With laurels as answers, with stars as guides;
XLIS luminaries dazzle at WSC Regional Round.
The World Scholar’s Cup (WSC) Xi’an Regional Round was hosted at Dehong Xi’an School from May 30 to 31, 2026. Over the two-day competition, student participants from multiple international schools across Xi’an and Chengdu competed in four core academic modules: Debate, Collaborative Writing, Scholar’s Challenge and Team Bowl.
Officially endorsed by Yale University, the WSC is widely recognised as “the Academic Olympics for global middle and high school students.” Each year it attracts more than 60,000 primary and secondary students from over 70 countries and regions. The Global Round finals, held at Yale University, give qualifying teams the opportunity to engage with world-leading academics — a standout achievement on any student’s academic record.
What distinguishes the WSC from traditional single-subject competitions is its focus on collaboration, inquiry, debate and creativity. Its four interdisciplinary events span science, history, literature, the arts and beyond. Rather than passively receiving knowledge, students become active researchers and thinkers: they explore complex and interdisciplinary themes in teams, develop persuasive arguments and hone presentation skills in debates, express original ideas through creative and collaborative writing, and demonstrate critical thinking and broad knowledge in the fast-paced Team Bowl.
2026 WSC Annual Academic Theme: Are We There Yet?
Building on XLIS students’ strong performance at the 2025 Global Round at Yale University — where they won 2 trophies, 6 gold medals and 8 silver medals — our students delivered another outstanding result at this year’s Xi’an Regional Round. With solid academic preparation, excellent teamwork and the inquiry skills developed through the IB programme, XLIS teams claimed overall championships in both the Junior and Senior Divisions, together with excellent individual results:
15 trophies
85 gold medals
25 silver medals
All participants have successfully qualified for the next round.
Click here for more details.
Author:
Eunice Hou (Secondary Chinese Language & Literature Teacher, TOK Teacher, Language & Literature Subject Area Leader)
Eva Liu (DP Coordinator, Secondary I&S Teacher, Extended Essay Coordinator)
