Academics

LEARNING PROGRAMME: ACADEMICS

Through our Academic programme, students develop intellectual habits and passions that stay with them for life. Learning goals in languages, mathematics, sciences, the Arts, humanities, technology and physical education build logically through each grade, preparing students for the next academic challenge and for life beyond school. The conceptual nature of our curriculum, which focuses on ideas that can transfer across the world, supports students who are joining us from different countries, educational systems and backgrounds. For example, while the content of a chosen text in English or a specific time period in History may vary between educational systems, the concepts that underpin that subject area remain the same. The learning is therefore transferable between systems.

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT: FIRST LANGUAGES PATHWAYS

Across the College, our linguistic diversity encompasses speakers of 88 different languages and reflects the deliberate diversity created through our admissions policy. Nearly 60% of the UWCSEA community are multilingual, communicating in two or more languages at home. In a continuation of the work identified by the UWCSEA Strategy, the College continued to focus on providing greater support for linguistic diversity, by extending strategies to support bi- and multilingual learners on each campus. Alongside Grade 9 and 10 programme development for a new English course, curriculum development in the Dover High School focused on a new first language course for Grade 9 and 10 students. Co-created by first language teachers, the academically rigorous and mission-aligned First Languages course launched in August 2021, providing an option for first language learners in the Dutch and Swiss German programmes on Dover Campus, as well as French, Japanese and Korean first language learners to continue academic study of their first language, and to prepare for Language A in the IB Diploma. The decision of Cambridge International Examinations board to discontinue IGCSE First Language courses provided the initial impetus for the College to create this bespoke first language course. The result is a course for our first language students that not only better prepares them for their IB language courses, but allows us to develop a more academically rigorous and explicitly mission-aligned course. The UWCSEA First Language Grade 9 and 10 course is organised into six core units, which are common across all languages. The two skills-based foundational units, covering linguistic and literary competence, are integrated with the remaining four units which are organised around the themes of identity and language, culture and contexts, sustainability and environmental issues, and global citizenship. All students work to attain the same conceptual understandings and skills, but do so through learning in their own first language.

IB DIPLOMA RESULTS

In May 2021, 571 UWCSEA students were awarded the IB Diploma. The College achieved a pass rate of 99.5%, and this section outlines the results and university destinations of the Class of 2021.

College

IB Diploma graduates Average IB Diploma score

571

39.4

UWCSEA

33

Worldwide

Pass rate

99.5%

UWCSEA

89%

Worldwide Percentage receiving 40+ points

57.3%

UWCSEA

18.4%

Worldwide Percentage receiving Bilingual Diploma

22.5%

UWCSEA

26.9%

Worldwide

129

Students awarded a Bilingual Diploma

30 Languages in which Bilingual Diploma was awarded Amharic; Arabic; Belarusian; Bengali; Burmese; Chinese; Dutch; Dzongkha; English; Estonian; French; Georgian; German; Greek; Hebrew; Hindi; Hungarian; Indonesian; Italian; Japanese; Kazakh; Khmer; Korean; Norwegian; Portuguese; Russian; Spanish; Swahili; Thai; Vietnamese

IB Diploma score comparison

43–45 6.8%

40–42 11.6%

35–39

30–34 11.3% 29.4%

27.9%

27.9% 25.7%

27.0%

24–29

<24 3.1%

0.4%

8.3% 20.6%

IB Diploma five-year comparison

Year Number of candidates UWCSEA pass rate Worldwide average pass rate UWCSEA average diploma score Worldwide average diploma score

2021 574 (Dover: 318 | East: 256) 99.5% 89.0% 39.4 33

2020 570 (Dover: 329 | East: 241) 100% 79.1% 38.0 29.9

2019 561 (Dover: 319 | East: 242) 98.8% 77.8% 36.8 29.7

2018 572 (Dover: 318 | East: 254) 97.9% 78.2% 36.2 29.8

CLASS OF 2021 DESTINATIONS

99% of graduates in the Class of 2021 will go on to university; 79% directly after graduation, with the rest first going on a Gap Year or into National Service.

