Q&A on UWCSEA admissions

No, but we do have an application pool of eligible applicants from which we select based on our holistic admissions criteria and make offers to successful applicants based on our annual timeline. So while there is no waitlist, applicants will have to wait some time to hear the outcome of their application, even if they meet our eligibility criteria.

In those grades where we receive more eligible applications than we have available places, the places are offered according to our allocation policy.

On the basis of entry criteria, both campuses are the same.

However, the number of places opening each year at each campus is different for some grades. As an example, East Campus creates an additional 22 spaces each year in K2, and also recruits to replace any students who leave, while Dover Campus does not create any additional K2 spaces, and only replaces the few students who leave. The capacity per grade on each campus is illustrated below.

We typically do not fill vacancies part-way through Term 1 or beyond the start of Term 2.

K1–Grade 10

The availability of January entry places in K1–G10 depends entirely on the number of leavers we have during Term 1, because we usually start the school year with all available places filled. 

January placements are strongly influenced by factors in the class, cohort, or campus where the vacancies arise, such as gender balance, second language availability, and space availability in the English as an Additional Language (EAL) or Learning Support programmes. 

January placements may have limited subject/language options availability if some courses are fully subscribed.

Grades 11

We do not offer Grade 11 entry after the start of the school year, as students will have missed too much IB Diploma content and will need more academic and pastoral transition support than we can offer.

We recommend applying to both campuses by making what we call a ‘dual campus application' only if you are genuinely interested in being offered a place for your child at either campus.

As a dual campus applicant, your child will be considered for a larger number of available places and, once entry criteria have been met, will be placed in the eligible pool of applicants for each campus.

Since we typically receive 2-3 applications per place for all available places at each campus, a dual campus applicant does not necessarily have a much higher chance of being offered a place; however, it does give us more flexibility when selecting students from our eligible pools for offers.

Learn more about making a 'dual campus' application here

Transfers between campuses are not possible once a place has been accepted at one campus. A stable community supports individual student wellbeing and a sense of connection and belonging, which in turn creates conditions for learning and flourishing. In particular some of the key reasons we do not allow transfers are:

• in line with our mission, our holistic admissions criteria means we admit students who are carefully selected to create a deliberate diversity within the cohort and campus
• the strong sense of community, which is an important part of the UWCSEA experience, is diluted if further transition occurs in an already transient international community
• transferring between campuses interrupts the individualised nature of each student's experience of the learning programme; research shows that a consistent experience founded on our wellbeing and learning principles underpins each student's success

While a student is enrolled at one campus, they may not apply to the other campus for a future school year while still enrolled. Campus transfers are considered in exceptional circumstances only, as detailed in Clause 4.9 of our Standard Terms and Conditions. Those reapplying after withdrawing from the College and spending a period attending another school are able to apply to either campus when making an application to re-enrol at the College.

When more students apply than there are spaces available, we have to select. However, our selection is not based solely on academic performance. Each application is reviewed individually and places are allocated according to holistic admissions criteria that take into account the individual student’s background, experience and potential ‘fit’ with the school.   

Above all, we aim to have balanced and diverse cohorts and, particularly in the older grades, we look for students who are committed to our mission and values and who will embrace the opportunities offered by our holistic learning programme.

While having a sibling is one of the factors we take into consideration when allocating places, we admit between 800 and 1,000 students each year, and a proportion of these are always students who do not have siblings enrolled at the College.

We publish the number of students and number of families on each campus here: Dover | East 

No. Meeting our day student residency requirement is only satisfied if the student will be living with a legal parent who will be resident in Singapore for at least 90% of the school year during term. You can apply for your child to join the College as a Residential Boarder if they are joining Grade 8 or above.

By enrolling in the College, parents agree to our UWCSEA Standard Terms and Conditions, which do not permit a student to live with a relative or friend, except under exceptional circumstances, as outlined in Clauses 8.2 and 8.4.

We do not create a new class of 22 Kindergarten 2 students each year at the Dover Campus as we do on East Campus. Although we do replace leavers from Kindergarten 1, traditionally there are very few and these places are generally offered to families who already have a child at the College so that the family can stay together.

