Unlocking Hidden Potential - Dr Scott Crawford Head of Lancing College

Lancing College takes its boarding model to Hokkaido

Lancing College is a 600-pupil boarding school that sells scholarly breadth rather than exam drilling, and its new head is turning that model into an export. The first move is a two-to-three-year project with a Japanese high school in Hokkaido, where semiconductor investment is pulling international families into a region short of English-medium schooling. Crawford, who came from a Scottish comprehensive and a day-school career, is reviewing the GCSE years and spending on sport, and tells parents to read inspection reports and charity filings rather than brochures.

Takeaways

• Lancing plans a school in Hokkaido. Crawford describes a two-to-three-year project with Sapporo Nihon University High School, driven partly by a new income stream. Semiconductor regeneration is drawing international families and engineers to the region, and Lancing already has 13 Japanese pupils.
• Teachers may leave the syllabus to follow inquiry. Crawford calls Lancing scholarly rather than academic. Pupils kept a Cambridge professor talking for about an hour after a lecture on genetics, computer science and history, and the school teaches its own religion and philosophy course.
• Boarding is 60%, a third of it international. Forty-three nationalities are represented. Crawford says Hong Kong families bring enthusiasm and musical talent, but Lancing pushes back when boarding is not right, suggesting year 10 or sixth-form entry instead.
• Lancing is reviewing years 10 and 11. Pupils currently take 10 GCSEs, and Crawford wants to free space from the specifications without dropping GCSEs. Capital spending includes £6.5m for the sporting estate and a £2.5m swimming pool refurbishment.