Lead with Oxford

A whole-school approach for students aged 2 to 19 with wellbeing at its heart.

The world is changing and education needs to evolve and adapt to ensure learners are ready. Students want to make an impact on their world, to strive and thrive in a brighter future. They have more choice and opportunity than ever before on where and how they do this – whether in higher education or a career.
Oxford International Curriculum and OxfordAQA develop the critical thinking and problem-solving skills required to equip tomorrow’s global citizens for future personal, academic and career success.
Choose Oxford to enable your students to lead the way.
  • Embed a joy of learning and a culture of wellbeing
  • Develop the skills and attitudes needed for the future
  • Benefit from decades of education and assessment expertise
Designed especially for schools in international contexts, the Oxford International Curriculum offers early years through to lower secondary, and OxfordAQA offers GCSE and A-level. Both encompass curriculum, assessment, teacher personal development and world class teaching and learning resources.

What is the Oxford International Curriculum?

The Oxford International Curriculum enables students to succeed by recognising that lasting success is contingent on both academic performance and emotional wellbeing. The curriculum has been designed to bring wellbeing to all teaching and learning and to develop global skills through all core subjects.

This all-through curriculum for early years to lower secondary, integrates curriculum materials, continuous professional development, assessment, and world-class resources, developing the critical and creative thinking skills for success in further study.

Watch our introduction video.

The Oxford International Curriculum

Key things you need to know
  • A curriculum for early years to lower secondary
  • Places joy at the heart of learning, integrating student wellbeing, critical thinking skills, creativity, real-world focus, self-development, communication and collaboration into all core subjects
  • Provides seamless progression to international GCSEs, AS and A-levels, including from OxfordAQA and Cambridge.
  • Has been designed with learners in mind who have English as an additional language
  • Provides teachers with curriculum guidance and lesson plans for six subjects (English, Maths, Science, Computing, Wellbeing and Global Skills Projects), with one unified approach. Aligned to the English National Curriculum
  • Includes formative assessment tools as well as end-of-year achievement tests for Years 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
  • Supports teachers and school leaders with a comprehensive, on-demand professional learning and development programme to successfully deliver the curriculum included at no extra cost. Watch our short video introduction to find out more
  • Gives schools a visionary, research-based and effective pathway to develop the skills today’s students need in the modern world

 

Have Questions?

Introductory webinar

Silvia Yafai, Senior Curriculum Academic Lead at Oxford University Press introduces the Oxford International Curriculum. A curriculum for teachers and learners with a vision.

Contact us

We’ll be pleased to help

Contact us

Why should your school consider a new curriculum?

  • The rising importance of a student’s sense of wellbeing and the positive correlation to academic attainment (see Oxford University impact study) require a curriculum that fully integrates wellbeing into core subjects
  • Universities want students able to think and work independently
  • The growth of artificial intelligence technologies mean recruiters are looking for candidates with ‘non robotic’ skills, able to demonstrate independence, creative thinking, problem solving and critical analysis
  • More than grades, students today require skills that they can apply within their academic, personal and ultimately professional lives

The Oxford International Curriculum is the result of thorough research by Oxford University Press to meet these requirements and mould thoughtful, innovative change-makers, equipped with the skills to succeed in our fast-changing world.

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford, and shares the mission to further excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.
 

How strong is the link between student wellbeing and academic attainment?

An impact study undertaken by Dr. Ariel Lindorff at the Department of Education, Oxford University, concluded that there is convincing evidence of a relationship between wellbeing and academic attainment.

The study also showed evidence that whole-school approaches to promoting wellbeing can have positive effects on a wide range of other student outcomes, including mental health, self-efficacy, self-esteem, motivation, behaviour and lower dropout.

How does the Oxford International Curriculum place wellbeing at the heart of learning?

Watch our video explainer from our Wellbeing course creator Adrian Bethune.

How does the Oxford International Curriculum prepare learners for future success?

Watch our video explainer from our Global Skills course creator Dr Karem Roitman.

Impact Study

To what extent and how does the Oxford International Curriculum support the development of students’ metacognitive skills and self-regulation, helping them to become independent learners?
The majority of participants reported that using the Oxford International Curriculum has had a very strong positive impact on developing learners’ metacognitive skills to become independent learners.
  • Improving teamwork and leadership skills
  • Increasing ability to work independently
  • Thinking more deeply
  • Making more insightful observations

What are schools saying about the Oxford International Curriculum?

