Beijing National Day School
2013/2014 School Profile
Principal: Li Xigui
No. 66 Yuquan Road, Haidian District
Beijing 100039 CHINA
Web: www.bnds.cn
Tel: (8610) 8827-9193
Fax: (8610) 8827-9193
College Counselling Centre
Email: bnds.ccc@gmail.com
Tel: (8610) 8827-8164
Fax: (8610) 8827-8424
CEEB Code: 694342
CIE Centre No. 232
MISSION
-To create a quality education suitable for students’ comprehensive development
-To develop “Beijing National Day School Student” as a reputable and trustworthy credential
-To build our school into a respected and great institution
PHILOSOPHY AND PURPOSE
By providing excellent education to build strong students, Beijing National Day School endeavours to develop
the national backbone and societal pillars of China with ambition, integrity, good behaviour and critical
thinking.
SCHOOL HISTORY
Under the care of Chinese former Premier Zhou Enlai, Beijing National Day School (BNDS) was established by
the Central Military Committee in 1952, and named by Marshal Nie Rongzhen as a tribute to the National Day
of China, October First. The Chinese name, in fact, is still directly translated as “Beijing October First Middle
School”, but the English name has been officially changed to “Beijing National Day School”. BNDS is the only
school designated as the “Comprehensive Educational Reform Experimental School” for education reform in
the nation’s capital of Beijing. This means it is the leader in comprehensive curriculum reform in the
municipality, and that it alone has the ability to provide permanent employment in Beijing to top teachers
from all over China. It also means that BNDS is one of the few schools in Beijing which can administer its
own Huikao examination. In the 2012 BNDS was designated as the “Flagship Public School in Beijing for
Internationalisation” in the new round of education reform. It has been recognized as one of the Schools for
Advanced “Green” Activity, the Beijing Science and Technology Education Model School, and has received the
Beijing Golden Sail of Art Education Award. Additionally, Principal Li Xigui is one of only two China National
Education Inspectors in all of mainland China.
SCHOOL DESCRIPTION
BNDS provides students with modern and advanced teaching conditions. With grounds covering 15.6 hectares
the school enjoys excellent facilities with a total building floor space of 156,000 square meters and is still
growing. It meets many comprehensive educational demands, with well-equipped laboratories, modern
classrooms, comfortable dormitories and remarkable athletic facilities. BNDS currently matriculates nearly
4,000 students in 100 classes from grades 7-12 (Junior 1,2,3, and Senior 1,2,3).
Innovation
BNDS is a pioneer in Chinese secondary schools by establishing the first Post-graduate Research Base to find
BNDS School Profile – 2013/2014
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practical solutions to problems in Chinese basic education. It not only aims to help students in their current
life and studies, but also prepares students for their future. Currently, the career-investigation courses at
BNDS are designed to help students discover their passions and to lay a strong foundation for their future
careers. So far, BNDS has created 34 job-investigation courses in different fields. Additionally, BNDS offers
over 200 different optional courses, including equestrianism, skiing, fencing, fashion design, automobile
design, animation, advertising, economics, and foreign languages.
BNDS continuously introduces
high-quality curricula and creates optional courses, which motivate students for a healthy development, both
intellectually and physically.
Faculty
BNDS boasts of a teaching staff with high moral standards, vast professional knowledge, and excellent
scientific research abilities. With a total of more than 460 educators, the school has 27 Distinguished
Teachers, 44 teachers possessing doctorate degrees, 120 teachers with masters degrees and 57 foreign
teachers, counsellors and administrators from the United States, Britain and other Commonwealth countries.
Our faculty members come from prestigious institutions of learning such as Tsinghua, Peking, Renmin, Harvard,
Columbia, Middlebury, Vanderbilt and Cambridge.
Oral English Programme
In the fall of 2000 BNDS joined with Cedarville University located in Cedarville, Ohio USA to strengthen its
English language education programme. Since then, BNDS has invited over 41 Cedarville graduates to teach
oral English and a variety of elective classes to both its Junior-level and Senior-level students.
Each year the Oral English teachers bring opportunities for students to expand their English abilities and grow
in their understanding of Western culture through lectures, class or office hour discussions, and many other
extra-curricular activities. The success of this joint academic endeavour continues to provide excellent English
language education at BNDS.
