The College Profile 2011–2012 President of the UWC movement Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan
Honorary President of UWC movement Nelson Mandela
Administration Mr. Julian Whiteley, Head of College Mr. Fraser Cairns, Head of Dover Campus Ms. Di Smart, Principal, High School Dover Mr. Gary Seston, Vice Principal Pastoral, Senior School Dover Dr. James Dalziel, Head of East Campus
University Counsellors Mr. John Bush Ms. Julie Davidson Dr. Linda De Flavis Mr. Sean McAuley Ms. Pamela Kelly Wetzell
UWCSEA CEEB no: 687229 UWCSEA IB no: 000040
1207 Dover Road, Singapore 139654 Tel +65 6419 9349 Fax +65 6778 5506 www.uwcsea.edu.sg
The College Opened in 1971, UWCSEA is a member of the UWC movement, whose mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. All 13 member schools and colleges follow Kurt Hahn’s philosophy in bringing together students from different nations, races, and religions to share a challenging and holistic educational experience. UWCSEA is innovative in promoting the ideals of the UWC movement within a more traditional K–12 international school, one that caters predominantly for expatriate students but also includes students enrolled on full scholarships (some as early as Grade 8). All students, even the youngest, are expected to commit to the UWC mission and UWCSEA’s educational goal to educate individuals to embrace challenge and take responsibility for shaping a better world. UWCSEA is uniquely positioned to have a significant impact on a wide community. The range of service programmes involving students of all ages reflects the success of an educational model designed to transform idealism into action. Students also have many opportunities to develop themselves through cultural activities and outdoor pursuits, including adventure expeditions. While English is the medium of instruction, students and staff come from a wide variety of nationalities and backgrounds, forming a vibrant and enthusiastic community with a strong emphasis on learning, within and beyond the classroom.
Calendar UWCSEA operates on a trimester calendar with terms beginning on 15 August, 9 January and 16 April. Throughout the school year, classes are held on a weekly schedule from Monday to Friday and are 40–80 minutes in length. These rotate on a weekly schedule.
Student body UWCSEA has two campuses with a total of 4,381 students. Dover Campus currently educates all preuniversity level students with a total of 2,955 students
Email jbu@uwcsea.edu.sg jda@uwcsea.edu.sg ldf@uwcsea.edu.sg sem@uwcsea.edu.sg pkw@uwcsea.edu.sg
in grades pre-kindergarten through 12 from 75 different countries. Five continents are represented, with approximately 49% of students from Asia, 29% from Europe, 1% from Africa, 12% from the Americas and 9% from Australia and the Pacific. The Upper School and Senior School (Grades 9–12) enrol 1,249 students. In Grades 7–12, there are 181 students who are boarders. Residential life offers students an opportunity to live and learn in a diverse community that affords many crosscultural experiences. Nearly 60 members of the Senior School (Grades 11–12) are on scholarship, selected through a system of UWC volunteer National Committees in over 120 countries. National Committee scholars are selected within their home country on the basis of academic potential and personal merit, regardless of their background or ability to pay. To make this possible, funds are raised by the UWCs from graduates, friends, foundations, business, non-governmental organisations and governments. For the class of 2012, 23 National Committee scholars are enrolled from Aceh, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, East Timor, Guatemala, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Netherlands, Peru, Senegal, Sierra Leone, USA, Uruguay, and Vietnam. 99% of UWCSEA students enrol in post-secondary institutions around the world. The 308 members of the class of 2011 enrolled at colleges and universities in a number of different countries. The class of 2012 totals 316: 186 women and 130 men. UWCSEA now has a second campus, UWCSEA East, with enrolment of 1,429 students from K1–Grade 10. This campus will grow to become a full K–12 school, with its first IB Diploma students graduating in 2014.
Curriculum Upper School (Grades 9, 10 and Foundation IB) GCSE/IGCSE (Grades 9 and 10) In Grades 9 and 10, students follow the internationally recognized GCSE/IGCSE courses. Most students take eight examination subjects with a basic core of English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, a nonEnglish language, a choice of a Science, a choice of an
aesthetics subject, and a choice of a Humanities (plus a double period per week of Physical Education). Students then make a further two choices from a wide range of subjects, to ensure that the principle of a broad-based curriculum is maintained.
