UWC Adriatic

All students follow the two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, a curriculum the UWC movement helped to create. Students choose six subjects from the six IB groups, usually three at higher and three at standard level, plus the Extended Essay and the rest of the IB core. The published subject list includes Language A literature courses in several languages, English B, Italian B and Italian ab initio, Economics, Environmental Systems and Societies, Global Politics, History, Philosophy, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Music, Theatre and Visual Arts. The college reports IB average scores above the worldwide mean.

The college covers only the last two years of secondary education. Students arrive at around 16 to start the first year of the IB Diploma and finish the second year at 18 or 19. There are no primary or lower secondary sections. Admission is only through UWC National Committees; the college does not accept direct applications, although children of staff aged 16 to 19 may attend as day students after a selection process.

UWC Adriatic shares the mission of the UWC movement, which sees education as a way to bring people, nations and cultures together for peace and a sustainable future. Students are selected for their promise and potential rather than their ability to pay. The college describes its approach through four principles: learning to serve, learning to act, learning to know and learning to be. It expects students to respect others whatever their background, to take part in community service, to value Italy's language and heritage, and to take responsibility for themselves and for college life.

UWC Adriatic does not have a single enclosed campus. Teaching, dining and accommodation take place in buildings spread across the village of Duino, overlooking the Gulf of Trieste. Student housing is organised in several residences, among them Foresteria, Ples, Lucchese, Scholz and Purnama House, a former hotel renovated as an en-suite residence and opened in 2022. The college has science laboratories inaugurated in 1997, an art centre named after the photographer Erich Hartmann, a library run by the learning resources coordinator, a dining hall known as the Mensa and a medical centre with a small overnight infirmary.

Student welfare is handled by a pastoral team. Each student has a personal tutor for both academic and personal guidance, and residence tutors and assistants supervise the residences. A full-time psychologist and a counsellor and wellbeing lead provide confidential support, backed by trained peer supporters. The medical centre has a nurse on weekdays and at weekends and a doctor three afternoons a week. A study support coordinator offers study-skills workshops and works with the psychologist on learning support for students with specific needs, and a full-time university counsellor helps with applications. Meals are served in the college dining hall.

The college is fully residential for its two-year students. Students live in residences distributed around the village of Duino, where they enjoy a good deal of independence while sharing daily life with peers from many countries. Residence tutors and residence assistants live close by, run regular community meetings and look after safety, wellbeing and house rules. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are taken in the college Mensa, and evenings often include cultural activities organised by the students.

Activities beyond the classroom are a central part of the programme. Service learning is compulsory: every student takes part in weekly projects with the local community and beyond, supported by the college's volunteering association, and the year includes a Project Week. The arts are very active, with music, theatre, dance, film, poetry and visual arts; students take part in choirs, an orchestra, rock and a-cappella groups, musicals, concerts and exhibitions, and the college hosts the International Community Music Academy. Students also run councils and initiatives such as the Student Sustainability Council, and the Orizzonti programme brings in experts and alumni to talk about careers.