How to choose the right school offering the Cambridge curriculum 

As a parent myself, I can relate to this question and it can certainly feel like one of the biggest decisions you have ever made. There is a lot of research about what makes a good school and why some children achieve better outcomes (including results). Learning is largely a collective endeavour. It is not done by a single child in isolation. Learning is relational. Children will not learn much if they are troubled or distracted, nor if they are misunderstood. Adults would be the same! Great schools are places where children can thrive, not only socially but also academically. 

Quality counts, including subject specialisms 

Given the importance that the Cambridge International curriculum places on subject-specific teaching, the first step might be to look out for the quality of the teachers and their experience. 

The Cambridge International curriculum is well-known for its particular focus on subject-specific teaching both at primary and secondary level. This means that, rather than studying a broader topic and skipping through knowledge and ideas from maths, literature, history, art, music etc, children study each subject individually, building up their knowledge and expertise. Children acquire a quality base from which they can then deal with more complex topics which require different subject knowledge to be fused together. If you just dive straight in with the topic and no strong base knowledge, the academic outcome is almost certainly going to be weaker – you need to know something before you can apply it! 

Check the school’s subject expertise and how they teach individual subjects. It really makes a difference to have some specialist teachers.

Flex and adaptability is important – the curriculum doesn’t need to be totally ‘standard’. 

The Cambridge Curriculum allows the school to make important choices in the best interests of its students. The curriculum is not rigid – the school can expand some areas and contract others. This might be seen in the way the school handles elements such as digital literacy or the global perspectives programme. Effectively, this allows the school to develop its own programmes which are still tooted in the Cambridge curriculum.  As an example, The Perse School (Singapore) has made the choice to bring in some bespoke content from the parents school in Cambridge itself and to formulate its own robotics, coding and entrepreneurship courses. 

Ask how the school has developed its own bespoke approach to the Cambridge International curriculum. 

Size matters – socially and academically 

You might compare this to your ‘friends’ count on social media. How many people can you truly know? How many people can you truly communicate with? With schools, once you go over a certain point, size can be a problem if you value quality relationships. You need a number in the school that is large enough to give your child opportunities but still small enough that each child is truly known. For example, a huge extra-curricular programme is great but if you can only ever get to 10% of it, does the rest really matter so much to your child? One of the great things about many international schools is that they are all-through. All through schools (from 3 to 18) have great strengths in the creation of thriving educational environments. They are also great in giving leadership opportunities for students as they get older. 

Ask yourself if you think your child will be well-known and well-supported in the school. Will your child thrive in this school? 

Progression matters – does it all fit together? 

The Cambridge International Curriculum is designed to take children from Early Years all the way through to school leaving age. The foundations laid at the start should assist the building of knowledge and skills later on. It makes sense therefore that a school that teaches the Cambridge Early Years curriculum and then the Cambridge Primary curriculum is likely to give better preparation for the Cambridge IGCSE programme. Even if you child joins from a different curriculum path (such as the IPC or the IB), the subject focus in the Cambridge programme and the mindset of the teachers and their skill in handling the transition between education stages will probably be better in a school that is more firmly rooted in the ethos and approach of Cambridge from the beginning. 

Check how the whole curriculum fits together. 

Don’t be afraid to look ahead 

It is amazing how quickly university and next-steps decisions come around! The Perse School Cambridge will be delighted to lend its expertise to Singapore at the right time (5^th in the UK table for Oxford and Cambridge entry – Which schools get the most pupils into Oxbridge? | The Spectator) but there is lots that can be done from the earliest ages in terms of generating academic curiosity and scholarship that will be a great preparation for the best places in the world. 

How does the school activity promote academic curiosity? Check the school’s advice for course choices and the support for careers and university entry. 

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