Online high school launches in Singapore

Crimson Global Academy (CGA), a registered 24/7 high school built to be 100% online, launched in Singapore recently for ambitious local students looking to get ahead of the competitive US and UK university applications race, following COVID-19 disruptions.

Students will be able to complete Advanced Placement courses through weekend classes run by expert Psychology, Computer Science, and Math teachers online, while attending their current school. 

Founded in New Zealand, the school launched the British International GCSE and A Level curricula through Pearson Edexcel in late April, 2020. CGA has seen unprecedented growth amidst the coronavirus pandemic, with over 140 students enrolling from 21 countries since classes began. With part-time study making up 70 percent of enrolments, students are wishing to accelerate their learning beyond their traditional school offering and are also seeking career pathways and university preparation guidance they feel is currently missing from their existing school, according to a recent survey completed by over 100 high school students from around the world.

Touted as the most networked school in the region, the school comes off the back of the success of university admissions and mentoring company, Crimson Education; the edtech company which has for seven years supported students to secure 267 Ivy League offers, 99 admissions to the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, over 1,400 offers to US top 50 colleges and over 600 offers to the UK’s top 10 universities from past years. 

Co-founder and CEO of Crimson Education Jamie Beaton, who founded Crimson Global Academy, is paving a pathway for students based on his own self-made success. While in his final year of high school in New Zealand, Jamie secured offers to the 25 top-ranked universities and gained admissions to all of them, choosing Harvard where he completed his degree two years ahead of schedule, before completing his MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business (accepted at age 20), before currently completing his PhD as a Rhodes Scholar with the University of Oxford.

“Taking from our years of providing intensive tutoring sessions and highly engaging mentoring, we know that students can achieve top in the world results and admission to the world’s most competitive university degrees. In the past two years, we’ve seen them secure incredibly high-demand and competitive graduate positions from Silicon Valley to Wall Street. We want this to become the norm for students in Singapore,” he said.

Last year, Hong Kong-based CTF (Chow Tai Fook) Education Group invested US$10M in Crimson Education, which is driving the online high school’s expansion. 

General Manager of Crimson Education Singapore, Ms Quinn Koh, says families in Singapore wish to give their children a head start with an international curriculum, while also building candidacy for top-ranked US and UK universities. 

“Top US & UK universities require students to demonstrate that they have challenged themselves academically. With CGA, motivated students have the ability to take advanced, accelerated classes – for instance, a high achieving 13 year old can take classes in International GCSE Physics or Chemistry, and gain that certification early, should they so choose.”

“We have seen that when students are allowed to learn based on ability, instead of age, they are more motivated and perform significantly better, academically and socially. Younger students can pursue their academic interests in a structured classroom setting, under the guidance of top teachers, far earlier than would have been possible at standard schools. This is why Advanced Placement courses are especially popular with younger students – they are able to challenge themselves with subjects like Computer Science, Statistics and Psychology, that for many of them wouldn’t have been offered until at least the university level.” she said.

Parents are also placing importance on the value of networking, given the challenge that has emerged for young students to secure internship and graduate positions since COVID-19. Unlike an international school where students are all learning with the context of one city, CGA students bring incredible diversity and global perspectives to every class.

“Students that perform best, both at university and in the job market, are those that are considered “global citizens” – those that are able to thrive in multicultural, diverse environments. With a diverse alumni network that is formed in their early high school years, students quickly adapt to this international environment, and graduate ready to make an impact across a global community.” Ms Koh says.

As the coronavirus pandemic hit, families showed a desire for updates on academic progress to ensure their child did not suffer a slide in their education. Teachers and students engage through virtual classrooms, chat and other interactive elements.

“There is an expectation of transparency and feedback in real time – this allows both students and parents to have a sense of how they are performing in classes.”  Ms Koh says.

Executive Principal of Crimson Global Academy, John Morris, who has seen the adoption of the school from families quickly responding to COVID-19 challenges says: “Classes are no longer created based on physical classroom availability or once a certain student quota is reached. CGA classes are taught to groups of 3 – 12 students and are based on competency rather than age. These small seminar-style classes are taught in real time with live expert teachers which is optimal for engagement and also helps develop soft skills like critical thinking and collaboration,” he says.

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Quinn Koh is General Manager of Crimson Education in Singapore. Quinn is passionate about helping students reach the best education and career opportunities in the world – in addition to being a committed educator, she is also a licensed transformational coach. Over the past four years, she has worked with hundreds of families in Singapore to navigate the crucial high school years and supported their dreams of gaining admission to the most competitive universities in the UK, US, and other destinations. In the latest admissions cycle, Quinn and her team worked with students in Singapore to secure over 252 acceptances to top US & UK universities, including those in the Ivy League, Oxford, and Cambridge.

Breakout stats:

70% of students studying the International GCSE/A Level curriculum are enrolled part-time. These students are looking to accelerate their studies and/or broaden their accredited subjects beyond their current schooling.

 
30% of current students are enrolled in the school full-time.

Enrolled and pre-enrolled students include those based in: Australia, New Zealand, UK, Japan, Singapore, China, Thailand, UAE, Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan.

Across the school’s curricula, STEM subjects are most popular, including: Physics, Chemistry, Maths and English. There are also enrolments in Computer Science.

Students are given access to a range of world-class extracurriculars, including a 3D Game Development course, a leading debating group coached by former champion debaters, Health & Wellness weeks, and more.

International GCSE/A Level classes are scheduled across weekday evenings and weekends to accommodate international students’ schedules.

AP Classes are scheduled on weekends, to accommodate international students’ schedules.