Thank you for choosing to apply to United World Colleges. We are excited to have you as an applicant, and wish you every success.
This section contains important information regarding the application process. Please read it carefully. If you have any questions, please contact selections@uwcgb.org and we will do our best to answer them as quickly as we can.
Please allow 3-4 hours in total to complete this application. You can save the application at any time and come back to it later.
SELECTIONS PROCESS OVERVIEW
You are applying to study at one of 18 United World Colleges for two years, which will see you gain an International Baccalaureate Diploma. This is equivalent to an A-Level in the UK.
This is the first of two stages of the selections process. You will be asked to complete a written application form. As part of the online application form you will be required to answer a number of questions about yourself, write three short essays, and provide us with references from your teacher and activity leader. These will then be assessed by us, and a number of candidates will be shortlisted.
The application form, as well as all references, must be in English. We will not accept applications written in Welsh or any other language. We will also not accept any references that are not in English.
If you are shortlisted, you will be invited to the second stage of selections, which will involve you attending an online assessment in December 2023 or January 2024. The assessment will consist of a series of activities and tasks for you to complete and will take place online. At that point in time you will also be asked to choose a list of colleges you wish to be considered for. The UWC National Committee of Great Britain will then allocate the successful applicants to colleges in January - February 2024. Students will then attend their UWCs from September 2024 (or January 2025 in the case of Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa).
UWC SELECTION CRITERIA
Each of our schools and colleges has its own distinct character and identity, influenced by their host country, the specific setting, cultural context and their community. What makes each one of them a UWC is a deliberately diverse student body, with students coming from all over the world, bringing with them very different backgrounds to learn and live together - and their joined mission to make education a force for peace and sustainability.
Each year, we look for applicants to join our schools, who bring the following:
- Intellectual curiosity: You love learning about the world around you - both inside and outside the classroom. You have at least one academic area that you are passionate about, and would like to explore further. You are able to recognise global and local issues, and analyse them critically.
- Active commitment to your own values and those of UWC: You share UWC’s values and show a commitment to follow UWC’s code of conduct. You have humility and the ability to listen to, and value, other people’s opinions. You appreciate that although others may have different points of view, they may also be right. You promote UWC’s values in your daily life, and act as a global citizen of the world.
- Social competence: You interact respectfully with others, understanding and appreciating their viewpoints and perspectives, and you are able to work within a team to find solutions to problems. You know how to express yourself appropriately in different situations and to different people.
- Resilience, self-awareness and independence: You can look after yourself physically and emotionally during challenging situations, for example in a boarding school environment. You have developed good coping strategies, and you are not easily overwhelmed. You also know when to ask for help for yourself, and for others.
- Personal responsibility and integrity: You can express and examine your own values, and you are ready to contrast and reflect on them in comparison to the values of others. The way you behave within your family and community reflects your values and beliefs. You can communicate your own needs and are mindful of those of others, demonstrating a sense of communal responsibility.
- Academic robustness: You have the potential to meet the rigorous demands of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme or the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme.
FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS
Your and your family’s financial situation will not affect the selections process. We do have some financial aid available, however, this will only cover a portion of the school fees. In most cases, we will not be able to cover the costs of transport to/from your college, or any other related expenditure (e.g. health insurance, laptop).
AGE REQUIREMENTS
- Applicants must be at least 16 years of age by 1 September 2024.
- Applicants must be at most 17 years of age by 1 September 2024.
- Some colleges may consider slightly older students. The decision to admit older students is at their sole discretion.
PARENTAL CONSENT
We will need one of your parents or guardians to fill out the parental consent form which forms part of this application.
APPLICATION FEE
The fee for applying to United World Colleges through the UWC National Committee of Great Britain for 2024 entry is £150 (for candidates applying in the Late Application cycle the Application Fee is £180). The National Committee is a charity, and your application fee will go towards processing your application, and towards running the assessment. This means the fee is non-refundable even if your application is not successful. Please contact us at selections@uwcgb.org if you feel this fee would prevent you from applying to UWC.
DEADLINE
The deadline for submitting your application is the 5th November 2023 at 11:59PM GMT, or 24th December at 11:59 GMT for candidates applying in the late application round. We will only assess your application if by that point:
- You have filled out all sections of the application;
- Your parents/guardians have sent us their consent form;
- You have paid the £150 application fee (£180 for candidates applying in the late application round);
- You have clicked ‘Submit’ at the end of the application and have received a confirmation email from us.
We acknowledge that your teachers and activity leaders are busy people, and we will therefore accept and process applications without a completed academic or activity reference. However, we will need your referees to submit these by 19th November 2023 (18th January 2024 for candidates applying in the late application round). We will send out reminders to them on a regular basis until they have sent them in. We may also ask you to contact your referees if they don’t respond to our reminders.
