United Kingdom

Andrea Sola
Athina Vasilakou
Robert Gratton
Thanasis Bourliakas





The UCL Academy

The UCL Academy is a high-achieving, non-selective secondary school established in 2012 by University College London (UCL), one of the world’s leading universities, with a mission to support students of all ability levels to higher levels of attainment and enthusiasm for further study. In 2017 our very first cohort of students (the original year group from 2012) sat their GCSEs. 60% of our Level 3 (6th form) students go on to study at Russell Group universities.

As a young school, we have been able to develop our curriculum and learning philosophy to incorporate better understanding of achieving education of the whole person. Working with our sponsor UCL, we have developed our Connected Curriculum based on the premise that students learn best when they can make meaning and sense from their learning. To do this our students are required to connect their learning and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding at fixed points on the ‘learning cycle’.

We are a specialist school in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering Art and Mathematics) taking on the challenge of getting more students enthused and committed to subjects which have historically seen a less diverse student uptake. Alongside our STEM specialism, we have an excellent programme of music, art and drama, and an elite sports programme, all of which contribute to our broad and balanced curriculum.


Our Sponsor – University Collage London

The UCL Academy was the first school in England to have a university – University College London – as its sole sponsor when it opened in September 2012.


University College London (UCL) was founded in 1826, and was the first university in England to welcome students of any religion, and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men. Today, it is London’s leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 13,000 staff and 38,000 students from 150 different countries. It is widely recognised as one of the world’s leading universities, and was ranked 7th globally in the 2018 QS World University Rankings.

Our sponsorship by UCL enables our students to take advantage of the facilities and expertise of one of the world’s leading universities, whether through support of our curriculum development and learning ethos, or our programme of master-classes, seminars and summer schools given by UCL staff. Our staff can access UCL resources, and our students benefit from UCL student mentors and tutors.


Maths at UCL Academy

Our Mathematics course is designed to take our students through the beautiful world of mathematics and their applications. We are committed to take our students to a journey like no other through maths. A journey that started in ancient civilisations to modern mathematics and it’s applications as we face them today. We follow the National Curriculum from Mathematics provided by the Department of Education for key stages 3- 5 (ages 11-18). Computer science is taught as a separate subject in the U.K.

The International Academy of Greenwich

The International Academy of Greenwich offers a Curriculum which is highly personalised, authentic and actively promotes the importance of language. This is to enable all learners to develop as a Global Citizens and as a lifelong-lifewide learners. Through a model of cross-subject enquiries guided by essential real-world questions, learners will be presented with countless opportunities to engage deeply with the knowledge, attitudes and skills of a wide range of academic disciplines while seeing its direct relevance to the world around them.

  • Our choice of enquiries are designed around real-world issues, enabling students to make valuable connections between their studies and the world around them.

  • Our unique Professional Pathways curriculum at Key Stage 4 seeks to prepare students for further study, the world of professional work and a lifetime of learning.

  • Our approach is designed to enable all students to master individual subjects, to develop the ‘future-proof’ literacies, competencies and attributes of a ‘future-ready’ learner and Global Citizen

Traditionally schools deliver the same curriculum year after year with no thought about the changing nature of the teacher or the learner. We have a highly structured curriculum skeleton which can be fleshed out in response to the needs of learners and their emerging interests. Our Curriculum is organised under key concepts such as Identity, Connections, and Global Interactions, and through Driving Questions such as To what extent is our shared IAG identity ‘Global’? and Colony Mars: What is required in order to create a sustainable human community on Mars? It is through these unifiers that subject disciplines will be taught both overtly and as integrated interdisciplinary enquiries.

In addition, the learner attributes of the Global Citizenship Profile, Approaches to Teaching and Learning and assessment criterion of the IAG Standard are mapped out across the Curriculum ensuring clarity and rigour. These concepts, questions, attributes, ATL’s and criterion will change every 1/2 term creating a natural beginning and end to a cycle of learning.