Complete IB course listing 2011–2012
Foundation IB (Grade 10) The Foundation IB course is offered to students who come to the college at the age of fifteen, too late to join the GCSE course but too early to be ready for the two years of the full IB Diploma Programme. These students take a preliminary year of IB studies in Grade 10, which prepares them for the rigours of the IB Diploma course in the Senior School. All students study English; Mathematics; Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge; Economics and Business Studies; History or Geography; Coordinated Sciences; and Information Technology. Students can also choose from among Art, Drama or Music and between Physical Education and a foreign language, including French, Spanish, German, Chinese and Japanese.
Chinese; Dutch; English; French; German; Hindi (SL); Indonesian; Japanese; Korean; Spanish School Supported Burmese; Czech; Hungarian; Italian; Self-Taught (SL): Khmer; Malay; Norwegian; Filipino; Polish; Sinhalese; Swahili; Swedish; Thai; Vietnamese; 2. Language A2, B, Chinese A2; English A2; English B or ab initio: (HL); French A2; French B; French ab initio; German A2; German B; Japanese A2; Mandarin B; Mandarin ab initio; Spanish B; Spanish ab initio 3. Individuals and Business and Management; Societies: Environmental Systems and Societies (SL); Economics; Geography; History; Information Technology in a Global Society; Philosophy; Psychology; Science, Technology and Society (SL) 4.Experimental Biology; Chemistry; Design Sciences: Technology; Environmental Systems and Society (SL); Physics; Science, Technology and Society (SL), Sports, Exercise and Health Science (SL). Mathematics (HL); Mathematics 5. Mathematics and Computer (SL); Mathematical Studies (SL); Further Mathematics (SL); Sciences: Computer Science 6.The Arts Music; Theatre Arts; Visual Arts; Film (SL)
Senior School (Grades 11 and 12) The International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma The IB Diploma provides a rigorous and challenging academic programme taught over Grades 11 and 12 and leading to externally marked final examinations. To obtain the IB Diploma, students must complete six subjects and a curriculum core, which includes a course in Theory of Knowledge, an independent research and writing project known as the Extended Essay, and a minimum of 150 hours of extracurricular activities involving Creativity, Action and Service. A small number of students elect to take seven subjects. Grades in each subject range from a low of 1 (very poor) to a high of 7 (excellent). More information about the IB Diploma Programme can be found at www.ibo.org. About 99% of students in the class of 2012 are IB Diploma candidates. For the class of 2011, 73 candidates were awarded Bilingual Diplomas (24% of diploma recipients). If the requirements for an IB Diploma are not met, students may be awarded IB Certificates for individual subjects. All graduating students are also awarded a UWCSEA Diploma. Teachers predict students’ final IB grades in Term 1 of Grade 12. Students’ predicted grades are sent to the universities to which students have applied, along with their transcripts and supporting documents. Awards/Honours The College ethos is to celebrate the successes of all its students in a variety of ways. Outstanding achievements are recognized in academics through Grade Award Ceremonies; the arts through high quality performances and acknowledgement awards; sports through the awarding of colours; and service through Service Recognition Awards. UWCSEA does not compute GPA or rank its students.
Courses are offered at either Higher or Standard level unless otherwise noted. 1. Language A1: Taught:
UWCSEA ethos in action The school has a strong culture of student involvement. Many students far exceed the Creativity, Action and Service requirement of the IB Diploma, embracing additional opportunities for enrichment, leadership, activism or service. They are key players in the special energy found on our campus. Global Concerns: A special feature of an education at UWCSEA, this programme emphasises the responsibilities of global citizenship by promoting sustainability through self-help in a number of developing countries. Currently there are over 60 Global Concerns projects, led by students who identify grassroots NGOs to support. In addition to collectively raising over S$500,000 a year to distribute to environmental, human rights and development projects in education and health, younger students may gain first hand experience of the projects through school expeditions, while senior and gap year students get directly involved in service.
