Magdalen College School, Oxford (MCS) has entered into a long term collaboration agreement with a Hong-Kong listed company KWG Group Holdings Ltd (KWG), for the opening of international schools across several regions in China starting with the Greater Bay Area of Southern China.

KWG has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2007 and has a current market capitalisation of £2.64bn.

The schools will be owned and operated by KWG and branded MCS, as well as governed by agreements to facilitate the provision of top-flight education in accordance with the MCS ethos.

The first of these schools is planned to open in 2024 in the Greater Bay Area and will be open to pupils aged 6-18.

This agreement will be transformative for MCS’s future strategic goals in the UK as it prepares for its 550th anniversary in 2030, particularly its endowed bursary programme which aims to see greater numbers of pupils able to attend on a fully funded bursary place.

The Master, Helen Pike, said of the plans: “Working with KWG on this ambitious project is an exciting new development for MCS. We believe that in KWG we have found an excellent long term partner for our first step into the arena of international schooling. We welcome opportunity to share our expertise overseas, create additional revenue to support our ambitions here in Oxford, and promote a truly global outlook in the education of young people.”

Mandarin has been taught at MCS since 2019, with the school’s first IGCSE cohort due to take their examinations next summer.