How to Open a Tuition Centre in Singapore (2026)

Many tuition centres in Singapore start the same way: a tutor with a full timetable and a waiting list. Going from home tuition to a centre is a big step — rent, teachers and MOE registration — and the order you do things in matters. The most common costly mistake is signing a lease for a unit that can't be approved as a school. Here's the order that avoids it.

The steps at a glance

1. Register your business with ACRA.
2. Find premises that can be used as a school — and check before you sign.
3. Get the use approved by URA or HDB.
4. Renovate, and get SCDF fire safety approval.
5. Register the centre, its courses and its teachers with MOE.
6. Set your fees, policies and systems.
7. Market your opening.

Step 1: Register your business with ACRA

Only a business registered with ACRA — a sole proprietorship, partnership, LLP or company — can apply to MOE to register a school, and you apply with Corppass. Most centres choose a private limited company to keep business and personal money apart. ACRA's guide to choosing a business structure compares them, and you register on Bizfile.

Step 2: Find premises that can be a school

URA treats a tuition centre as a commercial school. Not every commercial unit can be used as one, so check before you sign a lease:

• Shophouses and units in commercial buildings: URA's change of use guidelines explain what's allowed where. Some shophouses can be changed to a commercial school by a quick lodgement; others need a full application.
• HDB shops: you need HDB's approval as the landlord for the new use.
• Your own flat: can't be a tuition centre.
• Ask the landlord or agent whether the unit has been a school before, and make the lease depend on approval if you can.

Also think like a parent: near an MRT station or bus stops, close to the schools your students go to, with somewhere to wait and safe drop-off. A unit near primary schools suits P1–P6 classes; near secondary schools and JCs suits older students.

Step 3: Get the use approved

Apply to URA (or HDB, for HDB premises) to use the unit as a commercial school. Keep the written permission — MOE asks for it when you register. The Change of Use Approval is applied for on GoBusiness.

Step 4: Renovate and pass fire safety

Your floor plan needs approval from SCDF, and the premises need a Fire Safety Certificate. MOE asks for both. Use a contractor or qualified person who has done school or commercial fit-outs — fire exits, room sizes and the number of people per room all matter. Plan classrooms around the class sizes you'll actually run, usually 4–12 students.

Step 5: Register with MOE

Any centre that offers education to 10 or more persons must register the school, its courses and its teachers with MOE before it starts. You apply on GoBusiness with your floor plan, Fire Safety Certificate, URA or HDB approval, your management committee's details and a form for each teacher. It takes about 14 days once everything is complete and the site visit is passed.

We've written a full guide: MOE registration for tuition centres — what counts as 10, the documents, the fee and what you must keep up to date.

Step 6: Set your fees, policies and systems

• Fees: most centres charge a monthly fee per class, often with a registration fee and a deposit. Check what centres near you charge, and see how much to charge for tuition for typical rates.
• Policies: make-ups, absences, public holidays, notice to withdraw and late payment — in writing, before the first lesson. Start from our cancellation and make-up policy template.
• Systems: a timetable for every teacher and room, attendance, make-ups, monthly invoices and payments. Set them up before you open — it's much harder once you have 80 students. See how to choose tuition centre software.
• Teachers: decide whether they're employees or freelancers, how they're paid (per lesson, per hour or a share of fees), and agree it in writing. MOM explains your duties as an employer.

Step 7: Market your opening

• Bring your own students — your existing tuition students and their friends are your first classes.
• Set up a Google Business Profile as soon as you have the address, and ask parents for reviews from day one.
• Run a holiday programme or free trial class in the June or year-end holidays to fill your first timetable.
• Time your opening: parents choose for the new year between October and January. See planning your year around exams.
• Follow the Do Not Call rules before you send marketing messages to Singapore numbers — the PDPC explains them.

What it costs

The big costs are rent (often with a deposit of two to three months), renovation and fire safety works, furniture and whiteboards, and teachers' pay. Smaller ones: MOE registration (the GoBusiness fee is S$392.52 before GST, checked October 2026), URA or HDB fees, insurance, software and marketing. Get quotes for your own unit, and keep several months of costs in reserve while classes fill.