The natural disaster relief response programme has distributed over S$1.5 million to affected countries in our region; this includes supporting the education of 230 orphans in Aceh, and building schools in Aceh, Burma, Cambodia, Ladakh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. Students and teachers have been directly involved in service in these regions. Project Week: All Grade 11 students independently plan and organize travel in small groups to destinations within Asia. Most trips involve service at a Global Concerns project but can also include an educational course or adventure expeditions: for example, students have built houses for Tabitha in Cambodia, worked with street kids and AIDS victims in Bangkok, volunteered at orphanages throughout Southeast Asia, or trekked in Mongolia or Chiang Mai. Student-led initiatives include Youth Leadership seminars and Peace conferences. Our Initiative for Peace programme conducts regular workshops and an annual conference in Timor Leste that brings together youth from opposing sides of a conflict and builds human capacity in that country. Gap Year service projects: UWCSEA arranges gapyear programmes based in India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, and Thailand. There are many opportunities for our graduates to work in ecology
projects, or with NGOs focused on affirmative action and human rights. Local Service: Students are involved in programmes within the local community. Service commitments can range from supporting disadvantaged children with their studies, to massaging patients in an HIV care centre, supporting terminally ill patients at a hospice, or working with teenagers from a psychiatric hospital. Arts programme: Students perform in a wide range of plays, dance productions, and concerts throughout the year. Each year there are several large-scale visual arts exhibitions showcasing a range of traditional and experimental work in a variety of media. There are also opportunities for journalism through a variety of school publications. Sports: School wide, sports teams compete in local, regional and international tournaments. There are also many opportunities for recreational sports. Debate: Students participate in international tournaments and attend Model United Nations (MUN) conferences and Harvard Model Congress (HMC). Round Square membership (60+ schools inspired by Kurt Hahn’s ideals): A regional member, UWCSEA regularly sends participants to Round Square conferences around the world, and hosts conferences.
IB results 2007–2011 Year 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
No. of IB Diploma candidates 300 295 286 308 286
No. of IB Certificate candidates 8 6 7 8 8
World-wide Percent passed Worldwide UWCSEA (Diploma) average average Diploma average Diploma score score 100 77.92** 36.8 TBA 98.98 78.06 36 29.55 97.6 78.7 35.7 29.51 98.05 79.02 34.2 29.57 97.2 78.8 34 29.56
** provisional
Highlights of IB 2011 results
• 33.1% of candidates achieved 40+ points (in 2010,
5.28% achieved 40+ points worldwide out of 111,770 candidates) • An incredible 40% scored 39+ points • 8 candidates achieved the highest possible score of 45 points: a further 13 scored 44 points • 100% pass rate compared to 78.21% provisional pass rate worldwide in 2010
• UWCSEA average IB Diploma pass 37* (in 2009,
worldwide average 29.55) • Average grade achieved by UWCSEA students was 5.8 (in 2010, the worldwide average was 4.65) • Bilingual Diplomas were awarded to 80 candidates * Official IB result
Decile distribution of final IB scores UWCSEA (2011) compared to worldwide (2010) IB Points
UWCSEA 2011
45+ 44+ 43+ 42+ 41+ 40+ 39+ 38+ 37+ 36+ 35+ 34+ 33+ 32+ 31+ 30+ 29+ 28+ 27+ 26+ 25+ 24+ 0–23 Average: 36.8933
8 13 16 15 17 31 21 21 21 24 17 27 13 15 13 13 6 4 5 1 0 0 0
Cumulative
Decile
IB Points
2.8 7.1 12.5 17.5 23.1 33.1 40.1 47.1 54.1 62.1 67.8 76.8 81.1 86.1 90.5 94.8 96.8 98.1 99.8 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 5 6 6 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10
45+ 44+ 43+ 42+ 41+ 40+ 39+ 38+ 37+ 36+ 35+ 34+ 33+ 32+ 31+ 30+ 29+ 28+ 27+ 26+ 25+ 24+ 0–23 Average: 29.55
World 2010 Decile 0.2 0.6 1.24 2.16 3.24 5.28 7.51 10.17 13.41 17.34 21.57 26.47 31.95 37.68 43.88 50.19 56.5 62.7 67.79 72.17 75.72 78.16 100
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 7 8–10
SAT scores: summary data for Class of 2011 SAT I Scores Critical Reading Mathematics Writing SAT II Scores Biology - Ecology Biology - Molecular Chemistry Chinese with Listening English Literature French French with Listening German with Listening Math Level I Math Level II Physics Spanish Spanish with Listening US History World History
Middle 50% 570–700 630–760 590–690 Middle 50% 600–750 640–730 690–790 650–760 610–720 490–680 510–510 700–700 590–680 710–800 690–770 550–550 510–800 660–660 590–690
Mean 628 689 638 Mean 662 671 728 703 650 614 510 700 639 738 730 550 723 660 653
Students tested 176 176 176 Students tested 14 29 41 18 31 7 1 1 29 86 51 1 4 1 8