National Service 12%

Gap Year 8%

Europe 6%

Asia/Middle East 5%

Canada 5%

Australia/New Zealand 8%

571

UWCSEA High School Diploma Graduates

23% UK 34% USA

3.68

Average number of university offers per student

24 Countries where graduates enrolled in university Australia; Austria; Canada; Denmark; Estonia; Fiji; France; Hong Kong; Ireland; Israel; Italy; Japan; Netherlands; New Zealand; Philippines; Qatar; Singapore; South Korea; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States

University Destinations Below is a list of universities that UWCSEA students were accepted to between 2019 and 2021.

Australia Australian National University James Cook University Monash University Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University of Melbourne University of New South Wales University of Queensland University of Sydney University of Tasmania University of Western Australia

Austria University of Natural Resources and

Applied Life Sciences Vienna

Canada Concordia University Dalhousie University McGill University OCAD University Simon Fraser University University of British Columbia University of Calgary University of Guelph University of Montreal University of New Brunswick University of Toronto University of Victoria University of Waterloo Western University

Denmark Aarhus University

Estonia University of Tartu

Fiji University of the South Pacific

France College Universitaire de Sciences Po INSA Lyon Paris College of Art The American University of Paris

Hong Kong Chinese University of Hong Kong The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology University of Hong Kong

Italy Instituto Marangoni Politecnico di Milano San Raffaele University Rome Universita Bocconi Universita Di Bologna

Ireland National University of Ireland, Galway Royal College of Surgeons Trinity College Dublin University College Dublin

Israel Tel Aviv University

Japan Hitotsubashi University International Christian University Keio University Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus Osaka University Sophia University Temple University Japan Waseda University

Netherlands Amsterdam University College Delft University of Technology Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam Erasmus University College Leiden University College The Hague Maastricht University The Hague Pathway College Universiteit Leiden Universiteit van Amsterdam University College Maastricht University College Twente University College Utrecht University of Amsterdam University of Groningen University of Twente Utrecht University

New Zealand Victoria University Wellington

Philippines Ateneo de Manila University

Qatar Northwestern University in Qatar

Singapore LASALLE College of the Arts Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Nanyang Institute of Management Nanyang Technological University National University of Singapore Yale–NUS College

Spain ESADE Business School IE University Madrid Campus

South Korea Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology Seoul National University Yonsei University

Sweden Lund University

Switzerland École hôtelière de Lausanne Glion Institute of Higher Education Les Roches Schools of

Hotel Management

United Arab Emirates New York University Abu Dhabi

United Kingdom Arts University of Bournemouth Bath Spa University Bristol, University of the West England Brunel University of London Cardiff University City University of London Durham University Edinburgh Napier University Goldsmith’s, University of London Imperial College London Institute of Contemporary

Music Performance King’s College London Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts London School of Economics and

Political Science London South Bank University Loughborough University Manchester Metropolitan University Newcastle University Norwich University of the Arts Nottingham Trent University Queen Mary, University of London Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Northern College of Music Royal Veterinary College School of Oriental and African Studies,

University of London SOAS University of London St. George’s, University of London Swansea University Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance University College London University of Aberdeen University of Bath University of Birmingham University of Bristol University of Cambridge University of Dundee University of East Anglia Uea University of Edinburgh University of Exeter University of Glasgow University of Gloucestershire University of Greenwich University of Kent University of Leeds University of Leicester University of Lincoln University of Manchester University of Oxford University of Reading University of Southampton University of St Andrews University of Sussex University of The Arts London University of Warwick University of Winchester

United States Amherst College Babson College Barnard College Bentley University Berklee College of Music Biola University Boston College Boston University Bowdoin College Brandeis University Brown University Bucknell University California Institute of The Arts California Polytechnic State University,

San Luis Obispo Carleton College Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve Case Western Reserve University Chapman University Claremont McKenna College Clark University Colgate University College of the Atlantic College of the Holy Cross Colorado College Colorado State University Columbia University Columbia University In the City of New

York Connecticut College Cornell University Dartmouth College Dartmouth University Davidson College Drexel University Duke University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Emerson College Emory University Fordham University Franklin and Marshall College Furman University George Washington University Georgetown University Georgia Institute of Technology Gettysburg College Harvard University Harvey Mudd College Haverford College Indiana University at Bloomington Johns Hopkins University Kenyon College Lake Forest College Loyola Marymount University Luther College Macalester College Massachusetts Institute of Technology Methodist University Miami University-Oxford Middlebury College Minerva Schools at KGI Mt Holyoke New York University Northeastern University Northwestern University Oberlin College Occidental College Ohio State University Parsons School of Design Pennsylvania State University Pitzer College Plymouth College of Art Pomona College Pratt Institute Princeton University Purdue University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rhode Island School of Design

