The vision for the UCL Academy curriculum puts emphasis on interdisciplinary and problem-based learning and on ‘stage not age’ progression, with students making personal choices to build a curriculum that meets their needs and aspirations. The superstudio concept has been developed specifically to support this vision, and it draws upon research into highly successful schools from across the world.

A superstudio is a group of linked teaching spaces which encourage students to move between activities: to work collaboratively and across disciplines. They bring together traditional classrooms, small and larger seminar rooms and open learning space to create a vibrant and dynamic learning space which can accommodate a range of teacher and student-led activity at any one time.

Academy students will spend as much as 60% of their learning time working in superstudios. They will also use specialist facilities (such as science labs, arts rooms etc.) for more practical, hands-on activity.

There will be five superstudios in the UCL Academy. The Foundation Superstudio will be exclusively for the use of students in their first year at the Academy; the other superstudios are levels-based, which means that each superstudio will be used to teach the full range of subjects that the school teaches at a particular level. If a student is studying Maths at Level 1, he or she will have those lessons in the Level 1 superstudio.