across two campuses |
| GESS | German universities | IB destinations across regions | Dual Abitur and IB pathway |
| Nexus International | UK Russell Group | US, Australia | IB DP 35.1 in 2025, 43% at 35+ points |
Channels are inferred from the most recent published destination data from each school. Verify current figures and full lists with admissions.
How to read these destinations
A destination list is a marketing artefact as well as a record. A few patterns matter more than the logo wall.
Counts versus crests. Five UWCSEA students at Stanford over five years reads differently from one. The schools that publish multi-year aggregates with counts (UWCSEA, Tanglin, SAS) make this filter easy.
The middle, not the headline. Every credible school here has placed someone into Cambridge, Princeton, or Imperial at some point. Where the median student lands is the stronger predictor for a similar new student.
Mix versus depth. A 200-student cohort spread across fifteen US universities, ten UK universities, and seven Asian universities reads as broad reach. A 70-student cohort with twelve at Oxbridge and Imperial alone reads as concentrated depth into one channel. Both are legitimate; the question is which fits the family's target list.
Foreign-passport NUS and NTU. International students at MOE-stream schools (ACS Independent, Hwa Chong Institution) compete in a tighter foreign-passport quota and pay international rates. CPE-registered international wings (Hwa Chong International, SJI International) carry the same brand without that structural friction.
Related reading
- Best Schools for University Placement in Singapore
- Best International Schools in Singapore
- Best IB Schools in Singapore
- IB Results in Singapore
- What is the IB Diploma?
- IB vs A-Levels
FAQs
Which Singapore school sends the most graduates to US universities?
Singapore American School and UWCSEA Dover. SAS concentrates volume on the US with the largest AP cohort outside America. UWCSEA Dover sends roughly 30% of each cohort to a US top-20, the deepest American-research-university channel from any school outside the US.
Which Singapore school sends the most graduates to UK universities?
Tanglin Trust for the A-Level Oxbridge route. Dulwich College and NLCS Singapore for the IB Diploma Russell Group route. UWCSEA Dover and East place around a quarter of each cohort into UK universities.
How many international school graduates return to NUS or NTU?
A meaningful minority, varying by school. Singapore-passport students returning to NUS, NTU, SMU, or SUTD account for roughly 10 to 20% of graduating cohorts, rising sharply at schools with a higher Singapore-passport share (Hwa Chong International, SJI International, ACS Independent).
Do Singapore international schools send students to Tokyo, HKU, or Tsinghua?
Yes, every year. Volume is highest at ACS (Independent), Hwa Chong International, and SJI International. UWCSEA Dover and Tanglin also place students into these universities annually.
Do US universities prefer IB or AP graduates from Singapore?
Neither, structurally. US admissions offices read both fluently. AP fits a US-style GPA transcript; IB fits a UK-style profile with predicted grades. Consistency across the high school transcript carries more weight than the choice of qualification.
Why don't all schools publish destination lists?
Some publish full lists with counts (UWCSEA, Tanglin, SAS, Dulwich, Stamford American, AIS). Some publish logos only. Some publish nothing. A school that cannot produce the data on request has answered the question.
Sources. IB Organisation global statistical bulletin 2024. School-published destination lists and exam results from UWCSEA, Tanglin, SAS, Dulwich, NLCS, Stamford American, AIS, CIS, ACS (Independent), Hwa Chong International, SJI International, GESS, Nexus International, 2020 to 2025. CPE registration and EduTrust certification records. Singapore Ministry of Education school information service. QS and Times Higher Education world university rankings 2026.