UWC Global Selection Programme (GSP)
If you’re interested in studying the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) or Career-related Programme (IBCP)* at a UWC school, you can apply via the Global Selection Programme (GSP). This route is available at 15 of our 18 UWC schools worldwide (it is currently not available at UWC Adriatic, UWC Robert Bosch College and UWC South East Asia).
*While all UWC schools and colleges teach the IBDP, students can also take the IBCP at Pearson College UWC and UWC Maastricht.
Is the GSP route for me?
The GSP route is ideal if you’ve fallen in love with one or more specific UWC schools. However, you will not receive scholarships or financial assistance (if you would like to be considered for financial support, you should apply to UWC via the national committee route). Please be aware that you can submit only one application to UWC per academic year, either through one national committee or through the GSP.
Learn about school fees for specific schools on our Fees and Scholarships page.
Applications to UWC via the GSP for entry in August 2024 (January 2025 for Waterford Kamhlaba UWC of Southern Africa) are now open until 5 May!
Applying via the GSP
No matter which school you select, you’ll receive a challenging and exciting education. But each of our schools has its own distinct character and identity. So before starting your application, make sure you learn about our schools, and pick the destination – or destinations – that suit you most. We also encourage you to contact them directly to find out more about the campus, curriculum, extracurricular activities or available support.
Ready to start your application journey via the GSP? Read on!
Step 1: Registration and access to your account on the application portal
To complete an online application to a UWC college through the Global Selection Programme (GSP) you will need to go to apply.uwc.org/prog/global_selection_programme_entry_2024 and create an account.
On the registration page, you will need to provide your personal e-mail address, first name and surname (in English), and a password that you will use to access your account in the application system. Please make sure you do not lose this information to avoid creating multiple accounts. After you provide all the required information, please click the “Create Account” button.
Within 10 minutes, you will be sent a verification link to your email that will provide you with access to your account in the system. Please make sure to click this link so you can access your account.
Important: Automatically generated messages are sometimes blocked by spam filters. Therefore, if you do not receive a notification with the link within 10 minutes, please check your spam/junk folder. If you have not received an invitation within 24 hours, please contact us via globalselections@uwcio.uwc.org. Please also make sure that emails from Survey Monkey Apply and the Global Selections Programme email address do not end up in your spam/junk folder.
If you are applying through the Global Selection Programme route, you should be able to pay the full fees of the school(s) that you are interested in applying to. You can find more information on school fees here.
Once you have completed the rest of the Eligibility questions, you will need to click the “Programs” tab at the top of the page to access the Global Selections Programme application.
IMPORTANT: If you are a citizen of China AND are currently residing in China, you will have to apply through the Chinese National Committee, regardless of whether you want to apply through the national committee route or the Global Selection Programme route. You can locate the application form and more information here.
* Please note that you can only submit one application to UWC per academic year, either through one national committee or through the Global Selection Programme. You cannot submit two applications as you will risk having them being disqualified. If you have started two different applications, you will have to make a decision and delete one. If you have already applied through a national committee and your application was not successful, you will not be able to apply through the GSP until the next application cycle for the following academic year.
Step 2: Begin your application
Below is an overview of the tasks that you are required to complete in order to submit an application to UWC via the GSP, as well as who is required to complete each task.
- Information and Conditions Form (candidates and parents/guardians)
- Two Parent/Guardian Consent Forms (parents/guardians only)
- GSP Personal Information (candidates only)
- Application Fee (applicants or parents/guardians)
- Application Form – this consists of 10 short essay-type questions (applicants only)
- Health Declaration Form (applicants only)
- Short Video – this is a two-minute video you have to film based on a prompt (applicants only)
- Academic Reference (applicants only)
- Non-Academic Reference (applicants only)
- Current or Most Recent Academic Year School Report (applicants only)
- Previous Academic Year School Report (applicants only)
- Candidate Terms and Conditions (applicants only)
- Parent/Guardian Terms and Conditions (parents/guardians only)
Please keep the above tasks in mind when timing the completion of your application. Some of these tasks require you to add your parents/guardians as a collaborator to the application form so they can complete the forms. To add your parents/guardians as collaborators, click the "Add collaborator" button under your name on the left-hand side of your application form. You will need to give them editing and viewing access to complete the relevant sections.
Step 3: Parent(s) / Guardian(s) Consent Forms
This task is completed by the Applicant’s parents(s) or guardian(s). The section must be completed in English.
