Rigorous academic programmes and high quality teaching instil a love of learning for its own sake amongst pupils. Pupils of all ages are expected to develop a spirit of scholarly enthusiasm through making the most of the many cultural and academic opportunities available to them within and beyond formal lessons at Marlborough College Malaysia.

The curriculum in the early years of the Preparatory and the Junior section of the Senior School develops core skills and explores intellectual possibility. Through a coherent, broad, integrated curriculum we instruct pupils formally and, over time, ensure all pupils can think for themselves. Our curriculum challenges the youngest Marlburians to risk an opinion, to listen to the voice of others, to explore intellectual pathways, to discover academic passions and to think creatively. Traditional core subjects are supplemented extensively throughout our early years with study in the arts and languages. Our curriculum embraces contemporary, local themes relevant to life for pupils with homes and future lives in Malaysia, Singapore or south-east Asia.

The Remove and Hundred years at Marlborough involve IGCSE examination courses. We require a core commitment of English Language, English Literature, Mathematics and Science at this level, as well as at least one subject in the humanities and foreign languages. A very wide range of choices is available as options including Drama, Music, Design Technology, PE, Art, as well as a range of additional languages and humanity subjects.

Our Sixth Form curriculum will be varied and rich. Subject to authorisation we will offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma, which is internationally recognised and rewards all the areas which the College prizes so highly: intellectual rigour, community service, physical activity and critical thinking.

At all times pupils are supported by a dedicated team of tutors who offer expert advice on the choice of school subjects, on Gap year opportunities, on proposed university degrees and the world of work, in the UK, USA, Malaysia, Singapore and the rest of the world.

The greatest strengths of our British international boarding school in Malaysia spring from the quality of the human relationships throughout the community and the sense of companionship that these engender. The boarding encourages a firm sense of community and helps to develop friendships that will be sustained and be sustaining in life beyond the College.

We provide an unrivalled system of pastoral care, which seeks to promote individual and academic confidence.

The chance to live and work alongside people from varied backgrounds and countries in a British international school in Malaysia is a genuine privilege. Pupils work with teachers, other members of the adult community and with other pupils in ways that go beyond the traditional relationship imposed by the classroom or laboratory.

We believe that the boarding houses of Marlborough College Malaysia provide the foundation upon which supported independence and youthful fellowship is built. Pupils learn to treat each other and all members of the community with kindness, sensitivity and respect.

Houses are staffed by teams of adults who work generously to sustain and uphold the health and happiness of young people in their care. We seek partnership with parents, based upon agreed values which elevate the well-being and prospects of young Marlburians. Housemasters and Housemistresses are supported by Resident House Tutors, Graduate and gap assistants, Dames and visiting Tutors. Each pupil meets regularly with a Personal Tutor who provides age-specific guidance. The Houses vary in character, composition and location but they all share the central ethos of our community.

The working week at Marlborough College Malaysia is full and weekends offer a rich programme of structured activities, social occasions and other recreational opportunities.

Boarding at Marlborough College Malaysia provides an ideal alternative to the constraints and confines of schooling in major cities in the region. The space, facilities, but above all, the community of a British international boarding school allows pupils to develop their talents and independence while still being close enough to maintain family bonds. Parents have plentiful opportunities to visit their children, meet with teaching staff and support College events in music, sport and drama. Additionally, our pupils are free to return home during Exeats (extended breaks during term-time), Privs (parent requested breaks for pupils at weekends during term-time) and, of course, during half-term and end of term holidays.

Our holistic philosophy allows us to prepare boys and girls for lives and careers in a world in which men and women aspire, work and achieve together in mutually respectful and supportive ways. Our international school community in Malaysia is complex and kaleidoscopic: our boys and girls, men and women, form a society unafraid to ask important questions about life, scholarship, service and values.

Academic debates are enhanced by the combination of male and female sensibilities. There is a wonderful naturalness about boys and girls studying and growing up together. It is a preparation for the real world beyond pupils’ time at the College.