Rice University Ringling College of Art and Design Rochester Institute of Technology San Diego State University Santa Clara University Savannah College of Art and Design School of the Arts Institute of Chicago Skidmore College Smith College St. Lawrence University St. Olaf College Stanford University Swarthmore College Syracuse University The College of Idaho The New School, Parsons School of Design The University of Texas at Austin Trinity College Tufts University University of Arizona University of California, Berkeley University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, Los Angeles University of California, Riverside University of California, San Diego University of Chicago University of Colorado Boulder University of Denver University of Florida University of Hawaii At Manoa University of Illinois at Urbana-

Champaign University of Maine University of Maryland, College Park University of Massachusetts-Amherst University of Michigan University of Michigan-Ann Arbor University of Nevada-Reno University of North Carolina At

Chapel Hill University of Notre Dame University of Oklahoma University of Oklahoma

Norman Campus University of Pennsylvania University of Richmond University of Rochester University of San Diego University of San Francisco University of Southern California University of Virginia University of Washington University of Washington,

Seattle Campus Vanderbilt University Vassar College Wellesley College Wesleyan University Wheaton College Massachussetts Williams College Worcester Polytechnic Institute Yale University

UWCSEA STORIES

Academics in action

At UWCSEA, we strive to develop both intercultural understanding and communicative competence in our students. We also know how important it is for students to have a strong first language for learning and wellbeing. Because English is the lingua franca of our community and we are an English-medium international school, our challenge is to ensure we are proactive in supporting our bi- and multilingual learners to build and develop the vital connection to their culture through their home language. Particularly as we are now at a point where the number of families in our community who report they speak a language other than English at home suggests that speakers of English-only at home are in the minority.

FURTHERING MULTILINGUALISM

Our focus on better supporting a students’ first language development has seen far-reaching long term programme development, through initiatives such as the Home Language Programme (HLP), as well as the expansion of the English as an Additional Language programme to welcome students from K1 onwards.

Starting in the Infant School last year, we began surveying all incoming families about their child’s language profile so that we can, where possible, place incoming students in the K1 cohort with a ‘language buddy’ in their class. Whether the student speaks English fluently or not, the presence of a peer who speaks the same home language can be leveraged by the class teacher to help our youngest learners to retain their home language skills – and their self confidence and identity – by providing them with opportunities to use, and reinforce their learning, in their home language. This school year the College extended the language survey to all families, so that we can better understand our students’ linguistic profiles and the aspirations and goals that parents have for their child’s linguistic development while at UWCSEA. This survey data will help to inform future planning for language provision and teacher recruitment. For individual students, it means class teachers will be able to identify opportunities to encourage students to utilize their dominant language to support their learning when planning lessons. This ‘translanguaging approach’ is not delivered as a whole class lesson to all students. Rather, it is an intentional strategy that teachers draw on as necessary in personalising the classroom experience for each student, helping them play to their strengths by allowing them to access and process their learning by using their home language. This enhances their conceptual understanding of the subject, by helping students to maintain and develop their academic knowledge in, and of, their home language. Further work included extensive examination of the K–12 learning goals for literacy with a specific focus on students’ English language awareness and development within the English and English as an Additional Language curricula. To support learners whose first language is not English, the languages review enabled leadership teams to identify goals in acquiring the skills and strategies required to listen, speak, read and write in English with nuance and sophistication. In the College’s Languages Other Than English programmes, regardless of the level of language acquisition, these learning goals were also articulated at the appropriate level for learners. We also undertook some exciting First Language curriculum development work this year in the Dover High School, as reported in the strategic development outlined earlier in this section. And what about monolingual students? Well, the good news is that research has shown that there are immense benefits for all members of a community who implement positive approaches to bi- and multilingualism. In this environment, our monolingual students develop greater cross-linguistic awareness and intercultural understanding, which in turn supports their development as bilingual learners of a new foreign language.