The first two tasks listed on the task list are the First and Second Parent/Guardian Information and Authorization forms. To complete these tasks, you will need to click “Request a Recommendation” and input the first name, last name, and email address of your parent/guardian, then click “Send Request”. Once you have done this, you need to let your parent(s)/guardian(s) know that they should have received an email containing an invitation link to complete the Parent/Guardian Information and Authorization form. You will not be able to start the rest of your application until the first form is completed.
Both of your parent(s)/guardian(s) need to complete the Information and Authorization forms. If you only have one parent/guardian who can complete the consent form, you can skip the second Information and Authorization form. Please note that whoever completes the forms needs to have legal custody over you; you cannot apply to UWC without approval from a legal guardian.
Once the forms have been submitted and received by the system, you will have to mark the tasks as complete to move on to the next task.
Important: Please alert your parent/guardian to the fact that they will be receiving an email requesting them to complete a form. Automatically generated messages are sometimes blocked by spam filters. Therefore, if your parent or guardian has not received an invitation containing a link giving access to the personal account within 10 minutes, they should check their spam/junk mail folder. If the invitation is not received within 24 hours, select Parent(s)/Guardian(s) Information and Authorization from the Task list in your account and press Resend request. Alternatively, you can contact us at globalselections@uwcio.uwc.org.
Step 4: Completing GSP Personal Information form and application fee
When you start your application, you will only be able to see the Information and Conditions Form, the Parent/Guardian Consent Forms and the GSP Personal Information form. You have to make sure your first Parent/Guardian Information and Authorization form has been submitted before you can access the GSP Personal Information form.
In the GSP Personal Information form, you will need to provide the following information:
- Personal information;
- Contact information;
- Current address;
- 2 ID documents;
- School choices – you may select up to five schools. If a school is not appearing on your list, it means that your date of birth is not within the school’s age range. Please note that UWC Adriatic, UWC Robert Bosch College, and UWC South East Asia are not participating in the GSP.
Each of our schools and colleges have different subjects and activities. UWC Maastricht and Pearson College UWC provide the IB Career-related Programme along with the IB Diploma Programme. Please research each school carefully to decide which would suit you best. Each of them also have different school fees, which you can locate here.
You will also be asked to select multiple dates for your availability to attend an Online Selection Day, if your application is successful. You will need to submit your application at least three weeks before your latest selected date as our volunteers need sufficient time to review your application.
Please make sure to double-check the information you have provided in this section as once you hit submit, you will not be able to make any changes.
After submitting your GSP Personal Information form, you will need to pay an application fee through the PayPal link provided on the application. The application fee is determined by the number of schools you have selected, i.e. GBP 180 for one school, GBP 210 for two schools, GBP 240 for three schools, GBP 270 for four schools, and GBP 300 for five schools. If your application fee does not match the number of schools you have selected, please email us at globalselections@uwcio.uwc.org.
If you cannot make your payment through PayPal, please contact us at the email address listed above to discuss other payment options.
After paying the application fee, you should be able to access the rest of the application.
Step 5: Completing Application Form
This section is completed by the Applicant in English.
The Application Form section consists of 10 essay-type questions which will help us learn more about your authentic self. We want to hear about your experiences, hobbies, interests, and passions. For tips on how to best express yourself and make your application shine, you can check out this blog post. We also want to know what your values and vision for the world are. If you have not familiarised yourself with UWC’s mission and values, you can do so here.
Step 6: Completing Health Declaration Form
This section is completed by the Applicant in English.
The Health Declaration Form is for internal UWC purposes only. This includes the UWC committee making the selection, the UWC school or college making the admissions decision and UWC International for monitoring purposes only. The content will be shared with individuals or organisations only to the extent necessary to provide appropriate medical assessments, care and treatment.
The information provided will be held in confidence as part of the student’s health record and will only be shared between UWC entities as needed to appropriately review a particular situation concerning the student. Information may be shared in the form of anonymised data with a UWC entity or an outside entity monitoring health concerns across UWC on behalf of a UWC entity.
Please fill this section out as accurately as possible so we can help you with choosing a UWC that would best suit your needs.
Step 7: Completing Short Video
This section needs to be completed in English.
You will be asked to film and upload a short video answering a prompt. The video can last a maximum of two minutes. Please make sure that the video and audio quality is acceptable before uploading it. If you are uploading a video, please ensure the file size is no more than 80MB. If the file is larger than that, you will need to compress it. The following file types are accepted: .avi, .mp4, .mov, YouTube, and Vimeo.