We do not feel it is fair to open the system and accept a large number of applications for K2 when there is such a small chance of success. Families who would like to be advised if we have a leaver place available in K2 can contact Admissions to join a Register of Interest for K2 on Dover Campus.

Families are welcome to apply for a K2 place at the East Campus.

No. Transition from Grade 10 to Grade 11 is not subject to any academic thresholds.

Current students select their preferred High School and IB Diploma Programme subject options in Term 2 of Grade 10. In the vast majority of cases these preferences are accommodated. In the rare cases where we are concerned about a student’s choice, the Head of Grade invites the student and parents to discuss subject options. The goal is to ensure that the combination of subjects will allow each individual student to enjoy a successful outcome.

If an application is received and our initial review of the application clearly identifies that the student does not meet out eligibility criteria, which includes requiring significant support outside of the scope of our English as an Additional Language programme, we will not refund the application fee when closing the application. 

For this reason, before submitting an application, please carefully review our guidelines about the scope of our English as an Additional Language (EAL) programme here.

No. You may not apply to UWCSEA as a fee-paying boarder for the same academic year of entry if you have applied or will be applying to any other UWC through a UWC National Committee (NC) application route or through the Global Selection Programme (GSP) application route, regardless of the outcome of your NC or GSP application process.

While places are not allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, eligible applicants who apply earlier in the application cycle are considered for more of the available places in each grade. We have two ‘offer rounds’ in each application cycle, and publish a date by which applications must be submitted in order for us to be able to process the application in time to be considered for that offer round. 

In short, if you are sure UWCSEA is the right choice for your child, know you will be in Singapore for the start of the school year, and are able to commit early if offered a place, we encourage you to apply earlier in the application cycle.

We allocate places to individual applicants based on our holistic admissions profile, which takes into account the individual profile of the applicant, while also factoring in a number of considerations within the existing cohort, for example gender balance or month of birth.

Families who make an application for more than one child are asked to indicate in the application whether they will accept an offer of a place for one child if the other applicants cannot be offered places. 

Applications are considered successfully submitted only when both the application fee has been paid in full and all of the required documentation is included in the application.  

Regardless of when you submit an application, for each individual application we will:

1. Acknowledge the application by email within 10–15 days:
   • confirming the application is successfully submitted and that no further information is required at this stage; OR
   • advising the application has not been successfully submitted and requesting any missing documentation or information; once this is received we will then email to confirm the application submission date and progress to the initial eligibility review (outlined below)
2. Advise initial eligibility review outcome via email or call within one month:
   • confirmation that the applicant has met our eligibility criteria and that they are placed in the relevant application pool for consideration OR
   • request for more information or an invitation to attend an interview or assessment (although this may take place later) OR
   • advise that the applicant has not met our entry criteria and so will not be considered for a place (the application is then closed)

Please contact Admissions if it has been more than 15 working days since you believe you have successfully submitted your application and you have not received an acknowledgement email. 

Families who would like to be advised if we are able to accept an application for K2 on Dover can contact Admissions to join a Register of Interest for K2 on Dover Campus. We then contact these families to invite them to submit an application if a place becomes available. The applications are processed based on our entry criteria.

We recommend applying to both campuses only if you are genuinely interested in a place for your child at either campus and would accept an offered place at either campus.

We recommend families familiarise themselves with both our campuses prior to submitting a dual application by visiting for a campus tour, attending or watching our Open Days and researching each campus in detail on our website, including subjects and languages offered on each. 

As a dual campus applicant, your child will be considered for a larger number of available places and, once entry criteria have been met, will be placed in the eligible pool of applicants for each campus. A dual campus applicant does not necessarily have a much higher chance of being offered a place; however, it does give us more flexibility when selecting students from our eligible pools for offers.

Learn more about making a 'dual campus' application here

As a dual campus applicant, your child will be considered for a larger number of available places and will be placed in the eligible pool of applicants for each campus, once entry criteria have been met.

Since we typically receive 2-3 applications per place for all available places at each campus, a dual campus applicant does not necessarily have a much higher chance of being offered a place; however, it does give us more flexibility when selecting students from our eligible pools for offers.

If you submit dual applications for more than one child, your children will be considered for offers at both campuses and which campus we may offer will depend on space availability in the relevant grades, as well as our usual allocation criteria. 

