The UK’s elite Harrow School is set to open a new campus in China despite fears over the country’s strict new regulations over what can be taught in classrooms. 

The £53,550-a-year school, which has alumni among world leaders and royalty including Jawaharlal Nehru and Winston Churchill, will open a new campus in the Guangzhou province of mainland China in September 2027.

The school’s international partner made the announcement on social media, marking its ninth franchise in China and 13th campus in Asia, The Telegraph reported. 

The post on its Chinese website, AISL Harrow, said a ‘groundbreaking signing ceremony’ was held at the end of June with local Chinese government officials. 

Many prestigious private schools have moved away from Chinese operations in recent years amid concerns over new regulations that control what is taught in the classroom.

However, Asia International School Limited (AISL) Harrow, said a new school will open in the next few years. 

The new school will accommodate for 1,500 children aged two to 18 and will hopefully be built in early 2026 with 64 classrooms. 

Pupils make their way to class at Harrow School (pictured)

The school’s international partner made the announcement on social media, marking its ninth franchise in China and 13th campus in Asia. Pictured: Harrow International School’s booth at the World Boarding School Fair 

The Telegraph reported the project was ‘eagerly anticipated by the government’ and had received ‘strong support and guidance from the Guangzhou Education Bureau and the Huangpu District government’.

The new school in Guangzhou will teach the English national curriculum and offer iGCSE and A-Level courses.

However, The Telegraph has reportedly found evidence that some of its other international schools also teach elements of the Chinese national curriculum, as well as the English curriculum. 

Harrow Hong Kong, for example, recently opened a Chinese Cultural Centre to enhance the ‘teaching and learning of Chinese’.

Harrow Hong Kong (pictured), for example, recently opened a Chinese Cultural Centre to enhance the ‘teaching and learning of Chinese’

Harrow International School in the Jiangdong area of Haikou

Rules introduced in 2021 limited foreign control and participation of private schools, banning foreign textbooks and introduced a requirement that school board members are Chinese. 

New laws which came into place this year also said private schools in China must promote ‘patriotic education’. 

Harrow School is one of the most respected schools in the world and was founded in 1572 by Queen Elizabeth I.

Its first international establishment debuted in 1998 in Bangkok, Thailand, Beijing in 2005 and Hong Kong in 2012. Other schools have since opened in Shanghai in 2016, Shenzhen and Haikou in 2020 and Appi in 2022. 

Harrow School and AISL Harrow have been contacted by MailOnline for comment.