History of SCIE
From Shuiwei, to Antuo Hill
Since its establishment in 2003, the SCIE has become one of the most successful international schools in the region. A new journey started when SCIE moved into Shuiwei village, a historical village inside a modern city, in 2005.
With the implementation of reform and opening-up policy, the city of Shenzhen became a special economic development zone and experienced rapid growth for decades. Many multinational companies had the intention to enter the Chinese market, starting with Shenzhen. Shenzhen has a unique geographic location close to Hong Kong, making it a perfect site for imports and exports. Foreign enterprises rushed into Shenzhen in the late 90s.
The history of Shuiwei Village dates back to back the year 1368, when local people constructed an ancient well and settled around it. Hundred of years later, the rapid development of Shenzhen made the city one of the largest growing markets around the globe, making it highly attractive for investors.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hong Kong entrepreneurs began to come to mainland of China to invest in local businesses. Many of them decided to settle down in the Shuiwei village since they could get to the Huanggang Port, directly connected to Hong Kong, within ten minutes—bringing international culture and lifestyle to the region.
Benefit from Shuiwei’s unique environment, SCIE quickly developed into one of the most successful international schools in the city of Shenzhen. The ShuiWei Campus built the foundation of SCIE where about 2600 students graduated and went to top universities around the globe. The future of SCIE began from here. However, the spacial capacity and lack of facilities limited the further development of SCIE. Therefore, the board listed the plan to build a new campus with more extensive accommodation, advanced teaching technologies, and cutting-edge supporting facilities on the agenda. On January 1st,2018, the construction of the new campus was initiated. After two and a half years of construction, facing challenges like the COIVD pandemic, the brand new purpose-built Antuo Hill was ready for completion. In August 2020, SCIE moved into the new campus. Welcome to the latest chapter.
In August 2003, with the approval of the Shenzhen Education Bureau, Shenzhen College of International Education (referred to as "SCIE") was established. SCIE is an international high school authorized by Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) delivering IGCSE and A Level courses to full-time students.
Before the summer vacation of 2004, SCIE’s A1 students participated in the international examinations organized by CIE. Their AS examination results surpassed the average pass rate of similar schools in the UK by 25.3%.
In 2005, our first graduating class consisting of 30 students, all received admissions to their desired universities. Notably, 2 students were accepted into the University of Cambridge, and 1 student was accepted into the University of Oxford.
August 3, 2005, holds a special significance. After two years since its establishment, SCIE finally put an end to the frequent campus relocations and acquired its own independent campus. "No. 18, 1st Street, Huanggang Park, Futian District, Shenzhen" became the fixed location of SCIE from then on.
In 2006, CIE published an article entitled "Focus on China – Shenzhen College of International Education" in CAIE International Outlook, Issue 20. The article praised SCIE for its dedication in assisting all of its graduates in realizing their aspirations of gaining admission to esteemed universities and colleges in the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong. Furthermore, the article highlighted the prestige that the gold standard of CIE qualifications accords in applications to international institutions of higher education.
In 2007, our third graduating class, consisting of 74 students, also fulfilled their aspirations to pursue further education at renowned foreign universities including Oxford, Cambridge, the University of Chicago, Pomona College, etc.
Starting in 2008, Cambridge International began conducting global rankings to acknowledge exceptional performers in international examinations, including subject-level and overall top scorers. In the 2008 IGCSE and A Level examinations, 5 SCIE students achieved the world's highest marks，while 6 students achieved the highest marks in China.
Since then, SCIE has consistently maintained it’s position at the forefront in terms of the number of awards received in Cambridge International examinations, consistently ranking first among similar schools in China.
Starting from September 2009, SCIE implemented English as the first language throughout the school. This comprehensive shift involved not only reinforcing English language education but also incorporating English into various extracurricular activities. To support this initiative, the school increased the proportion of foreign teachers and provided enhanced English training for local Chinese teachers.