University enrolment of UWCSEA graduates 2009–2011 Australia University of Adelaide Australian National University Bond University, Australia Charles Sturt Univeristy Griffith University University of Melbourne Monash University University of New South Wales Queensland University of Technology University of Sydney Canada University of British Columbia McGill University McMaster University Mount Allison University Quest University Canada Ryerson University University of Toronto Trinity Western University University of Victoria York University Costa Rica Universidad de Ciencias Medicas France Parsons School of Design, Paris Germany Jacobs University Bremen WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management Hong Kong University of Hong Kong India Jai Hind College Manipal University Italy Libera Universita Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli di Roma Japan International Christian University Keio University University of Tsukuba Waseda University Korea Ewha Woman’s University Korea University Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology Seoul National University Yonsei University Mexico Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Netherlands Amsterdam University College Leiden University Universiteit Maastricht Wageningen University Qatar Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Singapore Digipen Institute of Technology James Cook University (Singapore) LaSalle College of the Arts National University of Singapore Singapore Management University Sweden Lund University Spain IE University Switzerland Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne Glion Inst of Higher Education Universitat St. Gallen Taiwan National Chengchi University Thailand Chulalongkorn University United Arab Emirates New York University Abu Dhabi United Kingdom University of Aberdeen University of the Arts, London The Arts Institute at Bournemouth University of Bath University of Birmingham University of Bolton University of Brighton University of Bristol Brunel University University of Cambridge Cardiff University Central St Martins College of Art and Design City University London Durham University University of Edinburgh University of Exeter University of Glasgow Goldsmiths College, University of London University of Hertfordshire Hull York Medical School Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Keele University University of Kent at Canterbury King’s College London
Kingston University Lancaster University University of Leeds University of Leicester The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts London School of Economics University College London Loughborough University University of Manchester Newcastle University Nottingham Trent University University of Nottingham Oxford University University of Portsmouth Queen Mary, University of London Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication University of Reading Royal Holloway, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies University of Sheffield University of Southampton University of St Andrews University of Surrey University of Warwick University of the West of England University of York United States Amherst College Babson College Bard College Barnard College Bentley College Berklee College of Music Boston University Bowdoin College Brandeis University Brown University Bryant University Bucknell University University of California (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara) Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University University of Chicago Claremont McKenna College Clark University Colby College Colorado College Columbia University University of Connecticut Cornell University Dartmouth College Dickinson College
Duke University Earlham College Emory University Franklin and Marshall College George Mason University George Washington University Georgetown University Georgia Institute of Technology Grinnell College Hamilton College Harvard University Harvey Mudd College University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign Indiana University at Bloomington Lafayette College Lewis & Clark College Luther College Macalester College University of Massachusetts, Boston Methodist University University of Michigan Middlebury College University of Minnesota Twin Cities New York University University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
033COM-1112
Northeastern University Northwestern University Oberlin College Occidental College University of Oklahoma Parsons The New School of Design Pennsylvania State University University of Pennsylvania Pomona College Pratt Institute Princeton University Purdue University Reed College Rhode Island School of Design Rice University University of Richmond Ringling College of Art and Design University of Rochester Rutgers, State University of New Jersey San Francisco Art Institute University of San Francisco San Francisco State University Santa Clara University Sarah Lawrence College Savannah College of Art and Design
School of the Art Institute of Chicago School of the Museum of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts Scripps College Skidmore College University of Southern California St. Mary’s College of Maryland St. Olaf College Stanford University Swarthmore College Syracuse University The University of Tampa The University of Texas, Austin Tisch School of the Arts Trinity College Tufts University Vassar College University of Virginia Washington University in St. Louis University of Washington Wellesley College Wheaton College MA Whitman College Williams College University of Wisconsin, Madison Yale University