Admission Policies
For admission purposes, BNDS is divided into the Main School and the International Department. The Main
School Senior-level students attend either the Gaokao (National College Examination) oriented classes, or the
Gaokao Optional classes. Both the Gaokao and Gaokao Optional groups are admitted to BNDS through the
same process. Two-thirds of them will be accepted based on achieving top 10% Zhongkao (Municipal High
School Examination) results. The remaining one-third of the Main School cohort is a select group brought in
directly from BNDS’ own Junior-level (middle school) students after successfully taking an internal
examination which is considered more challenging than the Beijing Zhongkao. BNDS only accepts students
into its Junior level from the top 13% of primary school graduates in the city of Beijing.
The International Department students are comprised from three different curricula: The Advanced
Placement (AP), the Cambridge A-level (CIE) and the International Baccalaureate (IB). These students are
admitted from all over China after successfully taking an entrance examination for their respective curriculum.
ACCREDITATION
BNDS is a public school accredited by the Beijing Municipal Education Committee, under the auspices of the
Chinese Ministry of Education.
BNDS School Profile – 2013/2014
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CURRICULA
BNDS has established an education system which responds to students at different levels and interests. In
order to personalise the learning experience, BNDS has implemented function-specific classrooms, an
innovative self-study academy and a system of flexible adjustment of curricular content. The curricular
developments have greatly enhanced students’ comprehensive achievements.
Four Concurrent Curricula
Currently, BNDS has four parallel curricula that are available for high school students: The CNCC, the CIE, the
AP and the IB.
1. The CNCC or Chinese National Certificate Curriculum offers a national based curriculum which is primarily
taught in Chinese language and which fulfills graduation requirements for the Chinese High School Education
Diploma. After passing a highly selective entrance exam students from all over the municipality of Beijing
are enrolled in this programme. CNCC course marks are shown as a percentage with 100% being a full mark,
and weighted accordingly to Experimental, Accelerated or Standard levels. This programme also offers the
Gaokao Optional class which allows students to opt out of the Gaokao (college placement) examination.
These students routinely chose to study in other countries after high school.
2. The CIE or University of Cambridge International Examination’s A-level curriculum began at BNDS in the
fall of 2009 for Senior 1 students. Students attending the CIE programme come from all over China, and
Spring 2012 was the first full graduating class of this programme. It is conducted in English and complies
with the usual high standards and rigour of the CIE programmes. Marks obtained for CIE courses at BNDS
are shown on a 4.0 weighted scale. The programme begins in the PAL (Pre-A-level) or Grade 10 with IGCSE
(International General Certificate of Secondary Education), followed by AS (Advanced Subsidiary) and AL
(Advanced Level) or A2 examinations in subsequent years which are reported separately and externally by CIE.
CIE COURSES OFFERED
(Grade 10) - PAL
IGCSE: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Business studies, English (IGCSE/TOEFL/IELTS）
AS: Maths
CNCC: Chinese, Politics, Geography, Art, PE
(Grade 11)
AS: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Business Studies, Economics
A2: Maths
CNCC: Chinese, History, General Technology, PE
BNDS: Academic English (SAT/IELTS）
(Grade 12)
A2: Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Business Studies, Economics
CNCC: Chinese, General Technology, PE
BNDS: Academic English
3. The AP or Advanced Placement curriculum has been made available through the “BNDS-Wasatch Academy
Dual Diploma Program” since 2010. All students taking this programme are on track to earn both a US
accredited diploma as well as the CNCC diploma. It is possible for students to also earn the Advanced
BNDS School Profile – 2013/2014
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Placement International Diploma if they meet the College Board requirements. Classes are taught in English.
Marks obtained for AP courses are shown on a 4.0 weighted scale.
AP COURSES OFFERED

AP Biology

AP Calculus AB

AP Calculus BC

AP Chemistry

AP Computer Science




AP English Language
and Composition
AP English Literature
and Composition
AP Human Geography
AP Macro Economics






AP Micro Economics
AP Music Theory
AP Physics B
AP Physics C
AP Psychology
AP Statistics
4. The IB or International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a curriculum at BNDS which began classes in
the fall of 2013. It was originally founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 1968 where it still maintains its offices.
The IB has rapidly become a world leader as a rigourous, well respected curriculum which is widely accepted in
universities around the world as an excellent preparation for university studies. Classes are taught in English.
TRANSCRIPT, GRADE POINT AVERAGE (GPA) and RANKING
The official BNDS transcript is a bilingual document signed and stamped by both the principal and the College
Counselling Centre (CCC) and is sent directly from the CCC to the institution. Any transcripts given directly to
students are considered unofficial and will be stamped “issued to student."


Transcripts evidence: student’s name, date of birth, gender, date of enrollment, anticipated date of
graduation and date of issue.
