Marking a Milestone:
The first students to choose the UWCSEA Grade 9/10 Programme pathway graduate
As we celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2026, we mark a historic milestone at UWCSEA.
Among this year's graduates were 107 East Campus students who were the first ever to choose UWCSEA's new Grade 9/10 programme instead of IGCSEs prior to completing the IB Diploma Programme. The majority of these pioneering students are now studying at universities around the world, including some that are highly selective.
Some examples include:
- University of Oxford
- Imperial College London
- The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
- University College London (UCL)
- The University of Edinburgh
- Durham University
- The University of Chicago
- University of California, Berkeley
- Yale University
- Stanford University
Emerging data about the UWCSEA Grade 9/10 Programme is encouraging.
The IBDP results of the UWCSEA East Class of 2026 were comparable to previous years even as the cohort was different: it was made up of a group of students who had taken the UWCSEA Grade 9/10 Programme, and another which had taken IGCSE.
|
2026 IB Average Diploma Scores |
|
|
37 |
36.8 |
|
85 students who took IGCSE |
106 students who to Grade UWCSEA 9/10 pathway |
Side-by-side, differences in each of the IB subject results between the two groups were not significant enough to require any action. However, there were some notable differences: the IGCSE cohort did slightly better in IB Chemistry, for example, and the UWCSEA Grade 9/10 Programme group was slightly ahead in IB Maths Analysis And Approaches.
It’s important to note that this data does not offer a controlled comparison because the groups were different.
UWCSEA East families were able to choose between the Grade 9/10 Programme or IGCSE pathway and the two groups differed in academic profile, subject selections, student characteristics, learning support requirements and other factors.
Having said that, all of the data and feedback collected from the Class of 2026 provides an early indication that the programmes distinct aims are being met.
UWCSEA Grade 9/10 Programme students gained in many ways.
- Nine additional weeks of teaching in place of exam preparation time for IGCSE. Students still sat Grade 9/10 exams.
- The opportunity to delve more deeply into topics with a strong focus on investigations, enquiry and the ability to transfer learning to different contexts.
- Exposure to teaching and learning approaches, and assessment styles of the IB Diploma Programme.
We launched the UWCSEA Grade 9/10 Programme in a stable and improving wellbeing environment, as survey results suggest. Students taking the programme had better wellbeing overall.
Student Wellbeing Survey (AWE)
Since 2022 when we launched the programme, student wellbeing and belonging across has shown a sustained increase, reaching a record level in 2026.
The survey measures Happiness, Resilience, Health, Bullying, and Wellbeing Enablement.
Although this trend can’t be directly attributed to the UWCSEA Grade 9/10 Programme, it is encouraging. It provides an important baseline going forward, especially when considered alongside other measures of student experience.
I really enjoyed the freedom that came with taking the UWCSEA Programme in grades 9 and 10 because it allowed for me to pursue so many different interests. With a holistic approach to subject choices, I discovered interests in every field (like history, music, the sciences, english, etc) and had the time and flexibility in the curriculum to dive deeper into subjects of interest.
I had the freedom to figure out how I learn best, and the flexibility to practice for exams without significant academic pressure. I felt comfortable making mistakes, learning from them, and pushing myself to get better, in a less grade-oriented, collaborative and experiential learning environment.
Deepening our commitment to a holistic education is a prority.
Another encouraging trend is evident in time dedicated to Activities and Service. This differed depending on the Grade 9 and 10 pathway taken, and the difference is important because students develop leadership skills, passions and qualities through their participation in these elements of the learning programme.
|
Activities and Service Hours |
|
|
3.9 |
5.7 |
|
85 students who took IGCSE |
106 students who to Grade UWCSEA 9/10 pathway |
The bold undertaking to offer an innovative, holistic, mission-aligned programme began many years before the 2022 launch. The aim was to create a more seamless transition from Grades 9 and 10 to the IB Diploma in Grade 11, and a more consistent K-12 learning experience at UWCSEA.
Design and development involved dozens of staff with a wealth of experience, deep research, and much discussion, collaboration and iteration. This effort has evolved into ensuring that the programme is living up to the guiding principles that we laid out from the start:
- Mission aligned design - building knowledge, skills and understanding that support mission competency.
- Immersive learning - learning that is rich in experiences, relationships, and connections to people, places, organisations and ideas.
- Concept-based in approach - application and transfer of knowledge, flexibility, more inclusive and culturally responsive.
- Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary learning - with courses drawing on curriculum from a variety of domains to present learning in meaningful and relevant ways.
- Meaningful assessment experience for students - aligning with our assessment and feedback policy and the approach of the IB.
- Promoting student agency - with opportunities for student voice, ownership and self-directed action.
- Supporting student wellbeing and belonging - building positive student identities so that everyone feels valued and respected as part of the community, with opportunities for connection, autonomy and competence.
"We see this as early, imperfect but genuinely encouraging evidence that a school can design Grades 9 and 10 around what it believes about learning. As far as we can yet tell, that has cost students nothing academically, and they have gained time, balance and a fuller experience of what UWCSEA stands for."
We are encouraged that the programme has been well received.
We are deeply encouraged that our parents have demonstrated broad support for the programme's philosophy, and a belief that an emphasis on critical thinking and interdisciplinary inquiry better prepares students for the future than traditional exam-focused methods. This is reflected in survey results, anecdotal feedback and measures of trust and satisfaction.
|
Parent Survey |
|
|
88% |
82% |
|
The pathway had prepared their child well for Grades 11/12 |
Happy with their choice of UWCSEA Grade 9/10 Programme |
Parent Comments
Without knowing the details, I already had the impression that the UWCSEA programme would provide my child a better experience in developing critical thinking skills. That's just the reputation I know of UWCSEA.
This programme helped my child develop the awareness and acumen to understand the world, its environment and the geopolitics from a critical perspective thus turning them into true ambassadors of peace and equality.
Our main reason for choosing the UWCSEA pathway was the wider variety of subjects and the option to choose different subjects in Grade 10 than were chosen in Grade 9.
The UWCSEA programme suited [my child's] inquiring mind. The fact that the students would be able to delve deeper into their chosen subjects instead of the rote learning style... We also felt that the new programme would better prepare them for the forthcoming IB.
Programme development will continue.
In the four years that we've been offering the UWCSEA Grade 9/10 programme, we have continuously collected feedback and data from students, parents, educators and staff, and developed methods to assess its impact. We have iterated course content, updated subject availability and addressed areas for improvement.
Our process is rigorous and thorough, and with the graduation of the Class of 2026 we have the critical first data points and feedback that will inform a formal programme review in the 2026/2027 school year.
Nonetheless, as these early results have shown, even in its current form the UWCSEA Grade 9/10 programme is robust, modern, rigorous and provides students an opportunity to acquire the skills and qualities they will need to thrive in the uncertain world they will enter after High School.
None of this would exist without our teachers, High School leaders and curriculum specialists. They wrote new courses from scratch, and for three years they ran them while maintaining an excellent IGCSEs programme, often teaching both. They took the first results apart subject by subject and rewrote courses where the evidence said they should. Since then they have done much of that work again to bring two campuses onto one programme. It has been a great deal of work, much of it unseen by families, and it has been hard. I am deeply grateful to them.
Built with Shorthand