The University of Cambridge report is the first output from a two-year study of the Systems Transformation Pathway (STP) at United World College Atlantic, in South Wales. It argues that the innovative new curriculum, which the college co-developed and piloted, could be adopted more widely, and represents a “significant and timely contribution to global education”.

UWC Atlantic, based at St Donat’s Castle in the Vale of Glamorgan, is a boarding school for 16 to 19-year-olds, attracting students from around the world. Students typically pursue the International Baccalaureate (IB), but the STP is a new type of academic programme that the college developed in partnership with the IB, and which counts towards their full IB Diploma.

A key aim is to move students beyond what it describes as a traditional “siloed” approach of studying individual subjects in isolation. Instead, they focus on five “Impact Areas” which cut across subject boundaries: Biodiversity, Energy, Food, Migration and Water. As well as classroom-based learning, the students participate in a mix of self-directed and collaborative projects linked to these themes.

By taking this approach, the course aims to equip young people with the practical tools and systemic thinking needed to engage with complicated, interconnected global challenges that are likely to define their adult lives.

Researchers from Cambridge’s Faculty of Education tracked the first STP cohort from 2023 to 2025 to evaluate the impact of the course. Among many positives, their initial report describes it acting as a “gateway” to adulthood, which empowers students with the foundational skills, confidence and sense of agency that they will need to respond to real-life challenges.

While school students are often encouraged to think in linear terms, the study found that those on the STP developed different thinking patterns, with a shift in their mindset. Students recognised their own transition from surface-level learning to systems thinking, and developed a deeper understanding of their own identity in the process.

Because of this, when asked to engage with global challenges from a multitude of different angles, students were able to think critically about the big picture, digging into the sophisticated causes of issues like climate change and food insecurity, and exploring the systemic solutions that might be required to address them. Students were no longer looking for simple answers, but instead developed a "more open and complex view of the world".

Other key findings include:

Regenerative leadership: The curriculum fosters resilience, the report suggests, teaching students how to engage in long-term social change without experiencing the burnout often associated with high-pressure activism.

Collaborative agency: Students and their teachers built a strong learning community with enhanced empathy and shared meaning and purpose.

Real-world impact: All of the STP cohort reported an increased sense of self-efficacy, with many implementing change-oriented projects in their local and home communities.

Mark Winterbottom, Professor of Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, said: “The Systems Transformation Pathway represents a significant and timely contribution to global education, equipping young people with the capability to engage meaningfully with complexity and change.”

"We launched the STP with a bold ambition: to teach students how to fundamentally transform systems in this climate-impacted world," Naheed Bardai, Principal of UWC Atlantic, said. "The University of Cambridge report confirms that our graduates are the strategic, resilient and action-oriented leaders the world requires, individuals who are ready to do the deep, humble work of systemic change."

For more information on the Systems Transformation Pathway and an executive summary of the Cambridge Report, please visit the UWC website.