BNDS courses are designated by name, curriculum type, semester taken, and marks received.
The back side of the transcript has the legend describing the grading systems for all the curricula offered at
BNDS. External scores are not indicated on the BNDS transcript. GPA is calculated by taking the averages
from all subjects except Art, Music, PE and Technology. BNDS does not rank its students. However, BNDS
itself is consistently ranked in the top ten high schools in Beijing.
TEST SCORES – Class of 2012
GPA Average – 91.32%, SAT Average – 1969, TOEFL Average – 98 iBT
*GPA vs AP Score Analysis: All Dual Diploma courses are rigorous.
This is reflected in our most recent
set of AP Scores as referenced here. 87% of those taking an AP exam earned a score of 4 or 5 while
only 56% of all those enrolled in an AP class earned a grade of A (=90% or higher). All students
enrolled in an AP class are required to take the AP exam.
Also, the BNDS A-level students have done extraordinarily well, including 57 full scores on the IGCSE,
and A-Level examinations in June 2011, three Best in the World in Maths, and 40 students receiving
four As in the June 2012 Cambridge Exams
*Advanced Placement Scores 2012
91 students took 137 Exams in 8 subjects
AP Score
Number
% of Scores
5
89
65%
4
30
22%
3
11
8%
2
7
5%
1
0
0%
SCHOOL YEAR
The school year for BNDS is based on a two semester academic calendar with the first semester beginning on
September 1st and running until just before the Chinese Spring Festival (Chinese New Year). The second
semester begins immediately after Chinese Spring Festival and runs until the second week of July.
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT
Director of the International Department
Mrs. Wu Fengqin (Betty Wu)
BNDS School Profile – 2013/2014
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Email: bettywufq@163.com
The International Department of Beijing National Day School was established in June 2004. So far, it has four
major programmes: International Exchange Programme, International Students Programme, Cambridge (CIE)
Programme, and Sino-American Dual Diploma (AP) Programme. The full-time faculty for the department has
grown from originally 3 to 102. Among them, 53 are foreign teachers, counsellors and administrators.
2000 - International Exchange Programme began
2004 - International Department began with three faculty
2006 - Authorised to enroll foreign students by Beijing Municipal Education Committee
and other relative departments
2007 - International Department became the test location of HSK held by China National
Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language (Hanban for short)
2008 - Became one of the Beijing Bases for International Promotion of Mandarin
2009 - Initiated the project of Cambridge IGCSE, AS and A-Level Programmes
2010 - Initiated the project of Advanced Placement Course (AP) with Wasatch Academy
from the USA. This included establishment of the College Counselling Centre
2011 - Appointed as the Leading School for Foreign Students by the Primary and Middle
School Education Research Department of the Beijing Academy of Educational Science
2012 - Received authorisation for International Baccaulareate (IB) curriculum to add to
offerings in the future
International Exchange Programme (Study Abroad)
In 2000 exchange students began coming to study at BNDS for non-degree cultural programmes of short and
middle term. This has evolved from only receiving six foreign students in the first year to now having
received 418 foreign students.
Additionally, every year BNDS organises teachers and students to take part in annual international exchange
activities with programmes such as AFS (American Field Service), NACEL (Nacel Open Door, Inc.), and AYA
(Academic Year in America). It has established wide links with schools and exchange organizations from
more than 20 countries and districts for the purposes of exchange visits, including: USA, Canada, Japan,
Australia, South Africa, Singapore, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong, Macao, Korea, and Taiwan.
PARTNER SCHOOL AFFILIATIONS
Specific affiliations are with the following schools:
AUSTRALIA
●
Lauriston Girls School
●
Canberra Grammar School
BNDS School Profile – 2013/2014
BRITAIN
●
Reading School
●
Loughborough College
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FRANCE
●
Lycee International de
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
USA
●
●
●
HONG KONG
●
Wah Yan College
●
●
●
SINGAPORE
●
Anglo-Chinese Junior College
●
Hackley School, NY
Hickman High School, OH
Hockaday School, TX
St. Mark’s of Texas, TX
Thousand Oaks High School, CA
Wasatch Academy, UT
Westlake High School, CA
International Students Programme
In 2006 BNDS was authorised to enroll international students for long term, degree programmes from
different corners of the world, including the USA, Canada, Germany, Norway, Australia, South Korea, Japan,
Mongolia, and the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions of China.
