Graduates of The British School of Beijing, Shunyi have an excellent track record of being accepted in outstanding universities around the world.

BSB Shunyi graduating class of 2020

Let’s hear from some of our Class of 2020 graduates on how they achieved academic success and gained admissions to their best-fit universities!

Jessica Feng

““BSB really aims to develop you as a person. They offer a range of subjects and allow you to explore where your strengths are.”

Jessica graduated in 2020 with an excellent IB Diploma point score of 43 (out of a maximum of 45). For her IGCSE exams taken in 2018, she achieved 1 A**, 8 A*, and 1 A.

Jessica transferred to BSB from a local Chinese school in 2015. She said that “English used to be my weakest subject and I started off getting Bs and Cs when I first began my studies at BSB. Over the years, my English teachers’ amazing teaching has helped me improve so much that I eventually got an A in IGCSE First Language English.”

Jessica with one of her teachers

Jessica said that “BSB really aims to develop you as a person. They offer a range of subjects and allow you to explore where your strengths are. I didn’t really know that I could do Art but now I see that I’m kind of good at Art. I want to keep challenging myself to walk out of my comfort zone. My favorite teacher was Mr. Brigstock because he inspired me to study Economics. His lessons were always well-prepared and fun. Apart from effectively preparing us for exams, he really taught us how to think like an economist.

Before, I would only consider applying to Chinese universities, but now because of the skills I’ve learned at BSB, I am open to choices around the world.”

Jessica is currently studying Economics at New York University. She has also been accepted at Yale-NUS College, King’s College London, The University of Edinburgh, Durham University, and the University of Warwick.

Please click to see a video about Jessica’s learning journey at BSB!

Alex Yu

“The teachers at BSB are full of enthusiasm all the time.”

Alex is studying Electrical/Electronic Engineering at University College London. He also received offers from the University of Toronto, McGill University, and the University of Warwick, etc.

Alex achieved an amazing IB Diploma point score of 41. He said that “The teachers at BSB are full of enthusiasm all the time. When I first came to BSB, I successfully caught up with the Chemistry classes that I’ve missed in a short time thanks to Mr. Finn who helped me after school and during his break time.

BSB’s University and Career Counsellor is very professional. Although he is very busy every day, if you want to consult with him about college applications or life goals, he will do his best to help you. With the help of these excellent teachers from BSB, I succeeded both academically and in college admissions.”

Lucrezia Quagliariello

“BSB will always be my second home. Having attended since 2016, I had been awestruck by BSB’s cultural diversity.”

Lucrezia has been accepted at the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University, University of Sheffield, and the University of Sussex. She has chosen Politics and International Relations as her major.

She said that “BSB will always be my second home. Having attended since 2016, I had been awestruck by BSB’s cultural diversity. I was gifted with the privilege to form relationships with teachers and students stemming from all over the world, a blessing that will certainly unravel into an advantage in the future both professionally and personally. I can truly say I have made friends for life here.”

Lucrezia with her classmates on a residential trip to Tanzania

My favorite trip was my Year 12 Residential Trip to Tanzania. I was able to not only understand Tanzania’s culture but it gave me the opportunity to grow spiritually and appreciate what we have in life.

BSB’s whole student body strives for success with the help of our teachers as a backbone to the huge support system. This made reaching for and achieving my goals a whole lot easier and manageable. The wide range of extracurricular and IB CAS activities integrated into our everyday school life have not only helped me form bonds between my peers and teachers that will last a lifetime but also enriched my learning experience and furthered my personal development.”

We wish our graduates all the best in their future studies!

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The British School of Beijing (BSB), Shunyi is a large International School offering Primary through Secondary education to 1,000+ students from over 60 nationalities. Driven by a philosophy of ambition, we inspire every child to achieve more than they ever imagined possible.

BSB students follow an enhanced English National Curriculum completing IGCSE exams at aged 16 followed by the IB Diploma at aged 18. We also offer a German Curriculum for native German speakers in Klasse 1-4. As part of a family of 60+ Nord Anglia schools globally, our curricula are enhanced by collaborations with preeminent organisations such as The Juilliard School, MIT and UNICEF.  Year-on-year our world class teachers ensure that students experience accelerated learning and achieve excellent academic results to enable their entry into the world’s leading universities.