Single-sex activities, such as some sports, offer a different set of opportunities and challenges where boys and girls test themselves, whilst the pastoral structure of single-sex boarding houses provides nurture, support and mentoring appropriate to the differing needs of adolescent boys and girls.

We recognise that we form a privileged community in Malaysia and that privilege entails responsibility. Our pupils are expected to be ambitious in order to develop their individual potential as fully as they can as scholars, artists, actors, musicians and athletes but also in a more collective sense as friends, neighbours and citizens. They are encouraged to make the most of the opportunities open to them and to accept responsibility for their own progress but also to look beyond Marlborough College Malaysia and to understand their responsibilities to broader communities and wider society.

Opportunities for service are developing into a rich and varied programme. We are reaching out to partner schools in Malaysia, Singapore and beyond, to develop meaningful interactions between pupils and staff. Through these initiatives we hope to learn as much as we pass on.

We offer our time, energy, compassion and commitment to local organisations seeking support. We expect our pupils to originate, develop and execute projects that serve our local and global communities and such work will be given formal recognition through the Community, Action and Service programme, which lies at the heart of the IB Diploma course, and through an Outreach service and charity programme in which every pupil in every year of the school participates.

Leadership

We are conscious of our duty to equip young people to exercise leadership not as an expression of personal ambition but as a form of service to others.

There are opportunities to develop leadership by taking responsibility in many spheres of human endeavour within our boarding and day school in Malaysia. For example through captaincy of sports teams, debating, public speaking, positions of leadership within boarding houses and school-wide roles as charity representatives and in running societies. We also value quiet leadership: living and working within the boarding and day school community as an example to others of incarnate integrity.

Spirituality

Education cannot be complete without a considered approach to spiritual life. We aim to equip young people with a spiritual vocabulary which will enable them to explore the world beyond the constraints of self and which will enable them to make their own way towards faith.

We are proud of all pupils, no matter their religious affiliations and backgrounds, who engage seriously with philosophical, ethical and spiritual questions. Discussion of these matters can be lively but are of importance within our international school community.

Marlborough College Malaysia is a joyous and colourful community where scholarship is cherished, creativity is celebrated, diversity is evidenced and conversation is paramount.

For years Marlborough College in England has led the way in innovating within the educational landscape. They were the first school of their kind to admit girls in 1968 and one of the first to become fully coeducational over 20 years ago. They pioneered new academic initiatives in the UK such as Business Studies and the study of Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. That tradition continues today with our school in Malaysia. All at Marlborough College are proud that we in Malaysia are not a franchise but built upon true partnership, sharing Marlborough’s DNA at its heart.

Marlborough College in England is already a fine school but the Council and educational leaders there know they cannot stand still. They recognise that honest self-scrutiny is the antidote to complacency and stasis. The same is the case at Marlborough College Malaysia: we draw on the strengths and traditions of Marlborough College but are not afraid to question and innovate in tune with the rapid evolution of our host country, Malaysia, our near neighbour, Singapore, and the rest of Asia.

We look to foster artistic, cultural, international and political societies which promote the rigour and range of our conversation in school. We attract to Marlborough College Malaysia teachers of promise and ability, and value the fresh views and different experiences of pupils drawn from other international schools in Malaysia, Singapore and the south-east Asia region. We welcome scholars and artists of international reputation to speak and perform regularly at the school, and we urge our established teachers to take part in exchanges with colleagues from abroad.

We look constantly to adapt and improve the ways we can draw on the richness of tradition so that they may meet contemporary challenges.

It is clear that our pupils will live and work in an increasingly global environment. As international boundaries come to mean less and less, our qualifications must and will carry a high degree of international portability, but more importantly our pupils must develop the social capability of living and interacting productively with people from all over the world. We believe there is no better place to develop these skills than in a boarding school.

Marlborough College, UK has already forged close links with leading schools in the United States, China, Swaziland and Singapore: these links are also open to us in Malaysia.

Marlborough College Malaysia adds value to the experience of the pupils in Marlborough College, UK, and this is reciprocated. We are delighted that an exchange programme is already underway.