College Counselling Centre
The College Counselling Centre (CCC) is composed of a bilingual, multinational staff. Counsellors and staff
assist in the college search and selection process, as well as provide counselling on individual application
questions, essay writing and a myriad of related topics. Internationally, students have been admitted to
numerous international universities. Additionally, the CCC is responsible for bringing representatives from
colleges and universities to BNDS for individual and group presentations from well known institutions around
the world. In the academic year 2012-2013 over 200 such visits were conducted on site at BNDS. Contact
Mr. Joe Guo (joeguo.bnds@gmail.com) to schedule a visit.
College Counselling Staff
Foreign Director:
Mr. Paul Svaren
Email: paul.svaren.bnds@gmail.com
Counsellor :
Ms. Ma Wenhua (Minna Ma)
Email: mawenhua.bnds@gmail.com
Chinese Director :
Mr. Jiang Xiaobo (Percy Jiang)
Email: percy.bnds@gmail.com
Counsellor :
Mr. Guo Qiang (Joe Guo)
Email: joeguo.bnds@gmail.com
Counsellor :
Ms. Katie King
Email: kking.bnds@gmail.com
Counsellor :
Ms. Sun Yue (Ashley Sun)
Email: ashleysun.bnds@gmail.com
Counsellor :
Mr. Hector Leon
Email :hectorleonbnds@gmail.com
BNDS School Profile – 2013/2014
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UNIVERSITY ACCEPTANCES AND ENROLMENTS OF BNDS STUDENTS:
●
Traditionally, 100% of BNDS graduates attend four-year colleges or universities in China or overseas.
●
63 members of the class of 2012 received offers from Peking University and Tsinghua University in China.
●
●
In the same year 99.7% of the class who took the Gaokao were admitted into Chinese Key Universities.
From 2007 to 2012, 314 students have been admitted to Tsinghua and Peking University, more than 207
students to first-class overseas universities, and 54 students to the top universities in Hong Kong.
Members of the classes of 2008-13 were admitted to the institutions, as listed below. Schools in bold
indicate where students matriculated and the number of students is found between the parenthesis.
A
Aachen Univ. of Applied Sci., Germany
Agnes Scott College (1)
Albion College
Allegheny College
American University (2)
Arizona State University
Art Institute of California-Hollywood
Assumption College
Australian National University
B
Babson College (1)
Bard College (1)
Baylor University
Beloit College
Bentley University
Binghamton University-SUNY(1)
Boston College
Boston University (9)
Bowling Green State University (1)
Brandeis University (2)
Brown University (2)
Bryn Mawr College (1)
Bryant University
Bucknell University
Buffalo State College-SUNY
C
Cardiff University, UK
Carleton College (1)
Carleton University, Canada (1)
Carnegie Mellon University (2)
Case Western Reserve University (4)
Centre College
Chinese University of Hong Kong, The (1)
City University, UK
City University of Hong Kong (2)
Claremont McKenna College (1)
Colby College (4)
Colgate University (2)
College of the Holy Cross
College of William and Mary, The (3)
Colorado College (4)
Colorado School of Mines
Columbia College Chicago (1)
BNDS School Profile – 2012/2013
Columbia University (1)
Connecticut College
Cornell University (4)
D
Dalhousie University (1)
Davidson College (1)
De Montfort University, UK
Denison University (1)
DePauw University
Dickinson College
Drexel University (4)
Duke University (3)
Durham University, UK
E
Eckerd College
Edinburgh Napier University, UK
Emory University (5)
Emory Univ., Oxford College (1)
F
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fordham University (3)
Franklin and Marshall College
Furman University
G
George Mason University (1)
George Washington University (6)
Georgetown University
Georgia Institute of Technology (1)
Gettysburg College
Goucher College (1)
Grinnell College (1)
H
Hague University, The-The Netherlands
Hamilton College
Hartwick College
Haverford College (1)
Hendrix College
Hong Kong Baptist (6)
Hong Kong Institute of Education, The (1)
Hong Kong Polytechnic (7)
Hong Kong University. of Science & Tech., The (3)
I
Illinois Wesleyan University (2)
Imperial College London, UK (2)
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Indiana University-Bloomington (4)
Iona College
Iowa State University
J
John Carroll University (2)
Johns Hopkins University
Juniata College
K
Knox College (2)
L
Lafayette College (1)
Lancaster University, UK
Langara College, Canada
Lawrence University
Lehigh University (1)
Leiden University (1)
Lewis & Clark College
London College of Fashion, UK (1)
London School of Economics, UK (1)
Loughborough University, UK (1)
Loyola Marymount University (1)
Loyola University Chicago
M
Macalester College
Macquarie University, Australia (1)
Manhattanville College (1)
Marietta College (2)
Maryland Inst., Col. Of Art
Maryville College
McGill University, Canada (3)
McMaster University, Canada
Miami University
Michigan State University (3)
Middlebury College (1)
Montana State University
N
Nazareth College
