Away from CBSE, a range of curricula are expanding across India. ICSE, IB, Cambridge, WACE and now GEDU are steadily carving out space in the country’s education ecosystem. These international curricula are drawing interest from parents and students who are looking beyond conventional academic pathways.
Among the latest entrants is Queen Elizabeth’s School, a 450-year-old institution from the United Kingdom that is set to launch its campus in Gurugram. The school has chosen the Cambridge curriculum as the foundation of its academic offering.
The development comes at a time when school education is under fresh public discussion, particularly in the backdrop of the CBSE OSM row. At the same time, international schools have been quietly expanding their footprint in India.
The trend is raising a broader question. In an age shaped by artificial intelligence, automation and an uninterrupted stream of information, what should schools actually teach? More importantly, how should they teach it?
Another question follows closely behind: what exactly do these curricula offer, and how do they encourage students to think beyond textbooks, examinations and mark sheets? When the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was unveiled, it promised a more holistic approach to education, an idea that educators had advocated for over many years.
Curricula such as IB, Cambridge, ICSE and WACE have attempted, in different ways, to move in that direction.
The advantage of English-medium instruction adds another layer of appeal for many families. For parents navigating an increasingly globalised world, these curricula are often seen as providing both academic flexibility and international mobility.
To understand the approach being adopted by Queen Elizabeth’s School, however, one must travel back more than four centuries.
FROM TUDOR ENGLAND TO MODERN INDIA
The story begins in 1573.
England was then emerging from the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation. Religion, politics and education were deeply intertwined. Against this backdrop, Queen Elizabeth I granted a royal charter establishing what would become Queen Elizabeth’s School in Barnet, north of London.
The charter described the institution as a school dedicated to the “education, bringing up and instruction of boys and youth”. The early school was modest in scale.
It was built through funds raised from church collections and donations from local benefactors. Some pupils attended during the day; others lived on campus as boarders.
Over time, the school’s fortunes became closely linked with the story of Britain itself.
It survived plague outbreaks in the seventeenth century. It witnessed political struggles between monarchs and Parliament. It adapted to the economic changes brought by industrialisation and continued functioning through two world wars.
During the Blitz of 1941, parts of the campus were damaged by bombs. Yet classes continued, and students joined efforts to clear the rubble.
As Britain transformed, so did the curriculum. Classical studies gradually shared space with geography, mathematics, bookkeeping, history and modern languages.
WHY CAMBRIDGE?
For Dr Craig Cook, Principal of Queen Elizabeth’s School Gurugram, the attraction of the Cambridge curriculum lies in its emphasis on depth rather than breadth.
He argues that modern education often focuses on covering content without allowing students to develop expertise. Cambridge, he believes, encourages students to engage deeply with subjects, conduct research and develop independent thinking.
“We live in an era where none of us are experts anymore. We are all learning,” Cook said.
According to him, the challenge facing schools today is not a shortage of information but an excess of it. Students need the ability to distinguish reliable information from noise, ask questions and reach their own conclusions.
The philosophy is also reflected in the design of the Gurugram campus. Rather than positioning itself solely as a traditional boarding school, Queen Elizabeth’s School has adopted a model that combines academics with pastoral care, flexible boarding options and a wider focus on student well-being.
Spread across a 17-acre campus in Gurugram and surrounded by large green spaces, the school offers day boarding, weekly boarding and full boarding arrangements.
Pastoral care forms a central part of the school’s approach. The emphasis is not only on academic performance but also on helping students develop resilience, independence, social awareness and the ability to navigate change.
Cook also highlights the importance of indigenous culture and civilisation within the curriculum. He argues that when local history, culture and social realities are integrated into education, learning becomes more relevant to students.
Such an approach, he says, helps students view development in broader and more holistic terms while fostering a greater sense of inclusion and cultural understanding.
THE CASE FOR CRITICAL THINKING
At the heart of the Cambridge curriculum is a simple question: how should schools prepare students for a world that is changing faster than ever before?
The curriculum is built on the idea that education should be more than the delivery of information. Alongside subject knowledge, it places importance on research, analysis, problem-solving and the ability to assess information independently.
In a time when answers are often only a click away, the challenge is not finding information but understanding it, questioning it and using it effectively.
This is where the Cambridge approach seeks to make a difference. Rather than encouraging students to move quickly through a large volume of content, it gives them opportunities to spend more time exploring subjects in depth.
Critical thinking, inquiry and evidence-based learning are woven into the curriculum rather than treated as separate skills.
The approach becomes more evident at the IGCSE and A Level stages. Students are able to focus on subjects that align with their interests and future plans at an earlier stage. Whether their interests lie in engineering, medicine, economics, business or the humanities, they are encouraged to build a stronger foundation in those areas.
This depth of study is one reason why Cambridge qualifications continue to be recognised by universities across the world. A Levels, in particular, remain a widely accepted pathway for admission to higher education institutions in the United Kingdom and several other countries.
Students often enter university with experience in research, analytical thinking and subject-specific study that closely resembles the expectations of higher education.
From the rise of commerce in Britain to the demands of modern higher education, the school has repeatedly revised what it teaches and how it teaches it.
Its arrival in India can therefore be seen as part of the same journey, an attempt to bring a long-established educational model into a new context.
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