UWC Great Britain 2024-2026
Thank you for choosing to apply to United World Colleges. We are excited to have you as an applicant, and wish you every success.
This section contains important information regarding the application process. Please read it carefully. If you have any questions, please contact selections@uwcgb.org and we will do our best to answer them as quickly as we can.
Please allow 3-4 hours in total to complete this application. You can save the application at any time and come back to it later.
SELECTIONS PROCESS OVERVIEW
You are applying to study at one of 18 United World Colleges for two years, which will see you gain an International Baccalaureate Diploma. This is equivalent to an A-Level in the UK.
This is the first of two stages of the selections process. You will be asked to complete a written application form. As part of the online application form you will be required to answer a number of questions about yourself, write three short essays, and provide us with references from your teacher and activity leader. These will then be assessed by us, and a number of candidates will be shortlisted.
The application form, as well as all references, must be in English. We will not accept applications written in Welsh or any other language. We will also not accept any references that are not in English.
If you are shortlisted, you will be invited to the second stage of selections, which will involve you attending an online assessment in December 2023 or January 2024. The assessment will consist of a series of activities and tasks for you to complete and will take place online. At that point in time you will also be asked to choose a list of colleges you wish to be considered for. The UWC National Committee of Great Britain will then allocate the successful applicants to colleges in January - February 2024. Students will then attend their UWCs from September 2024 (or January 2025 in the case of Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa).
UWC SELECTION CRITERIA
Each of our schools and colleges has its own distinct character and identity, influenced by their host country, the specific setting, cultural context and their community. What makes each one of them a UWC is a deliberately diverse student body, with students coming from all over the world, bringing with them very different backgrounds to learn and live together - and their joined mission to make education a force for peace and sustainability.
Each year, we look for applicants to join our schools, who bring the following:
- Intellectual curiosity: You love learning about the world around you - both inside and outside the classroom. You have at least one academic area that you are passionate about, and would like to explore further. You are able to recognise global and local issues, and analyse them critically.
- Active commitment to your own values and those of UWC: You share UWC’s values and show a commitment to follow UWC’s code of conduct. You have humility and the ability to listen to, and value, other people’s opinions. You appreciate that although others may have different points of view, they may also be right. You promote UWC’s values in your daily life, and act as a global citizen of the world.
- Social competence: You interact respectfully with others, understanding and appreciating their viewpoints and perspectives, and you are able to work within a team to find solutions to problems. You know how to express yourself appropriately in different situations and to different people.
- Resilience, self-awareness and independence: You can look after yourself physically and emotionally during challenging situations, for example in a boarding school environment. You have developed good coping strategies, and you are not easily overwhelmed. You also know when to ask for help for yourself, and for others.
- Personal responsibility and integrity: You can express and examine your own values, and you are ready to contrast and reflect on them in comparison to the values of others. The way you behave within your family and community reflects your values and beliefs. You can communicate your own needs and are mindful of those of others, demonstrating a sense of communal responsibility.
- Academic robustness: You have the potential to meet the rigorous demands of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme or the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme.
FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS
Your and your family’s financial situation will not affect the selections process. We do have some financial aid available, however, this will only cover a portion of the school fees. In most cases, we will not be able to cover the costs of transport to/from your college, or any other related expenditure (e.g. health insurance, laptop).
AGE REQUIREMENTS
- Applicants must be at least 16 years of age by 1 September 2024.
- Applicants must be at most 17 years of age by 1 September 2024.
- Some colleges may consider slightly older students. The decision to admit older students is at their sole discretion.
PARENTAL CONSENT
We will need one of your parents or guardians to fill out the parental consent form which forms part of this application.
APPLICATION FEE
The fee for applying to United World Colleges through the UWC National Committee of Great Britain for 2024 entry is £150 (for candidates applying in the Late Application cycle the Application Fee is £180). The National Committee is a charity, and your application fee will go towards processing your application, and towards running the assessment. This means the fee is non-refundable even if your application is not successful. Please contact us at selections@uwcgb.org if you feel this fee would prevent you from applying to UWC.
DEADLINE
The deadline for submitting your application is the 5th November 2023 at 11:59PM GMT, or 24th December at 11:59 GMT for candidates applying in the late application round. We will only assess your application if by that point:
- You have filled out all sections of the application;
- Your parents/guardians have sent us their consent form;
- You have paid the £150 application fee (£180 for candidates applying in the late application round);
- You have clicked ‘Submit’ at the end of the application and have received a confirmation email from us.
We acknowledge that your teachers and activity leaders are busy people, and we will therefore accept and process applications without a completed academic or activity reference. However, we will need your referees to submit these by 19th November 2023 (18th January 2024 for candidates applying in the late application round). We will send out reminders to them on a regular basis until they have sent them in. We may also ask you to contact your referees if they don’t respond to our reminders.