Summary
UWCSEA is a united, welcoming community that embraces students and their families from almost 100 different nations. The second member of the UWC movement, the College was opened by Lee Kuan Yew as Singapore International School in 1971. SIS became the United World College of South East Asia in 1975 and gradually expanded to become the K–12 international school of over 5,500 students across two campuses that it is today.
The community, while large, celebrates and builds on the success of individuals, with an aim to create a wider impact through their mission. UWCSEA embodies everything the UWC movement stands for: concern and compassion for others, the willingness to accept responsibility, and tenacity in pursuit of the truth. What also distinguishes our students is how much they give service to others: their compassion and commitment are writ large in the many hundreds of hours of impactful service the College bears witness to every year, across a hugely diverse range of activities, and which they celebrate as much as their academic achievements.
Language Of Instruction
Curriculum
IGCSE and IB
International Demographics
91 nationalities. Top 10: India (20.08%); UK (17.28%); USA (8.85%); Australia (7.68%); Singapore (7.18%); Japan (3.84%); Korea (3.66%); Canada (2.71%); Malaysia (2.67%); France (2.39%); 81 other (23.66%). Other notes: Dutch (3.15% on Dover Campus). Full details by campus in the UWCSEA Annual Report.
Focus
Application & Deadline
K1–Grade 9: places are offered in November, February and April, and so applications should be submitted in advance of these months.
Grade 10 FIB and IB Diploma and all boarding applications should be submitted before February, as testing and interviews take place in February and March.
Applications made later are considered for places that may arise, based on:
K1–Grade 8: applicants can be considered to replace students who leave the College up to the start of Term 3 in April
Grade 9, Grade 10FIB and Grade 11: up to the start of Term 1 in August
Applications open 12 months ahead of each new academic year. For example, applications to join the College in August 2016 opened on Tuesday, 1 September 2015.
All applications need to be submitted via our online system, which captures a full profile to use in assessing the application against the entrance and allocation criteria explained below.
Applicants need to demonstrate the qualities and skills that will enable them to thrive in the UWCSEA learning programme. Specifically this includes a positive approach to learning and an academic profile that indicates an applicant can progress in with confidence our learning programme. We also look at an applicant’s English language proficiency and any individual learning needs they may have, to ensure we can provide any support needed.
Above all, our allocation policy is driven by our mission and our commitment to diversity: we are looking to build balanced and diverse cohorts in each grade level.
All applicants who meet our entrance criteria (and so are ‘eligible’ to be offered a place) are placed in the application ‘pool’ to be considered for available places in the upcoming academic year.
Places are allocated according to a range of factors which includes personality, interests, proactive involvement in school and community life as well as gender, age and the extent to which the applicant’s experience and background adds to the diversity of the College.