Photos: Courtesy of BSB Shunyi 

This year, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, and for high school seniors, these students experienced a senior year unlike any we’ve ever seen before. But life goes on, and despite the chaos COVID-19 has caused, students at international schools all over Beijing are graduating in good spirits and high hopes for the future. Congratulations to the Class of 2020!

Meet Jessica F from Singapore, a recent graduate from the British School of Beijing (BSB) Shunyi.

“BSB helped shape me become who I am today.”

I got accepted by a few universities and am currently deciding between going to New York University or Yale-NUS College. I’ll major in Economics.

Some of my favorite memories from my time in high school must be serving as BSB’s Head Girl this past year, attending the Prom, and Vienna Ball.

“The progressive nature of the IB course that BSB offers constantly requires me to walk out of my comfort zone.”

BSB helped shape me to become who I am today. I transferred to BSB 5 years ago from a local Chinese school which had a different teaching style and environment. Not only in terms of the curriculum, but the whole atmosphere here at BSB is much more open and free, which contributes to my well-rounded personal development.

Also, the progressive nature of the IB course that BSB offers continually requires me to walk out of my comfort zone, which has made me a better person.

I think I have found the style of learning that suits me the most here at BSB – self-orientated but with close interaction with our teachers; being able to choose subjects within a broad range but based on our interests. These have contributed to my academic success.

Jessica with friends on a hike

My favorite teacher was Mr. Brigstock, both his lessons and who he is as a teacher and a person that has inspired me to pursue a future in economics. His lessons were always well-prepared, fun, and informative. Every class had something I could take away. Apart from preparing us for exams, he taught us how to think like economists.

My parting shot to the great BSB community would have to be; we have a relatively small community at BSB. This means we interact much more closely with our peers and teachers, which gives me lots of warmth. Thank you, BSB!

KEEP READING: “You Know What Is Best for You, Trust Yourself, You Will Go Far.”

Photos: BSB Shunyi 

This year, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, and for high school seniors, these students experienced a senior year unlike any we’ve ever seen before. But life goes on and despite the chaos, COVID-19 has caused, students at international schools all over Beijing are graduating in good spirits and high hopes for the future. Congratulations to the Class of 2020!

Meet Alex Y, senior at The British School of Beijing BSB, Shunyi from Taiwan.

Alex Y in his graduation robes

I’ll be studying at University College London UCL, majoring in Electronic and Electrical Engineering.

One of my best memories from my time at BSB is the help that Mr. Finn gave me when I first came to BSB. I had skipped one unit of Chemistry because my previous school’s chemistry class schedule was different from that of BSB. When Mr. Finn heard about this, he used his break time to help me learn the units I had missed. With his help, I successfully caught in a short amount of time.

The second one was the motivational breakfast we had before the IB mock exam. We knew that after breakfast, we were all about to have our mock exam, but everyone was happy at the meal. It was a rare chance for everyone in the whole year to sit down and have breakfast together.

Alex at his high school graduation ceremony

The teachers at BSB have helped me achieve many things, both academically and in college admissions. The teachers at BSB are full of enthusiasm for the students all the time. The teachers here do not abandon any students because of their poor academic performance; they will do their best to help all students and encourage them. When I first joined the community, I was very introverted and did not dare to have too much contact with my classmates, nor did I dare to ask the teacher questions. But BSB’s teachers found this out, and they often asked me if there was anything I didn’t understand after class to help me consolidate what I learned during the day. Sometimes I even had one-on-one teaching with my teacher after school, which helped me achieve academic success.

BSB has a very professional University Counselor Mr. Chesher. Although he is very busy every day, if you want to consult him about college application or life goals, he will do his best to help you. With the help of these excellent teachers from BSB, I succeeded in both academic and college admission, obtaining the admission letters from many world-renowned universities including UCL, King’s College London, University of Toronto, and UBC.

“The teachers at BSB are full of enthusiasm for their students”

For the students who are about to enter IB Diploma next year, you must think carefully about what you want to study in the future when choosing courses. Because if you choose the wrong subject, there will be a lot of restrictions on the majors you can apply for when you apply to a university.

KEEP READING: “2020 Has Been a Weird One… but I Was Used to Weird Already”

Photos courtesy of BSB Shunyi

This year, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, and for high school seniors, these students experienced a senior year unlike any we’ve ever seen before. But life goes on and despite the chaos, COVID-19 has caused, students at international schools all over Beijing are graduating in good spirits and high hopes for the future. Congratulations to the Class of 2020!

