Wycombe Abbey School Changzhou

From Grade 9 students start internationally recognised IGCSE courses and then spend their final two years on A Levels. The school works with the Pearson Edexcel exam board and has been recognised by Pearson as an Outstanding Pearson School. Students are encouraged to take a wide range of IGCSE subjects (about 30 IGCSE and A Level options are offered), and every A Level student completes the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). University guidance begins during the IGCSE years, with counsellors helping students prepare for IELTS, TOEFL, SAT or ACT, campus university fairs and visits to overseas universities. Younger pupils follow the Chinese national curriculum, extended by the school's own bilingual school-based curriculum, while the Kindergarten uses an EYFS-informed framework.

The school has three sections. The Kindergarten (KG1-KG3, from age 3) offers a play-based bilingual programme informed by China's guidelines for ages 3-6 and the EYFS framework, including outdoor learning in a forest garden. The Lower School (Grades 1-6) follows the Chinese national curriculum with bilingual teaching in subjects such as Chinese, English, Maths, Science, Global Issues, Computer Science, Music, Art and PE. The Upper School starts in Grade 7 with growing English immersion; students begin IGCSE in Grade 9 and finish with A Levels in Grades 11-12.

The school is committed to holistic education under the belief that 'Every Child Can Excel' and 'Education Beyond the Classroom'. Through its pastoral care system it nurtures academic achievement alongside character, well-being and a global perspective.

The school's guiding idea is that every child can excel. It aims to pair high academic ambition with a holistic education that shapes character, well-being and a global outlook, while keeping students rooted in Chinese culture. Learning is meant to extend well beyond the classroom, and teachers are expected to act as all-round role models in academics, sport and the arts. WAS Changzhou seeks to nurture curiosity, original thinking, creativity, the courage to take on challenges, collaboration and inclusiveness, helping students build their own path and contribute positively to society.

The 25-acre lakeside campus links the kindergarten, lower and upper school buildings, theatre and aquatics centre by an elevated walkway. Sports facilities include a 10,000 m2 climate-controlled sports dome with netball, tennis, volleyball and multipurpose courts and an indoor football pitch, a rugby pitch, basketball courts, a fitness centre, an indoor 25 m pool with a learner pool, and a rowing centre with a jetty on West Taihu Lake. Students also use science labs, ICT rooms, an engineering design workshop, two libraries, a 600-seat theatre, music labs, piano rooms, a recording studio, dance and art studios, and a kindergarten forest garden.

Catering is run by Sodexo: three buffet meals and two snacks a day, Chinese and Western dishes, a salad bar, a monthly international food festival and allergy-friendly options. Day students can use a bus service covering the main districts of Changzhou, with seat belts, an adult supervisor on each bus and a monitoring platform; boarders have station shuttles at weekends and holidays. Every student has a personal tutor, university counsellors support applications, and the Xilingshi Scholarship helps talented students entering Grade 9 or 10.

Boarding is central to life at WAS Changzhou. Each student joins one of ten houses; houses are single-sex and mix pupils of different ages so that older students support younger ones. Rooms are usually shared by three students and have air purification and a private bathroom, clothes are laundered daily and bed linen is changed weekly. Boarding staff, most of whom also teach full time, live on the same floors as the students and can be called at any hour. Pupils in Grades 1-5 can board weekly or as day boarders, and full boarding is available from Grade 6 to Grade 12.

More than 110 extra-curricular activities are presented each year at an ECA fair. Sports include football, basketball, volleyball, netball, rugby, hockey, tennis, badminton, swimming, rowing, sailing, golf, fencing and horse riding, with teams competing in NESSIC and ISNAC tournaments, swimming galas and national rowing regattas. Arts options include choir, rock and pop bands, percussion, drama productions, ceramics, sculpture, painting, photography and film. STEM clubs cover VEX robotics, AI, aerospace and F1 racing, and academic enrichment includes Model United Nations, the World Scholar's Cup, maths competitions and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award.