We will not offer places to your children at different campuses because we keep a family at the same campus so that they can become a part of the community.  

Families who make an application for more than one child are asked to indicate in the application whether they will accept an offer of a place for one child if the other applicants cannot be offered places. 

Dual campus applicants who decline an offered place can request to be placed back in the pool to be considered for the other campus; however because of the way we allocate places to individual applicants based on our holistic admissions profile, there is no guarantee that we will be able to offer a place at the other campus.

To secure the place, parents need to electronically sign the Confirmation of Acceptance and then submit payment of the acceptance fees (which includes the enrolment fee plus Term 1 tuition fees and development levy, and the Term 1 Boarding Fees if applicable) within two weeks.

Families who pay the Term 1 fees prior to the announcement of school fees for the school year in which they will join the College will be billed the additional 'top-up' in the Term 2 invoice. The fees for the next school year commencing in August are typically confirmed in January each year, together with confirmation of our billing cycle and withdrawal without financial penalty deadlines.

These fees are non-refundable should you later cancel your acceptance.

Deferrals are not available. If you are offered a place and are unable to accept, a fresh application must be submitted for the new proposed year of entry. 

Please talk to your Admissions Officer regarding your child's eligibility for consideration in a future year. They will be able to provide an indication if additional information may be necessary to support any re-application.

Parents can re-apply when applications for that year open, by submitting a new application – which will involve updating your previous application, including payment of another application fee.

Once applications open on 1 September, you should:

• Log in to the application system using the same username and password used to create the previous application
• Update all necessary application details and documentation e.g. current school information, new reports, new passport and/or immigration details, a more recent photograph
• Those re-applying for Grade 6 will also now need to add a completed student statement; those re-applying for Grade 7 or above will need to submit an updated student statement
• Pay the application fee

If you applied for entry to K1–Grade 8 in one school year, and received an offer for a Term 2 (January) start after you have already re-applied for the following school year, your re-application fee will be refunded. 

K1 and K2 applicants

All K1 and K2 applicants based in Singapore will be invited to a ‘Meet and Play’ session in our kindergarten classrooms with our Infant School team. This short play session (approximately 45 minutes) will give children an opportunity to explore the environment and engage in some play-based activities while meeting some of our teachers. Our experienced teachers will use this interaction to determine if our learning programme would be a good match for the needs of your child.

K1 and K2 applicants based overseas will be asked to provide additional information from your child’s current pre-school, and we may ask to arrange a conversation between one of our Infant School teachers and your child’s current teacher.

NOTE: No advance preparation is necessary for you or your child in order to attend a  ‘Meet and Play’ session. It will help to ensure that your child is well hydrated and they have had a snack to keep them going before this session.

Grade 1 applicants

Some Grade 1 applicants based in Singapore will be invited to attend a ‘Meet and Play’ session, should our Infant School team decide that they need more information to understand if our learning programme will be a good match for your child. This short play session (approximately 45 minutes) will give children an opportunity to explore the environment and engage in some play-based activities while meeting some of our teachers. 

For G1 applicants based overseas whom our Infant School would like more information on, we may ask to arrange a conversation between one of our Infant School teachers and your child’s current teacher. 

NOTE: No advance preparation is necessary for you or your child in order to attend a  ‘Meet and Play’ session. It will help to ensure that your child is well hydrated and they have had a snack to keep them going before this session.

Grades 2–8 Day and Grade 8 Boarding applicants

If our review of the application indicates that the student may require Learning Support, interviews and assessments may be required even if the candidate meets our general entry criteria and the applicant has not specified any learning needs in their application. 

Please refer to our Learning Support and English as an Additional Language (EAL) guidelines for more details.

Grades 9–11 Day and Boarding applicants

All eligible applicants are invited to participate in a Virtual Immersion Programme, which includes interactive activities and an interview. 

Following our initial review of the application we provide details of any assessments needed. All High School applicants who are English as an Additional Language learners will be asked to take an English proficiency assessment. The assessment results are used as a guide for subject selection: they typically do not play a role in the process of allocating places to eligible candidates.