Our pupil body is drawn from many parts of the world. The majority of pupils are from Singapore and Malaysia; of these around three-quarters are expat pupils and a quarter are of Malaysian or Singaporean nationality. Boarding pupils join us from Singapore and Malaysia, in particular from Kuala Lumpur, as well as from countries as far away as Japan, South Africa and Saudi Arabia. Diversity within the pupil body leads to new friendships with others of difference, and a realisation through our shared experience that we have more in common than we could have imagined. Such friendships last well beyond the confines of a school career and extend throughout the world.

Marlborough College Malaysia prides itself on the breadth of opportunity it provides for pupils. Friendship and the appreciation of the talents of others are deepened by teamwork and by individual achievement, and are supported by skilful coaching by teachers. Sport, Art, Design, Drama, Music, Outdoor Activities – all these work to foster confidence, to broaden horizons, to offer opportunities for healthy enjoyment and to help pupils grow both as individuals and as members of our community.

In sport, pupils gain so much from the experience of teamwork, the willingness to commit wholeheartedly to competition, the challenges of handling victory and defeat with grace, the discipline of training and the opportunities to represent others in a fitting manner. We currently have links with schools in Singapore and Malaysia to provide further opportunities for competition and cultural exchange.

The performing and creative arts form an equally valuable part of our community life. Music enriches so many occasions, large and small; players and performers work with outstanding teachers in order to hone their skills, rehearse pieces and, ultimately, to face the challenge of performance. Drama is both exuberant and rigorous; the Art School and the Design Centre hum with creative energy, and the quality of the work of our young artists and actors is impressive.

Outdoor Education provides many chances to develop valuable skills and to grow through challenging experiences. These activities enable adventure and the discovery of the most beautiful parts of Malaysia, Singapore and the south-east Asia region. Pupil-led charitable and service initiatives are encouraged.

Marlborough College in England is a beautiful school. Founded in 1843, the College is situated at the western end of the market town of Marlborough in the county of Wiltshire in the south of England and occupies 200 acres of historic downland. Around the town there rises the beauty of the Marlborough Downs; rolling green hills typical of England’s pleasant land. The charm of this countryside, combined with the warmth of College life, conjures for many the happiest of memories for pupils and staff.

It is essential that Marlborough College Malaysia reflects a similar space for young people to flourish. Our 90-acre site close to the Straits of Johor and just 15 minutes from the Singapore border, provides space for community life and access to areas of outstanding natural beauty through southern Malaysia and beyond. It is a site unrivalled for space and facilities by international schools in Singapore and Malaysia.

Sports facilities include full size grass pitches for rugby and football, a cricket ground, a full size hockey astro, five tennis courts, four squash courts, a double basketball court gymnasium, netball courts, 50m swimming pool, a 400 metre athletics track, a smaller junior pool, an indoor climbing centre, fitness suite and space for badminton and table tennis. A nearby lake and local nature reserves provide opportunities for local fieldwork and adventurous activities.

We are committed to Art, Music and Drama; we have twenty music practice rooms and performance spaces, a drama theatre with teaching facilities and a dedicated Art and Design Technology building.

The buildings of the first phase of development in Malaysia were not built as folly imitations of buildings at Marlborough College in England but specific influences have been drawn from the older site. Our boarding Houses have been modelled on those at Marlborough (New Court and Mill Mead), there is a central grass-covered Court and the Dining Hall is designed with an interior height to reflect Norwood Hall.

While the roots of Marlborough College lie deep in England’s past, we share a vision, a sense of duty, and a desire for outstanding academic and cultural qualities that will enable pupils from Marlborough College or Marlborough College Malaysia to play an influential and beneficent role in the world of tomorrow.

The spiritual heart of the school in England is a magnificent Chapel, a place of contemplation, of inspiration and of hope for the future. It is built alongside the Marlborough Mound, whose history embraces mythology and mystery and which stands as an emblem of the past. In Malaysia, we draw upon the inspiration provided by these structures, and the College itself, to develop our own traditions.