UWC Atlantic

All students follow the two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, which UWC Atlantic helped to pioneer in the 1960s. Students take six subjects plus the IB core of Theory of Knowledge, the Extended Essay and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS). Subjects run when at least six students choose them. The college has also introduced the Systems Transformation Pathway, developed with the International Baccalaureate, which focuses on understanding and changing the systems behind social and environmental problems.

The college offers only the final two years of secondary education. Students join at around 16 for the first IB year (IB1) and complete the Diploma in the second year (IB2), usually aged 18 or 19. There are no primary or lower secondary sections. Admission is by selection through UWC National Committees or the Global Selection Programme rather than by direct application to the school.

UWC Atlantic shares the mission of the UWC movement: education as a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. Its founding principles are to innovate in education, to open access to deserving students regardless of their ability to pay, and to treat the whole campus as a classroom. A ten-year plan launched in 2023 aims to prepare students to tackle the root causes of social and environmental problems, built around four pillars: a courageous future, an engaged community, a sustainable home and a culture of commitment.

The college occupies St Donat's Castle, a Grade I listed medieval castle, and 122 acres of grounds with woodland, farmland, a valley and direct access to the sea. Teaching, dining and student support are centred in the castle, where The Learning Centre houses academic and wellbeing support. Students live in eight boarding houses set among the woods, each with a day room, kitchen, quiet study room with computers and laundry. Other facilities include an outdoor swimming pool used for water-safety training, the historic Rose Garden and a Health Centre with observation rooms.

Support is organised around personal tutors, house mentors living beside each boarding house and a 24-hour welcome team. The Health Centre is open seven days a week with registered nurses, a clinical psychologist, counsellors and a drama therapist, and doctors hold clinics on campus twice a week. The Additional Learning Needs coordinator supports students with dyslexia, ADHD, autism and other needs through individual learning plans. Three university counsellors guide every student. All meals are served in the castle dining hall, and many students study on full or partial scholarships.

UWC Atlantic is fully residential: all students live on campus for the two years of the IB Diploma. There are eight boarding houses in the woodland, each with around 44 to 52 students and two house mentors who live alongside them. Rooms are normally shared by four students from different countries to encourage diversity. Each house has a day room, kitchen, quiet room and laundry, bedding is provided and laundered, and students check in every evening. Weekend life includes student-run events, a student café and cultural evenings.

Co-curricular learning carries the same weight as academics. Every student does at least two hours each of community service, physical activity and creative activity per week as part of CAS. The two-year outdoor programme includes expedition skills, climbing and bouldering, hill walking, caving, gorge walking, mountain biking, sailing with Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding and lifeguard training. First-year students attend an orientation camp and a summer camp in Pembrokeshire, and the whole community takes part in Project Week. Students also organise conferences and develop social ventures through the Lighthouse innovation hub.