WITH demand outstripping supply for places in popular international schools here, at least two are offering places for sale.

United World College (UWC) of South East Asia is the latest international school here, after the British Tanglin Trust School, to do so.

It is charging companies $200,000 for each place under a scheme called the Nominee Programme.

Tanglin charges companies $165,000 for a place for the children of their employees and $65,000 for individuals wishing to be placed first on the waiting list.

Ms Kuljit Hunjan, director of the UWC programme, declined to disclose how many places are for sale, but said they make up 'a very small percentage' of its total places.

She said that so far, the response from companies has been good, with the places 'almost fully subscribed'.

These have been snapped up by companies which are relocating their business here and need to buy spots for their employees quickly, she added.

The school said it offers guaranteed admission to qualified students if places are reserved by April of that academic year. Thereafter, students would get priority on the wait-list.

But the student must still meet the entrance criteria set by the school. The places bought by companies are not refundable or transferable, except in the case of a sale, merger or acquisition.

With the expatriate population rising from 798,000 in 2005 to 875,500 in 2006, many international schools here have long waiting lists for places.

At UWC, which has about 2,900 students from kindergarten to Grade 12 at its Dover campus, the wait for a place can stretch from a year to four years.

To cope with rising demand, it is setting up a second campus in Tampines by 2010. In the meantime, it will be setting up an interim primary school campus in Ang Mo Kio in September for children from kindergarten to Grade 4.

Already, there are more than 1,800 students registering for entry in August this year but only about 550 places available.

Others, like the Australian International School, are also expanding their campus to meet the demand for places. It is building a new building, to be ready by May, on its Lorong Chuan campus.

But the school has no plans to offer places for sale so far.

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