New York Institute of Technology
New York University (6)
North Carolina State University
Northeastern University (2)
Northwestern University (2)
O
Oberlin College (1)
Occidental College
Ohio Wesleyan University
Ohio State University (5)
Open University of Hong Kong, The (1)
Oregon State University (1)
P
Pace University
Penn State University, Univ. Park (6)
Pepperdine University
Pitzer College (2)
Princeton University (2)
BNDS School Profile – 2012/2013
Purdue University (1)
Q
Queen’s University, Canada (3)
R
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (3)
Rhodes College
Rice University (3)
Rochester Institute of Technology
Roger Williams University (1)
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Technology
Rutgers, The State Univ. of NJ at (1)
S
Sage College of Albany
Saint Louis University (1)
San Francisco Art Institute
Santa Barbara City College (1)
Santa Clara University (1)
Sarah Lawrence College
Savannah College of Arts and Design
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (4)
School of Visual Arts
Scripps College
Seattle University
Sewanee: The University of the South (1)
Skidmore College
Smith College (2)
Southern Methodist University (1)
Spring Arbor University (1)
St. John’s University–NYC
St. Lawrence University
St. Louis University (2)
St. Mary’s College of Maryland (1)
Stevens Institute of Technology
Stony Brook University
SUNY College of Geneseo
Susquehanna University
Syracuse University
T
Temple University
Texas A&M University (1)
Trinity College–Hartford, (1)
Trinity University (1)
Tufts University (1)
U
Union College
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain (1)
Universite de Technologie de Compiegne, Fr (1)
University of Alabama
University at Buffalo, SUNY (1)
University College of London, UK (2)
University of Alberta (1)
University of Arizona
University of Bath, UK
University of Birmingham
University of Bristol, UK (1)
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University of British Columbia, Canada (3)
University of Calgary, Canada
University of California-Berkeley (4)
University of California-Davis (1)
University of California-Irvine (5)
University of California-Los Angeles (8)
University of California-Riverside (1)
University of California-San Diego (8)
University of California-Santa Barbara (2)
University of Cambridge, UK (1)
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado-Boulder
University of Connecticut (1)
University of Delaware
University of Denver (5)
University of Edinburgh, UK (1)
University of Evansville (1)
University of Georgia (1)
University of Glasgow, UK (1)
University of Idaho
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign (13)
University of Illinois - Chicago
University of Iowa (1)
University of Kent, UK
University of Kentucky (1)
University of Leeds, UK (1)
University of Lethbridge, Canada
University of Liverpool, UK
University of London, UK (1)
University of Manchester, UK
University of Manitoba, Canada
University of Maryland–College Park (1)
University of Massachusetts, Amherst (3)
University of Melbourne, Australia (1)
University of Miami
University of Michigan- Ann Arbor (5)
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (4)
University of Missouri-Columbia (1)
University of New South Wales, Australia (1)
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (1)
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
University of Oklahoma
University of Oregon
University of Ottawa, Canada
University of Pittsburgh (1)
ver. 10/13pas
BNDS School Profile – 2012/2013
University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown
University of the Pacific
University of Portsmouth, UK
University of Richmond (3)
University of Rochester (3)
University of San Francisco
University of Southern California (6)
University of St. Andrews, UK
University of Sydney, Australia (1)
University of Texas-Austin
University of the Arts London, UK (1)
University of Tokyo, Japan (1)
University of Toronto, Canada (5)
University of Tulsa
University of Victoria, Canada (2)
University of Virginia (5)
University of Warwick, UK (1)
University of Washington (14)
University of Waterloo, Canada (3)
University of Western Ontario (2)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (8)
University of York, UK
Ursinus College
Utica College
V
Vanderbilt University (1)
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
W
Wake Forest University (2)
Washington and Lee University (2)
Washington and Jefferson University
Washington State University
Washington University- St. Louis (1)
Wellesley College (1)
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Wesleyan University (1)
Whitman College
Wofford College
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (3)
Y
York University, Canada
College Counselling Centre
No. 66 Yuquan Road, Haidian District
Beijing 100039 CHINA
Tel: (8610) 8827-8164 or 8827-3355
Fax: (8610) 8827-8424
Website: www.bnds.cn
Email: bnds.ccc@gmail.com
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