In 2010, SCIE became an official member school of the Council of International Schools (CIS) and implemented the House system, enhancing cross-grade and cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration.
In 2011, the full Chinese name of the school was changed from "深圳教育国际交流学院" to "深圳国际交流学院", while the English name and abbreviation remained unchanged.
In 2012, out of the 160 graduating students, 17 were accepted into the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, while over 60 students gained admission to prestigious American institutions such as the University of Chicago, Cornell University, and Wesleyan University. These students not only aspired to attend renowned universities but also placed importance on selecting their preferred majors.
In 2013, SCIE celebrated its 10th anniversary since its establishment. Over these 10 years, SCIE has progressed from a challenging development phase to a period of stable growth, with 880 outstanding students graduating from here and pursuing their education at prestigious universities worldwide.
In 2014, SCIE received accreditation from the Council of International Schools. Members of the SCIE community have been working hard for 5 years through the application, a comprehensive self- study, a rigorous evaluation conducted by the CIS visiting team, and to achieve the final accreditation. We strived for continuous improvement and keeping pace with the highest international education standards.
In 2015, SCIE joined the membership of East Asia Regional Council of Schools and was authorized as a member of Federation of the Leading British International Schools in Asia.
In 2016, the number of student clubs exceeded 100, covering a wide range of fields ，including science, humanities, arts, sports, community service, leadership, and life skills.
According to the 2017 enrollment statistics for non-UK schools' students released by Oxford University and Cambridge University, SCIE ranked the 3rd place for Oxford admission and 9th place for Cambridge admission. Overrall, SCIE ranked 4th place for admissions to both universities on a global scale. Remarkably, SCIE is the only one mainland Chinese school in the top 10 globally and holds the top position among the Chinese international schools.
In the same year, SCIE has implemented the Global Citizenship Award (GCA). The program is designed to reward students’ achievements which are not formally assessed as part of the curriculum.
The curriculum system of SCIE covers a wide range of subjects, and SCIE won the honor of “the widest choices of subjects offering at Cambridge International A Level in East Asia” in 2018.
In January of 2019, British Council released White Paper on IELTS performance for test takers in mainland China 2018. The report revealed that SCIE students achieved the highest IELTS scores in China for two consecutive years, surpassing prestigious institutions such as Fudan University, Peking University, and Tsinghua University.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, disrupting the pace of everyone's lives. Forced to switch to online classes and with international examinations being canceled, the pandemic and containment measures had a certain impact on the regular campus life. However, the teachers, particularly the foreign teachers, made efforts to overcome the challenges posed by the containment measures and returned to campus for classes as soon as possible. After a few months of suspension, the campus construction accelerated, and it was officially completed in August.
On August, SCIE bid farewell to Shuiwei campus and relocated to the new campus in Antuoshan. In early June, the school organized the Farewell Shuiwei & Senior Week series of activities. During which, we expressed our gratitude to Shuiwei, a place that held countless memories for us. As we arrived at the new campus in Antuoshan, we embarked on an exciting new chapter in our journey.
In August 2021, SCIE received notification that it had earned accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
- In August 2022, SCIE proudly established its Arts Academy.
- SCIE has become a registered ACT testing center.
- SCIE students demonstrated exceptional achievement by winning Two Gold Awards, One Bronze Award and Two Honorable Mentions, as well as the Grand Prize in the S. -T. Yau High School Science Award.
- The full Chinese name of the school was changed from "深圳国际交流学院" to "深圳国际交流书院", while the English name and abbreviation remained unchanged.
- On October 15th, 2021, The Telegraph released the undergraduate admission data of top UK universities for the the years 2018 to 2020. This achievement even surpassed that of local high schools in the UK, securing SCIE's position as the top-ranked school globally in this regard.
2023
We firmly believe that in the coming 20 years, SCIErs will continue to drive positive change in their own lives and make a meaningful impact on the world.