Additional requirements for Grade 11 IB Diploma Programme applicants: 

• those choosing either a Language A other than English or a Language B as their second language will be asked to provide an academic writing sample
• if requesting Art or Music, applicants must provide evidence of their performance standard, generally shared via an online portfolio
• if requesting Design Technology, applicants will be asked to complete a questionnaire 

Grades 8–11 Boarding applicants

All eligible applicants are interviewed by a member of our Residential Life staff, typically the Director of Residential Life or one of the Houseparents. We arrange the interview following our initial review of the application. Boarding interviews for High School applicants are held as part of their Virtual Immersion Programme.

K1 to Grade 8

Following our initial review of the application, we provide details of any assessments needed, which are typically held during UWCSEA term time, beginning in September and running in line with each offer period. 

Grades 9–11

Following our initial review of the application, we provide details of any assessments required to progress the application. To align with our application deadlines, applicants are scheduled to Virtual Immersion Programmes as follows:
Round 1 offer deadline: October to December 
Round 2 offer deadline: January to March

Every K1 and K2 applicant based in Singapore will be invited to a ‘Meet and Play’ session with our Infant School team. This short play session in our Infant classrooms will take approximately 45 minutes, supervised by our Infant School teachers. The children will be given an opportunity to explore the environment and meet some of our teachers. During these sessions our teachers will determine if our learning programme is a good match for the needs of the child.

K1 and K2 applicants based overseas will be asked to provide additional information from the child’s current pre-school, and we may ask to arrange a conversation between one of our Infant School teachers and their current teacher.

For Grade 1 applicants, this Meet and Play session is not compulsory; the Infant Team will ask us to invite only those applicants who they would like to meet in person so as to help them to determine if our learning programme is a good match for the needs of the individual child.

There is no preparation required from you or your child. It will help to ensure that your child is well hydrated, and they have had a snack to keep them going before this session.

Following our initial eligibility review of the application, applicants who meet our entry criteria are invited to a Virtual Immersion Programme (VIP) as the next stage in our application review process. The VIP includes interactive activities and an interview.

To ensure a diverse group of participants and VIP timings that suit the applicant's time zones, each applicant is assigned a particular date, and parents are given at least two weeks notice of the date and time of the VIP. 

Around 16 applicants, each event includes interactive activities and an interview. Applicants participate in a discussion forum and activities led by Admissions staff and UWCSEA High School students. Applicants are also interviewed by a member of our High School or Boarding teams, depending on whether they are day or boarding applicants. 

To align with our application deadlines, applicants are scheduled to VIPs as follows:
Round 1 offer deadline: October to December 
Round 2 offer deadline: January to March

If our eligibility review of the application indicates we require an assessment, dual applicants will only need to attend or complete one assessment. Likewise, High School applicants will be invited to attend one Virtual Immersion Programme and interview. The assessment outcome will be the same for your application to both campuses.

Should the assessment outcome be that the student is eligible to be considered for a place, they will be placed in the application pool for both campuses. 

Infant School

K1 to Grade 1 Meet and Play sessions are with the Vice Principal of the Infant School and specialist Infant School staff. They take approximately 1 hour in total including arrival time.

Grade 8 Boarding

Grade 8 applicants are interviewed by the Director of Residential Life or Boarding Houseparents for approximately 30-45 minutes.

High School (Day and Boarding)

Grade 9 to Grade 11 eligible applicants are all invited to a Virtual Immersion Programme, which lasts approximately 1.5 hours. The interview with the High School or Boarding team staff is approximately 30-45 minutes.

Applicants whose application indicates that they may require English B  will be invited to take a proctored online English as an Additional Language (EAL) assessment lasting approximately 40 minutes before being invited to a Virtual Immersion Programme.

Learning Support

When we review applications, even if you are not specifically applying to join our Learning Support Programme, we may determine that we need more information about your child’s learning, based on all of the information provided to us in your initial application.

The assessment will be conducted by our Learning Support Team and may take anywhere between 30 and 90 minutes.

Eligible applicants requiring EAL or Learning Support are more likely to be considered for an offer of a place in Round 2, because it is only at that stage in the current school year that our staff can assess if we will be able to provide a place in our EAL or Learning Support programmes. This is because after Term 1 we are able to make a more accurate assessment of the likely ongoing needs of the existing cohort of students, and therefore our capacity to admit and support new students.