Meet Anya H,  a British-Chinese high school senior graduating from Beijing International Bilingual Academy (BIBA).

Anya H

I don’t really have a single favorite memory from high school,  I have many fond memories like coming up with inside jokes, sports trips, bike rides on school trips.

Life at BIBA

I believe everything in my life has played a role in shaping who am I today, and my school allowed me to come into contact with more cultures and perspectives and allowed me to embrace my identity as both a mixed-race child and a global citizen. It also allowed me to develop both logical and thorough ways of thinking, and innovative, creative ways of tackling problems as well as critical thinking skills.

I will be going to college in the UK, possibly at the University of Manchester and I will be studying Biochemistry.

Planning ahead, setting deadlines, and being able to stick to them were some of the strategies I learned in high school that I feel will help me succeed in college. I was also able to learn to deal with pressure and balance different aspects of my life, for example, after studying for a couple of hours, going outside and kicking a ball around. Those kinds of things just let you think outside the box and detach from your little bubble for a while and focus on other things.

I know this isn’t going to sound true, but I genuinely did not have a favorite teacher, all of my teachers played different roles in my life and I had different yet equally good connections with many of them. If I had to name a favorite teacher there would be a list of over ten!

If I could change one thing about my high school experience, it would be to try not to focus as much on grades. I placed a lot of weight on the grades I got and they were a large part of my identity, as such, grades affected me a lot, definitely in a somewhat unhealthy way. So yeah, if possible, I would try and detach myself from my grades a bit more.

Friendships are forever

Is academic success more important than building strong friendships? I would honestly say the two come hand in hand. My friends played a big role in my academic success, we were able to support each other through the IB program and help each other when needed. These experiences, in turn, led to building strong friendships. If I were to say focus on one before the other, I would say build strong friendships first and then work towards a common goal together to reach academic success.

As a final message to my school I’d like to say that the 2019-2020 year has been a really weird one, but, thanks to you lot, I was used to weird already.

KEEP READING: The Senior Year That Wasn’t: Jennifer Z.

Photos: Anya H

This year, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, and this year’s high school seniors experienced a final year unlike any we’ve ever seen before. But life goes on and despite the chaos, students at international schools all over Beijing are graduating in good spirits and high hopes for the future. We spoke to some of these leaders of tomorrow about their future plans, and advice for younger students. Congratulations to the Class of 2020!

Hello, I am Sophia B and I was born in Taiwan. I am graduating from AISB-Hope International.

This fall semester I will be attending Biola University in California and I hope to major in nursing.

My favorite high school memory was playing sports with my friends. I loved playing sports and it was also a great way for me to build new friendships.

The teachers at my school are very kind and they want the best for every student there. They challenge us and help us grow to become a better student. This school taught me to be a hardworking person and most importantly it taught me to step out of my comfort zone and try new experiences.

Sophia B

I have tried many different study strategies, like studying in a group, making flashcards, or copying materials. But there is one study strategy that I like and will help me succeed in college, which is studying verbally with someone else. I would ask someone to quiz me and then I will explain the answer to them. Talking about the answers help me understand and learn better.

My favorite teacher would be my PE teacher because I really enjoy her classes. She is fun to be around with. She is also my volleyball coach and she pushes us to try our best. She believes in all of her players and she challenges us to be better. She is also generous because she would buy us food after we finished a tournament.

The Biola University campus, where Sophia will be studying next year

If I could go back and change one thing about my high school experience, I would change how shy I was. I want to step out of my comfort zone and be more courageous to try new things. I of course also want to change the coronavirus situation and wish that it did not happen, so every senior could enjoy their last high school year with their friends. I am devastated that I missed a lot of senior activities planned this year, but I am still thankful that I have a way to connect with friends and talk with them.

In life, building strong friendships is more important than academic success. Academic success is important of course because it will help you with college applications, but high school is just four years of our life, but the friends that we make will be there for us even after high school. My friends helped me enjoy high school and without them, the school will be stressful and boring. Friends will support and encourage you for life.

My final message to my school is that we are not alone when we are dealing with difficult situations. Look around you, you have friends who will support you and you have teachers who will help you. I also want to encourage students to step out of their comfort zone and try new things.

KEEP READING:  The Senior Year That Wasn’t: Haerin L. 

