Governance in Chinese international schools-Wellington College International Hangzhou

Our Governance
The Board of Governors

An Introduction to the Governance of Wellington College Education (China) Schools

2026–27

Wellington College Education (China) Governance: Ensuring Collaborative, Transparent School Leadership

At Wellington College Education (China) (WCEC), we have a robust, multi-layered governance structure that provides strategic oversight and accountability across all our schools. It consists of three key components: the WCEC Group Board, the School Affairs Boards (SABs) and four sub-committees.

The WCEC Group Board serves as the top level of governance, approving group-wide policies and overseeing the Central Office. Each WCEC school then has its own SAB, which is responsible for its governance and strategic direction. The SAB oversees critical tasks, including hiring and evaluating school leadership, setting the school’s development plan, assessing its progress and monitoring educational and financial performance.

To ensure more specialised and in-depth governance, the SABs have delegated certain responsibilities to four sub-committees. This enables deeper analysis and decision-making within their respective domains.

Academic Sub-Committee (ASC)

The ASC meets two to three times per year and has the following responsibilities:
• Evaluating the school's academic performance against targets, using data and evidence including QoT, attainment and progress data, public exam outcomes, pupil retention and university destinations
• Approving the school's academic SDP and evaluating progress against it.

Core voting members consist of:
• Director of The Bridge | China and/or other senior members of The Bridge | China
• Master
• Second Master or Principal (or equivalent)
• Senior leaders from WCEC sister schools.

Finance & Operations Sub-Committee (FOSC)

The FOSC meets two to three times per year and has the following responsibilities:
• Ensuring the financial health and sustainability of the school
• Approving the headcount and the annual aggregate pay increment percentage
• Approving the operating budget, including the annual tuition and fee increments
• Overseeing the development of multi-year budgets aligned with the school's educational development plans
• Ensuring external competitiveness and internal equity of staff compensation, staff development and employee satisfaction
• Overseeing the facilities strategy and annual capital expenditures.

Core voting members consist of:
• COO and/or other Central Office Leaders
• Bursar and Master
• Senior leaders from WCEC sister schools.

Admissions and Marketing Sub-Committee (AdMaSC)

The AdMaSC meets two to three times per year and has the following responsibilities:
• Approving the marketing plan, including the communication of the vision and mission of the school to the community
• Ensuring relationships are cultivated with prospective families
• Approving the enrolment roadmap
• Reviewing the effectiveness of different communication channels.

Core voting members consist of:
• The CO Director of Marketing, the COO and/or other Central Office Leaders
• Bursar and Master
• Senior leaders from WCEC sister schools.

Safeguarding and Child Protection Sub-Committee (SCPSC)

The SCPSC has the following responsibilities:
• Reviewing school safeguarding updates and reports
• Monitoring WCEC safeguarding action plans
• Ensuring WCEC safeguarding training remains up-to-date and includes the latest best practice from the UK.

A key strength of this model lies in the diverse composition of our boards and committees. They balance full-time employee governors with volunteer non-executive governors and sub-committee members. Appointments are drawn from Wellington College, Wellington College International in Crowthorne, England; leading professionals from China, the US, and other locations; and WCEC employees. Full-time governors and sub-committee members contribute deep institutional knowledge and administrative expertise, while non-executive governors bring independent thinking and external insights in areas such as school leadership, academics, finance, legal matters, HR and facilities management. This diverse blend of voices promotes transparency, accountability and a collaborative approach to governance.