Online Learning Decoded

Get answers from Crimson Global Academy's Advisors to all your questions about online learning and choosing international curricula to get ahead and gain admission to top universities.

Are online schools like CGA only for academically ambitious students?

Crimson Global Academy isn't just about serving only really high IQ students. It’s about serving any student with the potential and ambition and equipping them with all the resources we have to help them unlock their full potential. CGA is indeed a school for everybody. It is one that really values ambition, and will rally behind all students as they find their different strengths throughout those critical high school years.

Most high schools don't necessarily carve the pathway for students to connect what they're doing now to their future career goals and aspirations. We know what it takes to get a student into the world's best institutions and access a variety of career opportunities. If you have a passion for something, whether it be finance or computer science, or social innovation or architecture, CGA provides an environment to help grow that ambition and amplify it. 

Is online school an option for students studying local curriculum?

One of the most popular reasons families choose our school is for the international curriculum we offer. Many local curricula are not well recognized by top universities globally. At CGA we offer the International GCSE and A Level curriculum as well as Advanced Placement courses that are renowned for their academic breadth and rigour. 

Studying an international curriculum gives you a qualification which is recognized around the world. It puts you on a global stage ready to compete with others like you and apply to top universities. 

So it's very common for students to be going to a local public school and doing their national curriculum or a local private school doing that national curriculum, and then using CGA to take those extra A levels or APS outside of school to really supercharge their ability. 

And what if you are not aiming for a global university?

Crimson Global Academy is designed to make sure that you're as competitive as possible for the world’s opportunities and that includes local university pathways as well. Many of our students end up studying at local universities and choose local medical schools, local commerce programs, local law programs, as well as fine arts programs. 

The key thing about CGA is to give you options and flexibility. It's about making sure that there's no door you can't walk through if you want to. We have the capabilities to give the right kind of guidance through our extensive experience. So if you want to stay local we can help, or if you want to explore your options internationally we can help with that too.

Many traditional high schools don't necessarily put a lot of focus on just how high-stakes education is. But at Crimson, we've seen our students go from parts of the world, like Hamilton, to launch multi-million dollar companies in the middle of Silicon Valley. We've seen students launch impactful global social impact campaigns, and go on to careers at Facebook at Google at Goldman Sachs. We recognize how high-stakes education is, and Crimson Global Academy is here to support that ambition.

Are A-levels perceived as a “weaker” qualification by universities in the US?

CGA has selected Pearson Edexcel as our primary curriculum partner. Pearson qualifications are studied by more students than any other awarding organisation in the world. The curriculum is recognised throughout the world for its academic rigour and breadth of learning. Pearson qualifications are recognised by leading universities across the world – including the Ivy Leagues, all Russell Group universities in the UK (including Oxford and Cambridge) and Group of 8 Universities in Australia.

Do students taking A-levels and APs lack the “well-rounded” aspect of IB?

The AP curriculum is not a complete curriculum - these are college-level courses taken by US high school students to accelerate their studies along side their regular coursework. On the other hand, the A Level curriculum allows a student to accelerate themselves by taking a variety of subjects and then choosing the ones they want to study at a higher level. Students can also expand in a field of interest by doing the EPQ. It is one of the most widely-studied curricula in the world and is recognized by top universities for academic rigor and breadth.

How do students interact in an online classroom?

CGA is very powerful because when you join our online classes, you're actually sitting in a class full of other ambitious students just like you who want to take advantage of their high school experience. In every one of our classes, you're encouraged to speak, to debate, to participate, and to come prepared. In many university classes, students get called upon in every class to speak. This means that you've got to be more prepared and you've got to be able to articulate yourself verbally with opinions and perspectives. And many students find that challenging or intimidating. But exposing students to this method in the high school years makes you much more effective as a learner and as a citizen because you're able to speak with a lot more confidence. 

Is the online high school model sustainable after the Covid-19 pandemic?

The online high school model will sustain beyond the Covid-19 pandemic especially for schools like CGA that offer an international curriculum taught by world-class teachers without the constraints of location. Further, with advances in educational technology and artificial intelligence, students will increasingly rely on new methods to learn. These advances will also ensure that students are studying to ability, rather than age. 

Have more questions? Check out our free Parents’ FAQ ebook where our Academic Advisors shed more light on online learning.