1) For parents and candidates:
The UWC educational movement
UWC colleges and programs provide a unique, challenging and formative educational experience for students from diverse backgrounds who want to experience the last two years of high school in a truly international environment that inspires them to build a more peaceful and environmentally sustainable future.
The 17 UWC colleges, spread across five continents, each have their own particularities, but share a common mission, ethics and values.
While at UWC, students are encouraged to strive for excellence, the specificity of training is to put academic success on the same level as a demanding engagement in community life through social services, participation in physical activities and / or sports, artistic achievements, and exchanges on international affairs.
Students live and study on UWC campuses where most teachers and educational leaders are also housed. Life is organized in such a way as to develop autonomy and to empower students.
Recruitment is deliberately diversified and each of the colleges welcomes students of different nationalities and backgrounds. Recruitment, the structure of tuition fees and access to a scholarship system are studied to ensure the cultural and socio-economic diversity of the student body which is the richness of the educational experience and the UWC movement.
UWC operates thanks to the dedication and expertise of a network of volunteers, gathered in national committees to promote, select, and raise funds to contribute to scholarships. To date, more than 155 countries have a national committee.
Conditions of entry and other information
United World Colleges aims to "make education a force that brings people, nations and cultures together" to prepare our young people for the challenges of the 21st century. We combine this objective with a high level academic and generalist curriculum. All colleges are mixed and residential and bring together students from around the world.
All our students follow the course of the International Baccalaureate (IB) over two years, equivalent of the first and the final year.
In all schools the language of instruction is English (as well as Spanish in Costa Rica). Some knowledge and a desire to practice English on a daily basis are therefore necessary to apply for one of the UWC colleges, but not bilingualism. Indeed, many students who spoke little English upon arrival nevertheless manage to obtain excellent grades at the IB thanks to their determination and motivation.
The International Baccalaureate is an internationally recognized entrance diploma to the university. The curriculum is developed to meet the criteria and requirements of an international education; it is followed by more than 3,500 schools worldwide. Diploma candidates must study 6 subjects, 3 at the "high" level and 3 at the "standard" level. In addition, they study mathematics, a human science and a natural science. For their sixth subject, they are free to choose an option such as music or drama or to take another subject in the branches mentioned above. Finally, they must take a "Theory of Knowledge" course, created to get students to think about the major societal issues as well as about themselves and their relationships with the outside world.
UWC students are selected on the basis of merit, without taking into account the financial means of their family or their social status. Financial assistance is sometimes available depending on the funds raised by the committee, partial scholarships offered by the colleges and according to the needs of the candidate. Nevertheless, parents may be asked and expected to contribute to the student's tuition and travel costs, within their capacity. An assessment of the family's ability to make such contributions will be made as impartially as possible after agreement between the selection committee or the college and the family.
The most important personal quality is the enthusiasm to associate with the ideals and goals of the UWC movement. We are looking for evidence of a serious commitment to getting involved in the UWC experience. Life on campus is intense; tolerance and openness to others allow students to appreciate each other and to respect each other. Between work and extracurricular activities, students are in great demand; a great maturity and a sense of responsibility are essential to succeed.
Every year, in October, the 17 UWC colleges report to the National Committees the number of students from each country that they are ready to host for the following school year, thus ensuring the national diversity that UWC is unique in. On average, according to the colleges, a promotion brings together between forty and eighty different nationalities. Depending on their means, colleges may offer partial scholarships of varying importance to help cover the tuition fees of one or more students.
At the end of their selection process, the National Committees submit to the various colleges the list and the profile of the students they propose to send in response to the offers of places received. In general, colleges accept the recommendations of National Committees, but the final decision is theirs and they can, in extremely rare cases, refuse a candidate.
The decisions of the national selection committees are therefore recommendations to the United World Colleges. They do not constitute in any case firm offers of places available. As such, a candidate is definitively admitted only after receiving an acceptance letter from the headmaster of one of the 17 UWC institutions and signing of the financing agreement between the parents, the school and the committee. national.
It is important to note that:
- Even if you are asked to express your preferences, you are applying for the UWC movement and not for a particular College.
- You can only apply for one national committee. It is not possible to apply for the same year to two different national committees, including for binational students.
- Disabled students with sufficient autonomy in daily life are encouraged to apply.
Before filling in your application, ask yourself one last time these few questions:
- Am I ready
- To live in the same room as two or three other students who have daily habits different from mine?
- To leave my family and friends for several months?
- To motivate me to study independently?
- To be interested in the totally different customs of other students?
- To get up early after a restless night?
- To organize my schedule?
- Doing my laundry and managing my things?
- To represent my culture and my country in college?
- To confront myself to new limits?
- To implement sustainable development, rather than just talking about it?
- To stay on track, even in difficult times?