Photos: Sophia B, Biola University

Many of us would agree that our Senior year of High School was one of the most memorable years of our life. Between graduation, college acceptance letters, Prom, and the knowledge that it’s the last year spent in your hometown (and parents’ house no less), it’s a time that we both never want to end, and can’t get past soon enough. Unfortunately, for the class of 2020, most of these traditions were devastated by COVID-19. In this series, we chat with Seniors to find out the extent of the impact to their final year of High School and what they’ve done to salvage those memories.

Meet Kristal D., an 18-year-old student from Beijing who’s finishing her senior year at Dulwich College Beijing (DCB).

Can you briefly walk us through how COVID-19 has evolved for you, personally? What were your initial thoughts? At what point did you realize the devastation and disruption it was causing? How do you currently feel?

I first found out about the virus from my parents in late December. At the time there wasn’t too much information circulating online, so I dismissed the news thinking it would pass relatively quickly, but there was a tangible fear from my parents as they recalled scenes from the SARS outbreak in 2003. Over the next few weeks, the situation escalated, with cases almost doubling on the daily, and the shortages of masks and sanitation supplies due to bulk-buying became a huge point of worry for myself and many others. The real challenge was trying to discern if the problem was real or if fear was driving the seemingly irrational behavior. The sheer volume of news and information flooding WeChat and news outlets made it so difficult to filter through the noise. It’s interesting, but disheartening, to see social dynamics play out in the face of a global pandemic.

Senior year of High School is supposed to be one of the most memorable years of your life. Unfortunately, however, you and your peers aren’t getting to enjoy all that it has to offer. Can you tell us a bit about that? What are the conversations that are happening amongst your friends right now?

As seniors, there was an initial excitement amongst my friends when school authorities announced a delay in reopening, we perceived it as more of an “extended holiday” because we didn’t really understand the gravity of the situation. It wasn’t until we were notified that school had been postponed “indefinitely until further notice” that we realized just how serious COVID-19 was and, with study leave in two months, we faced the possibility of not receiving an official graduation. There were also a lot of discussions and uncertainty surrounding the plausibility of continuing Dulwich’s graduating traditions. Previous commitments and clubs have also been paused, so having to work on projects remotely has also been challenging. Fortunately, with the virus currently controlled in Beijing, we were able to at least hold a small IB art exhibition off-campus to photograph our work and complete the IB Diploma Program. And with the school reopening date set to be Apr 27, we are all very excited to see our friends back at school.

What activities were you most looking forward to this year that have either been postponed or canceled? Prom, graduation ceremony, etc.

Grad trip, the leaver’s assembly, and graduation dinner were definitely among the most highly anticipated. I was also looking forward to ACAMIS football, which would have been one of my last tournaments with collegiate sports being so competitive. As for grad trip, my friends and I had booked our tickets to Japan and Korea back in January, so the discussions we were forced to have about cancellation policies and refunds were very difficult. The whole experience has honestly been an emotional rollercoaster of wishful thinking and consequential disappointments, but we are all holding out hope that graduation will commence as planned in late-May now that we are all going back to school!

Has COVID-19 affected your ability to graduate at all?

I think the situation is less stressful for those of us who plan on going to the US, but when IBO released the cancellation of exams, I was definitely worried about my conditional offers in the UK. Fortunately, universities have been extremely understanding in combating the obstacles presented by this pandemic, and I receive information daily through email and via social media about the means of support available to incoming students.

Has COVID-19 affected your plans for after graduation? If so, how? Were you planning on going abroad for college? Doing a bit of traveling during the Summer? Etc.

I’ve always imagined myself studying in the US, so I remain optimistic that my plans will resume as normal. While I do have safety concerns considering the severity of COVID-19 in the US and reported cases of xenophobia, I am hopeful that the actions taken towards combating these problems will alleviate some of the stress come August. I would love to travel over the summer, but probably only domestically.

Despite all that has happened this year, have you done anything to try and salvage these last few months of your High School experience? Have you and your friends been able to “hang out” on Zoom or FaceTime? Have you made backup plans for a Prom in case it gets officially canceled?

It’s interesting to watch scenarios strictly seen on film unfold in real life. Social distancing has definitely brought our creativity up to a whole new level. NetflixParty is very popular, and so are games like drawful and skribbl.io. I think we’re all very eager to physically be with our friends once restrictions are relaxed, so the backup plans we have so far mainly consist of get-togethers and outdoor picnics where everyone can communicate face-to-face without the restrictions of bad Internet.

Photos: Kristal D.