UWC Mahindra College

The college offers the full two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme. Students choose six subjects, three at higher and three at standard level, plus the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and CAS. The subject list includes English, Hindi and Spanish literature, English, Spanish and French language acquisition, Psychology, Philosophy, Global Politics, History, Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Environmental Systems and Societies, Computer Science, two Mathematics courses, Visual Arts, Film and Theatre. Alongside the IB, a weekly in-house MUWCI Core programme covers peace, sustainability, wellbeing and digital literacy.

The college offers only the final two years of secondary education. Students join at 16 to 18 for the first year of the IB Diploma and complete the second year at around 18 or 19. There are no primary or lower secondary sections. Applications are not accepted directly: students apply through UWC National Committees, including the UWC Committee of India, the Global Selection Programme or the International Application Pathway.

The college shares the UWC mission of making education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. Its own mission is to provide a transformative, holistic education that combines academic innovation, experiential learning and intercultural dialogue, and its vision is to develop empathetic, courageous and resilient changemakers. It treats broad access through scholarships as essential, values deliberate diversity, and makes sustainability and service to neighbouring villages part of everyday life.

The campus covers about 175 acres overlooking the Mulshi and Kolvan valleys, and roughly 85 percent of it is a protected biodiversity reserve with walking trails. Buildings by architect Christopher Benninger are linked by open walkways and courtyards. Facilities include classrooms and laboratories, a main library, a Performance Arts Centre with a hall, film room, recording studio and rehearsal space, two art studios and a pottery room, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a football ground, a badminton court, a gym, a social centre with a coffee shop, a multi-purpose hall, an organic farm and a health centre.

Student wellbeing relies on several layers of support. Every student has a faculty advisor, usually living in the same residential cluster, and wada parents look after each cluster. A full-time psychologist offers confidential sessions, with two external psychologists available, and social-emotional learning sessions run throughout the year. The health centre has a medical team on call 24 hours a day and works with local hospitals. A university guidance counsellor supports applications worldwide. The cafeteria serves three buffet meals a day with vegetarian and non-vegetarian options and allergen labelling.

UWC Mahindra is fully residential, with no day students. Students live in five wadas, residential clusters that each house about 50 students in around six small houses with shared courtyards. Four to six students from different years and countries live in each house, and they stay in the same wada for both years. Faculty families live in each wada and act as house parents. Each wada has a common room with a kitchen, holds a weekly student-run meeting and organises its own dinners and events.

Activities are run through the Triveni programme and are largely proposed and led by students. Sports include football, cricket, frisbee, yoga, badminton, volleyball, basketball, tennis, hiking and trail running, with community events such as an inter-nationality football cup and the annual MUWCIlympics. Dance groups have covered Bollywood, K-dance, Afro-Latin and improvisation, and there are theatre productions and music ensembles. Recent clubs include debate, chess, an arts society, writing, technology and entrepreneurship groups. Students also do outdoor education such as trekking, kayaking and camping in the Sahyadris.