SCIE (Shenzhen College of International Education) was inaugurated in September 2003 after gaining approval from Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Education as the city’s first full-time international college offering the UK’s IGCSE and A-Level courses. It is accredited by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) and therefore approved as an exam centre. The school has its campus in the heart of Futian District, the central part of Shenzhen city.

From the 100 students of the 2003 inaugural year, this number has now grown to 212 currently with some recruitment still taking place (not counting the 30 graduate students this year), all of them full time and most of them boarding. New recruits are drawn from all over China but mainly from Shenzhen locally.

School structure

SCIE is governed by a Board that dictates school policy and decides strategic directions in consultation with the executive and the academic principals. The main educational aim is for academic excellence in sciences and commerce, with a view to embarking on higher education overseas, mainly in the UK. The various departments include all academic disciplines, education administration, student affairs, logistic support, student recruitment, finance, etc.

Curricula

There are 4 year levels at SCIE, G1, G2, A1 and A2. Students entering at G1 level will have finished Junior 3 studies in the Chinese secondary school system. Students may also enter at G2 and A1 levels following completion of Senior 1 and Senior 2 studies respectively. All new students must sit entrance exams.

Students in G1 mainly follow parts of the Chinese Senior High School syllabus relevant to IGCSE or A Level requirements, and are mainly taught by Chinese staff. Meanwhile they take a relatively heavy schedule in English to prepare them for IGCSE and A Level studies later. G2 students study the 2-year IGCSE course in one year and most of them sit IGCSE Exams administered by CIE. When they move up to A1, everything is geared towards obtaining good results in AS Exams by CIE, which in turn, are in preparation for full A Level exams in the following year. Students receive more and more class instructions from the expatriate staff as they move up the year levels, culminating in A2 where all subjects are delivered by expatriates.

Currently SCIE offers Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Business Studies, Economics, all of which are CIE exam subjects, as well as English, Chinese, PE and IT. All students need to take IELTS exams to prove their English proficiency, which are required by all British and Australian universities. Some who choose to go to American or Canadian universities may also sit TOFEL. All G1 students take every subject mentioned above except Economics. At G2, Biology, Business Studies and Economics become options. A1 students typically study full A-level mathematics plus 3 CIE subjects. At the end of A1 year, the student would have one full A-Level (in Mathematics) and 3 AS results, with which he/she would proceed into A2 to have a minimum of 3 and a possible of 4 full A-Level results at the completion of education with SCIE.

Staff

The total number of staff at SCIE is 45, of which 70% are teaching staff. 9 teachers are expatriates mainly from the UK. All foreign teachers are well experienced and have taught in international schools in other parts of the world for the majority of their professional lives. Most of the Chinese staff are also experienced and bilingual to varying degrees.