The UCL Academy
Umar Ba is a seasoned educator with extensive experience in social sciences and economics. Currently serving as the Faculty Lead of Social Sciences and Curriculum Lead of Business and Economics at The UCL Academy since August 2021, Umar previously held roles as Head of Economics and Teacher at St Thomas The Apostle College from April 2018 to August 2021, and from July 2015 to August 2021, respectively. Prior experiences include working as a Manager's Assistant at Coral and a Human Resources Assistant at UPS. Umar holds a PGCE in Secondary Economics from IOE - UCL's Faculty of Education and Society and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Hertfordshire.
The UCL Academy
The UCL Academy is an 11-18 Academy, sponsored by UCL and opened in Swiss Cottage in Camden in September 2012. UCL is an institution which was founded to ensure equality of access to education. It is therefore important to us that the UCL Academy supports students of all backgrounds and all abilities. The UCL Academy is not a selective Academy. The UCL Academy opened in 2012 with 180 students in Year 7 (we call this Foundation Level) and 125 Year 12 (we call this Level 3). We now have over 1100 students and nearly 200 staff. . We want the UCL Academy to fire the imaginations of its students and to support them to develop in ways which stand them in good stead for their future lives and responsibilities as individuals, employees and citizens. The UCL Academy has four key priorities: • High academic and personal standards for students and a commitment to developing individual potential; • Specialism in science, technology, visual arts, engineering and Maths (STEAM); • Languages at the heart of the curriculum; • A mission to provide ‘education for global citizenship’. The UCL Academy is an exciting, stimulating place to learn, with a curriculum which focuses on problem-solving, skills development and ‘real world’ issues and ideas. Students have the opportunity to undertake extensive project work, and to participate in community activities as well as internships and international exchanges.