Welcome to UWCSEA Boarding

Kurt Hahn, the founder of the UWC Movement, believed the experience of boarding with other young people from around the world was at the heart of UWC’s philosophy. He thought that such an experience, engineered to develop personal connection and understanding, could be transformational. Our boarding community proves that he was right, every day.

For 50 years, UWCSEA has hosted residential students from almost all socio-economic, geographic and cultural backgrounds. What we have seen is that at the core of a successful boarding experience is the quality of relationships between individuals in the community. Bring together students from around the globe— students with a diversity of outlooks and narratives—and you can build unique relationships that will continue into adulthood. Our boarding staff come to know students as individuals who have the potential and capacity to develop into mature and responsible adults, those who will go on to shape the world. Students come to know one another as confidantes, inspirations and, of course, friends.

At UWC, the homogeneity found in a more traditional boarding school setting in is replaced by an environment alive with the energy and possibilities created by having no flag above our door. Mirroring this ethos, UWCSEA’s location in the vibrant global hub of Singapore means our boarders are immersed in a culturally diverse international environment.

Of course, our boarding experience also offers an intense level of support for learning. And it is not merely academic achievement that is enhanced by increased interaction with others: those qualities and skills that we have identified as necessary to help young people engage as active participants at university and beyond are nurtured.

Most of all, our boarding experience is defined by the moments that cannot be expressed in a brochure: the special conversations that shape thinking forever; the examples from others that inspire an individual; the moments of personal growth and connection with others whose life experience is very different from yours; and the development of an appreciation for the differences that demonstrate how beautiful, diverse and in need of understanding our fellow human beings are.