About Us

Who are we?

At Cognita, we know every student is unique.
We nurture their distinct personalities and strengths. We support them academically, socially, and emotionally, wherever they are in the world, wherever they’re starting from.

And each and every one of our schools is unique too.
We protect what’s special about them, while offering them rich knowledge, opportunities, and best practices. And they get to be part of something bigger. We open their classrooms to the collective wisdom of over 100 schools in 17 countries, ensuring every child gets an education that’s, quite literally, world class.

It’s an individual approach that empowers every school, teacher and student to focus on what they do best. And thrive.

Launched in 2004, Cognita is an extraordinary
community of diverse yet connected schools,
spanning seventeen different countries.

Over 100 schools. United by one purpose.

We talk a lot about our schools retaining their individuality.
While being united and uncompromising on quality across the world.

How do we make that happen?
And why does it matter?

Our students are our number one priority.

The strategy we have developed is to support their outcomes and futures. To give them the agency, adaptability and positive attitudes that they need to thrive.

Our schools are as individual as our students. School leaders and teachers know what works best for their school communities. So we provide a principle-led, evidence-based approach for our schools to follow.

Our four fundamentals for schools

Four fundamental pillars based on evidence from external and internal experts support every single Cognita school:

1. Holistic education – we focus on social, emotional and physical learning as well as cognitive. Because at Cognita, we know you need a combination of all four to achieve the best academic outcomes.
2. Leadership – we create the conditions for success by building culture and capacity.
3. Operational excellence – we strive to be the best at getting better.
4. Growth – we always create new opportunities to develop and improve.

Every school and teacher is accountable, working on what really matters and making sure that education is excitingly alive and moving forward. These things are consistent in Cognita schools worldwide.

Our support teams focus on three areas

Three capabilities guide our support teams.

1. Intelligent accountability – knowing our schools well.

2. Knowledge animation – taking what works in one context and applying it in a different way to work in another context.

3. Building capacity – developing people and processes needed to thrive

The result?

Students, teachers, schools and a global schools system that thrive in a rapidly evolving world.

We’ve got our finger on the pulse

Wondering what your audience is really thinking? Ask them. We’re big believers in surveys to check we’re meeting everyone’s needs. Through our inhouse Strategic Insights team, we ask parents, students and our teachers how we’re doing every year, and put the results into an overall dashboard. So we’ve got a 360 view of trends, successes and any areas for improvement. Because we know exactly what’s going on and how people are honestly feeling, we’re quick to act. So we fix what needs fixing, and always do more of what’s working really well.

Voice of the Parent

Enabling schools across the group to understand and act upon parents’ views and experiences.

Voice of the Student

We analyse key results and trends from our annual Voice of the Student survey, administered to Cognita students aged 7+.

Voice of the Employee

The Voice of the Employee survey looks at core areas of the employee experience, including learning and development, wellbeing and communication.

Our Leadership

Our Responsibilities

Our Sustainability Strategy

Our Owners

Our Charitable Cause

Our Partnerships