Spotlight on Higher Education January 2025

Spotlight on Higher Education  

Welcome to BSB's new regular Spotlight on Higher Education. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Steve Luke, Head of Higher Education and Careers. Here I'm going to keep you up to date with what's new with our students on their higher education journey, and to share our successes with you all.  

In this issue

• Our commitment to our students and parents 
• More successful applications
• Future Applications 
• What’s next
• Previous success stories 
• Higher Education and Careers support for KS3 and KS4

Our commitment to our students and parents 

At our school, we are dedicated to guiding students through the university application process with comprehensive support and resources. Our counseling team offers dedicated guidance lessons and personalized one-on-one meetings to help students identify their interests and choose suitable programs. We conduct workshops on crafting compelling personal statements, preparing for interviews, and understanding application systems. Additionally, our educators provide strong letters of recommendation, and we facilitate college fairs and visits from university representatives. With these resources, we strive to empower our students to confidently navigate their higher education journey and achieve their academic goals. Details of our application process and the support we offer at every stage can be seen below.

Successful applications

We are delighted to announce that more of our Year 13 students have successfully secured responses from more prestigious universities! Adding to our existing offers from top institutions including Manchester and Durham in the UK, IE in Spain, and HKU and HKUST in Hong Kong, we are happy to announce the following new offers:

Zach Chao: Psychology. Purdue University (USA) QS World Ranking #89

Jay Kim: Science. HKUST (Hong Kong) QS World Ranking #47

Jack Kim: Global Health. HKU (Hong Kong) QS World Ranking #17

Florence Li: Architecture. Minnesota Twin Cities (USA) THE World Ranking #85

Tiago Machado Paulo: Computer Science. Groningen University (Netherlands)

Their dedication to academics, extracurricular activities, and community service has truly paid off, and we couldn’t be prouder! Join us in celebrating their remarkable accomplishments and wishing them tremendous success in their next chapter. Let’s continue to support and inspire one another as we pave the way for future success!

Future Applications 

As well as our successful applications so far, many students are aiming for top universities across the world. Students have demonstrated great achievements not only in academics, but also in their outside interests and activities which have strengthened their applications. Best of luck to everyone as they finalize their applications to the world’s top universities!

• NUS (Singapore) #8 
• UCL (UK) #9 
• Melbourne (Australia) #13 
• Peking (China)  #14 
• NTU (Singapore) #15 
• Cornell (USA) #16 
• UNSW (Australia) #19 
• Tsinghua (China) #20 
• Toronto (Canada) #25 
• Edinburgh (UK) #27 
• TUM (Germany) #28 
• Tokyo (Japan) #32 
• KCL (UK) #40 

What's next – January applications

UCAS applications

We are pleased to announce that our students are nearing completion of their UCAS applications for undergraduate courses in the UK. Students are aiming for diverse IK destinations, including the following prestigious Russell Group universities, known world-wide for their academic excellence:

• University College London
• University of Warwick
• London School of Economics
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Manchester
• University of Durham
• King’s College London
• University of Bristol
• University of St Andrews
• University of Sheffield
• University of York
• University of Birmingham
• Queen Mary’s University, London
• Imperial College London

This significant milestone marks the culmination of months of hard work, dedication, and careful preparation.

The deadline for UCAS applications is 29^th January, but we are scheduled to complete applications by this Friday 24^th. As we await the next steps in the UCAS cycle, we encourage all students to stay informed about upcoming deadlines and to continue preparing for potential interviews and assessments.

The UCAS application process is a significant step towards students achieving their dreams, so lease join us in confidence that our students succeed with their applications and will continue to excel. For further information on UCAS deadlines and the application process, contact our school’s counseling office.

We are also thrilled to share the latest updates on our comprehensive support for students applying to Singapore. Students are currently completing applications to the National University of Singapore (NUS), whose deadline falls in February. NUS is consistently ranked among the top universities in Asia, with a QS Asian University Ranking of #3. We continue to ensure that our students receive the best guidance and resources to navigate the competitive landscape of this popular and prestigious destination. This includes one-on-one support, group support and communications, and assisting students in completing their online applications, ensuring all details are accurate and reflective of their achievements.

Previous success stories 

As we come to the end of Term 1, we take a moment to reflect on the achievements of our alumni who have made us proud by securing places in some of the world's top universities. Their journey serves as a beacon of inspiration for our current students, showing that with dedication, hard work, and the support of our school, great heights can be reached. We are confident that our current students, with their impressive range of offers and applications, will go on to join our esteemed list of students who have graduated from BSB into some of the world’s top universities, including (QS World Ranking #):

• Imperial College London (UK) #2
• Cambridge (UK) #5
• National University of Singapore (Singapore) #8
• UCAL Berkeley (US) #12
• Hong Kong University (Hong Kong) #17 
• Edinburgh (UK) #27
• Technical University of Munich (Germany) #28
• Seoul National University (Korea) #31
• University of British Colombia (Canada) #38
• King’s College London (UK) #40
• KAIST (Korea) #50
• University of Amsterdam #55
• Yonsei University (Korea) #56
• Purdue (USA) # 89

Higher Education and Careers support for KS3 and KS4

Unifrog is an online platform that is designed to help students explore different career paths, understand the qualifications needed for various professions, and make informed decisions about their future. By integrating Unifrog into our curriculum, we aim to provide students with a broad understanding of the range of educational and career opportunities available to them, and encourage early exploration of interests and strengths to inform subject choices in KS4 and beyond.

Last week, Year 9 enjoyed a lesson that allowed them to reflect on the skills tests and personal profiles they previously completed. They built upon this by completing tests of skills in numbers, words, and reasoning to give them a picture of their strengths. Students then explored how their skills relate to different career fields, and built up a portfolio of careers well suited to their skills.

Later this month, KS3 and KS4 students will take part in lessons with a wide range of activities including:

• Careers treasure hunts
• Matching skills and careers
• Personality profiles and ideas for career areas
• Exploring the subjects library to better understand pathways to university

We hope that this bulletin not only celebrates the past achievements of our alumni but also serves as a catalyst for our current students to dream big and work towards their own academic aspirations. Thank you for your ongoing support as we strive to provide the best possible higher education guidance for our students.

Please reach out to me, Steve Luke, Head of Higher Education and Careers, if you have any questions or would like to discuss your child’s journey to future success.