EtonHouse International School, Bahrain Case Study

Watch our latest Oxford International Curriculum case study from EtonHouse International School, Bahrain to discover what the Principal, Teacher and parents love most about the curriculum, including:

  • How it has enabled teachers to nurture confident and emotionally strong students
  • How it has reduced planning time, allowing teachers to dedicate more time to teaching
  • How it is training students to become global citizens

Students have had to problem solve in teams and collaborate with one another in ways they are just not used to doing. The one thing it’s really enabled us to do is to give us some context, to give students the chance to collaborate and work in teams and to give them the freedom to do it.

School Leader

Vietnam

How does Oxford help schools build a strong home -school connection with the Oxford International Curriculum?

Wellbeing supports the practice of healthy habits of body and mind to enhance the lives of students inside and outside the classroom, giving them skills, they can apply in their lives today and in the future.

Our brief introductory guide for parents and carers introduces this core topic of the Oxford International Curriculum and provides help for parents and carers on how to support their child’s wellbeing at home.

Have Questions?

Contact us

We’ll be pleased to help

Contact us

Accessible exams designed for international students

OxfordAQA is an exam board that offers globally recognized qualifications designed especially for international schools. It is a partnership between Oxford University Press, a department of the University of Oxford, and AQA, the UK’s largest provider of GCSEs and A-levels.

The Oxford International Curriculum prepares learners for seamless progression to OxfordAQA’s International GCSEs, AS and A-levels and project qualifications.

OxfordAQA qualifications continue to develop the future-focused skills the Oxford International Curriculum builds through primary and lower secondary, creating a trustworthy, coherent, and flexible route to equip all learners with the lifelong skills they need to fully engage with a changing world.

Benchmarked to UK standards, OxfordAQA exams test subject ability, not language skills or cultural knowledge, using their student-centred Fair Assessment methodology.

Fair Assessment is a unique, student-focused approach to assessment design, designed to remove common exam barriers for international students.

Watch our introductory video

The science behind OxfordAQA’s Fair Assessment methodology

Fair Assessment is a unique, student-focused approach to assessment design, created to remove common exam barriers for international students. This means that with OxfordAQA, international students can really show what they can do, and get the grade they deserve.

How OxfordAQA ensures exams are valid for international students

How OxfordAQA ensure exams are reliable for international students

How OxfordAQA exams represent a consistent and trusted quality standard

Why should schools choose OxfordAQA?

  • Syllabuses and assessments are designed to help students progress successfully to their next stage of education by nurturing critical thinking skills such as application, analysis, and evaluation
  • Assessments are informed by the latest research and best practice in fair assessment
  • International GCSEs are based on the reformed GCSEs in England
  • International GCSE and A-level syllabuses are created with input from universities ensuring a smooth progression from lower secondary to undergraduate study
  • Also offers qualification options to help students develop useful transferable skills and learner attitudes such as independent learning, creativity, and research to help them stand out from the crowd when applying to top global universities

Have questions?

Contact us. We’ll be pleased to help.

Contact us

Do universities recognise OxfordAQA qualifications?

OxfordAQA qualifications are recognised and accepted by universities regionally and globally for access to HE courses.

What qualifications do OxfordAQA offer?

OxfordAQA offers a range of international qualifications, including International GCSEs, project-based qualifications and AS and A-levels. They are designed specifically to meet the needs of international students, and cover all of the most popular subjects, focusing on higher order thinking skills to equip students for future success at university and beyond.

Learn more about International GCSE, AS and A-level qualifications

Does OxfordAQA provide teacher training?

Yes, OxfordAQA provides teachers with helpful resources, innovative online tools, training, and local on-the-ground support.

What do parents and students need to know about OxfordAQA?

For many parents whose children study at an international school, the decision around which International GCSEs and A-levels to study isn’t just limited to subject choices. Parents may also be consulted on the school’s preference of qualification providers.

This report explores the various considerations for international schools as they decide on which qualifications to choose. It introduces the International GCSEs, AS and A-levels from OxfordAQA and shows why it’s a good thing that schools now have a greater choice of qualification providers.

Visit our Parent and Student hub page to find out more.

Have questions?

Complete the contact form. We’ll be pleased to help.

Alternatively for more information call Oxford University Press on 021 120 0104, or email oxford.za@oup.com.

(Please use school domain only)
Our Privacy Policy sets out how OUP handles your personal information, and your rights to object to your personal information being used for marketing to you or being processed as part of OUP’s business activities.