Step 8: Submitting Most Recent and Previous Year School Reports
You will need to submit a copy of your current or most recent academic year school report and a previous year school report. Every country has different education pathways for high school, so you will be asked to explain your current education system in the Most Recent School Report task to help us assess your school reports and your readiness to study the IBDP or IBCP at one of our schools. In both tasks, you will be asked to type in your subjects, grades, and any relevant comments in English so that our selection panel can review your reports. You will also be asked to provide the maximum and passing grade in your school system, so we can better understand your academic performance under your local context.
Step 9: Submitting Academic and Non-academic References
This section should be completed by the Applicant’s Referees in English. If your referees do not speak English, they can use translation tools, such as Google Translate or DeepL, to help them complete their reference in English.
Academic Reference
This section should be completed by a teacher at your current school who knows you well. This is your academic reference. Click here for more tips on who you can ask to be your academic referee.
References from your academic referee need to be written or typed on paper with your school’s letterhead, signed, dated and scanned. They should then upload the file as a pdf. If there are any issues with uploading references, please ask your referee to email us at globalselections@uwcio.uwc.org so we can assist.
Non-Academic Reference
This section should be completed by someone who can give a non-academic reference for the Applicant. This section must not be completed by a school teacher, family member or friend. The person who completes it must be aged over 18 and must know you well. This person might for example be your sports coach, or, if you work or volunteer, your supervisor. Click here for more tips on who you can ask to be your non-academic referee.
The information contained in the references are confidential – no one except the UWC International Office will be able to see the references once they have been submitted on the system. The references are needed for our selection panel to review applications, so these need to be requested and submitted on the system before you can submit your application.
For your referees to complete a reference for you, you will need to click the “Request a Recommendation” button on both tasks. Here, you will provide the first name, last name, and email address of the Referee who will provide your reference. After you have completed the form and pressed “Send Request”, an invitation containing a link should be sent to the email address provided within a few minutes. By following this link and entering a password, your Referee will be able to access and complete the form. Please make sure that you have asked your referee to write a reference for you before submitting the recommendation request.
Important: Please alert your Referee to the fact that they will be receiving an email requesting them to complete a reference form. Automatically generated messages are sometimes blocked by spam filters. Therefore, if your Referee has not received an invitation containing a link giving access to the personal account within 10 minutes, they should check their spam/junk mail folder. If the invitation is not received within 24 hours, press “Resend Request” in the task where the issue is occurring. Alternatively, you can contact us at globalselections@uwcio.uwc.org.
Step 10: Completing Terms and Conditions
You and your parents/guardians will not be able to complete the Terms and Conditions section until all the other tasks are completed. Please use this task to double-check that everything you have provided in the application is accurate and that documents have been uploaded correctly. It is also important to double-check that the schools you have decided to apply to are still available. If not, you will need to contact us to update your school choices.
Once you have double-checked your full application, please read through the Terms and Conditions carefully. If you have any questions regarding any of the information on the form, please email us at globalselections@uwcio.uwc.org.
If you accept the terms and conditions, please tick the box at the bottom of the form and submit your application.
What happens after I submit my application?
Your application will be reviewed by our volunteer selection committee, and can take some time depending on how many applications we receive at the time and the availability of our volunteers, so please be patient. We will get in touch with you once your application review has been completed. You can also check the current stage of your application through the application portal.
During this time, you and your parent(s) or guardian(s) may be invited for a conversation with an admissions officer at one or more of the schools you have selected in your application. We also encourage you to contact the school(s) you have selected, to ask any questions you may have and to learn about the subject choices and facilities they offer.
If your application passes the review stage, you will receive an email from us with an invitation to attend an Online Selection Day. Please note that attending the Online Selection Day is part of the process and is not optional. The selection day will feature group activities, a project presentation, an interview, and an emotional wellbeing questionnaire. We use Zoom to conduct our Online Selection Day, so please ensure that you have access to a stable Internet connection and a device with a camera that allows you to use Zoom. The event will also be held fully in English, but you do not need to be a native English speaker to participate.
If you pass the online selection day process, you will receive an email informing you of your nomination to UWC and a request for you to complete our UWC General Medical Form, which we will need before we share your application with the school or college you have been nominated to. Please note that you will be nominated to only one of the schools on your list. You may be invited to have a follow-up interview with the Admissions Director or other faculty members of the UWC school you have been nominated to. After this, the Admissions Director of the school you have been nominated to will then decide to make offers to accepted candidates.
Any questions?
If you have any further queries, please contact us at globalselections@uwcio.uwc.org.