Leading British independent school to open six branches in China

LONDON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- One of Britain's leading public schools, Westminster School, unveiled Thursday plans to open six branch schools in China by 2028.

The school signed the agreement Thursday with a Hong Kong education group called HKMETG. The two parts agreed to create branches in six major Chinese cities, with the first to open in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, in 2020.

According to the school spokeswoman, the new bilingual schools in China will teach pupils aged six to 15 China's national curriculum rather than an international syllabus, but "augmented by aspects of a Westminster curriculum".

For 16 to 18-year-old students, the new schools in China would offer English curriculum to prepare the pupils for the international GCSE examinations as well as English A-levels.

"The reason for opening the schools is that we're quite excited about being able to influence education of Chinese pupils in China," the spokeswoman for Westminster school was quoted by the Financial Times as saying.

Westminster's head, Patrick Derham, said the partnership with China would deepen a "cultural collaboration."

British media called this move "one of the biggest expansions of a UK school brand into China," as a number of other private schools have opened schools in China, including Harrow, Dulwich College, Malvern and Wellington College.

Westminster says the income from the Chinese deal will fund bursaries for disadvantaged students in London.

Westminster School was founded in 1179. Its notable former pupils include many Nobel Prize winners, well-known authors, artists and politicians. Enditem