Our Year 13 graduates have had an exceptional year, despite the ongoing disruption caused by COVID-19 throughout their GCSEs and A Levels. Over 30% of our graduates have received offers from the world's Top 20 universities, including Imperial College, University College London, King's College London, The University of Edinburgh, The University of Manchester, and the University of the Arts London ranked #2 in the world. 

Two of our pupils received two offers from University College London, one of those offers being unconditional. One of our pupils is headed to Johns Hopkins University. Johns Hopkins University is well-known for its robust STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs, outstanding student experiences, and groundbreaking research. The school receives close to 40,000 applications each year. The number of students in each class is limited, and students are given enough opportunities to participate in experiential learning and interdisciplinary research. Others are off to some of the best institutions in Canada, Australia, Asia and Europe.

We are so pleased that once again, Wellingtonians go on to study a wide range of subjects at university – a testament to the broad education and the excellent teaching and learning that they received at school. Our pupils will be going on to the next phase of their education to study subjects as diverse as Education Studies, Ballet Performance and Choreography, Jewellery Design, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Technology Ventures (new course at Imperial), Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, and English Literature – no mean feat for a non-native speaker, Psychology, Architecture and Hospitality. 

The breadth and quality of these offers are a testament to the hard work and perseverance of all pupils, parents, teachers, and university counsellors here at Wellington College in Tianjin. Every year 13 pupil has benefitted from a bespoke programme of support throughout the application process, focused on the needs of the individual and ensuring that they all have access to their ‘best fit’ university destinations.

The graduation ceremony on the 2nd of June was held in school for the first time in two years. Senior School pupils were joined by our guest of honour, Mr Julian Fisher, Co-Founder of Venture Education and Vice-Chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China. 

There was music in addition to the speeches and presentation of the graduation certificates. Sylvia and Winifred sang a very moving rendition of ‘How Can I Keep You?’ in Chinese and the entire year 13 cohort performed ‘We are the World’ accompanied by Mina on piano, Katrina on bass and YiAn on drums. The soloists Wendy, Jiayi with Brooks delivering a very powerful rap, amazing the audience with his passionate delivery.

We hope that all our graduates will be happy and successful as they embark on their unique journeys, and we wish them all the best of luck as they move on. Remember: Once a Wellingtonian, always a Wellingtonian.