Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both boys and girls in Year 5 and Year 6. Since 2007, RI and its affiliated school Raffles Girls' School have been offering the six-year Raffles Programme, which allows students to skip the Singapore-Cambridge GCE O-Level examinations and proceed to take the Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level examinations at the end of Year 6.
| Raffles Institution | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
1 Raffles Institution Lane Singapore 575954 | |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent |
| Motto | Auspicium Melioris Aevi (Latin) (Hope of a Better Age) |
| Founded | 5 June 1823 |
| Founder | Stamford Raffles |
| Sister school | Raffles Girls' School |
| Chairman | Bey So Khiam |
| Principal | Aaron Loh |
| Gender | Boys (Year 1-4) Mixed (Year 5-6) |
| Enrolment | 4,000 |
| Colour(s) | Green Black White |
| Mascot | Gryphon and eagle |
| Team name | Team Raffles |
| Publication | The Rafflesian Times |
| Yearbook | The Rafflesian |
| Website | ri.edu.sg |
RI is notable for having produced 96 President's Scholars, three presidents, two prime ministers, four speakers of Parliament, several Cabinet ministers and Members of Parliament, as well as many chief executive officers of statutory boards, agencies and state-owned companies. Its alumni body, the Old Rafflesians Association (ORA), includes former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong, as well as former Presidents Yusof Ishak, Benjamin Sheares and Wee Kim Wee.
RI has one of the highest admission rates to the elite universities of the world such as the Ivy League and Oxbridge. It had the highest number of admissions to the University of Cambridge, with 48 students receiving offers in the 2022 admissions cycle, while 52 were accepted for Oxford and Cambridge combined in 2021, and 77 in 2022 (2nd highest of all schools).