A few schools have waiting lists up to four years long, and a steady flow of inquiries about enrolment.

Yesterday, the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) broke the ground for its new Tampines campus, which will boost its enrolment from 3,000 now to a targeted 5,500 by 2015.

The campus will open in parts from next August, starting with the infant school, where the wait-list is longest. The rest of the campus will open in 2011.

Its head of college, Mr Julian Whiteley, said there is significant demand for places in the school. All classes now are full.

Similar situations exist at the Tanglin Trust School, the Australian International School Singapore and the Canadian International School.

Tanglin Trust has no vacancies at all, while the Australian school has none for its preschool. The Canadian school is also running close to capacity.

The Australian International School has about 160 children pre-enrolled until 2013 so they can secure places early, while the Tanglin Trust School has a wait-list which grows at a healthy rate each month.

The Canadian International School also has a list of close to 100 people who have pre-enrolled their children in the school for the coming years.

With its new Tampines campus, UWCSEA will join a list of international schools which have expanded their premises or announced plans to do so because of an urgent need for space.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.