Once we have reviewed an application, whether for the EAL programme or not, we contact the family to advise of the outcome of our initial review and the next steps, if any. At this point, there are a number of applications which we close because our general entry criteria are not met. If we cannot support an EAL applicant's needs in our EAL programme, we close the application. In both instances, we will let you know the reasons for our decision.

Please refer to our EAL guidelines for more details.

If our review of the application indicates that the student may require Learning Support, interviews and assessments may be required even if the candidate meets our general entry criteria and the applicant has not specified any learning needs in their application. 

Please refer to our Learning Support guidelines for more details.

If we require a student to attend an assessment in-person, we provide details for your visit. If you have applied to Dover or to East only, the campus you will need to visit will be the campus that you have applied to.  

Students can join our boarding community only if their family will not be resident in Singapore for 90% or more of term-time during the school year.  

It is important to know that even if your family spends periods of time in Singapore, or visits Singapore regularly during the school year, a boarding student must fulfil all the expectations and obligations of living in our boarding community. This means they will not automatically be granted permission to leave during the week, or even at weekends. Leave to visit family members who are visiting Singapore is granted by the Director of Residential Life or a Houseparent at their discretion; there are several periods during the school year that borders are expected to be present to participate in our residential boarding programme.  

We do not offer weekly or week-day boarding.

No. Our limited boarding places are intended for students whose families are not resident in Singapore. When circumstances permit, day students who have friends in boarding may be allowed overnight stays to experience boarding life for a short duration.  

We do not offer weekly or week-day boarding, and our boarding programme is such that we are also not able to offer boarding for a single term in a school year.

Yes. You will have to apply through a formal process for your child to transfer to a day student status by contacting the Boarding Admissions Officer. The College will need to ensure that at least one parent (this needs to be a legal parent of the student and not another family member, except in exceptional circumstances; refer to Clause 8.4 of our Standard Terms and Conditions here) will meet our residency requirement for day students i.e. being physically present in Singapore for 90% of term-time.

Important residency requirements:

• day students live with at least one legal parent; this does not extend to other family members e.g. an aunt, uncle, sibling or grandparent or to a guardian arrangement
• once you accept a boarding place, the financial commitment to boarding is for a minimum of one full school year. This means that if your child transfers to become a day student partway through the school year, the boarding fees must still be paid for the full school year (see Section 8 of our UWCSEA Standard Terms and Conditions)

Yes; however, please see the important expectations detailed in Clause 9.5 of our Terms and Conditions here. 

A day student may transfer to boarding status only after attending the College for a minimum of one school year. See Clause 9.4 of our Terms and Conditions here. Transfer to boarding is subject to the student’s suitability for boarding and space availability, and is only an option if your child is in Grade 8 or above. You will need to apply through a formal process for your child to transfer to boarding student status; please start by contacting the Boarding Admissions Officer.  

The Director of Residential Life or a houseparent will interview your child to determine suitability for boarding, and may also wish to have a family meeting before the transfer to boarding is approved. The transfer to boarding is not confirmed until you have received a formal offer for a place in boarding and paid the boarding fees due for the term for which your child will commence as a boarder. Please note that a transfer from a day student to a boarding student is not a guarantee as not all students will be suited to a boarding environment.

No. Meeting our day student residency requirement is only satisfied if the student will be living with a legal parent who will be resident in Singapore for at least 90% of the school year during term. 

By enrolling in the College, parents agree to our UWCSEA Standard Terms and Conditions, which do not permit a student to live with a relative or friend, except under exceptional circumstances, as outlined in Clause 8.2 and 8.4.

You should make the decision about whether you are applying for a day place or a boarding place at the time of submitting your application and not assume that changes will be possible later.

This is because we have limited space availability for each category of offers and different criteria for assessing the student’s suitability for a place as a day-student or as a boarder. Our diversity considerations are also different when deciding whom to select for an offer, with the current cohort of students in the relevant grade and school section, or within the boarding community, strongly affecting our decisions.  

It is usually too late once an offer has been made to reconsider a day applicant for a boarding place, or a boarding applicant for a day place.