Why Choose the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa
Admission to the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa is based on merit. This is broadly defined as exceptional intellectual potential, leadership, a commitment to learning, strong sense of integrity, and the desire to work towards and instigate positive change.
As part of a network of Academies, we have been established to provide exceptional students from all backgrounds with an outstanding education.
We seek students representing a diverse range of economic, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. We look for students who have the ability and motivation to excel academically and who demonstrate leadership in community service and other co-curricular pursuits.
We are more than just residential schools that strive to give their students a sound academic foundation.
We emphasise the importance of academic excellence while instilling in students a sense of civic responsibility and the desire, ability and commitment to give back to their communities locally and globally.
"In my view, the most important thing a student can learn in any educational institution is the ability to keep on learning."
Our educational approach measures success not just by academic achievement, but by how students apply what they know to make the world a better place.
The overall educational programme is designed to foster students’ curiosity while providing them with the skills and intellectual confidence to engage with what they do not know and find answers and solutions.
You can call the admissions team on their direct lines:
+254 (0) 736 200 008 or +254 780 223 703
Application Forms
Choosing a school is an important decision in a child's and parent's life. We are here to help and answer any questions you might have.
We welcome enquiries about applying to the Academy. Our programmes are based on the principles and practices of the International Baccalaureate for primary and secondary-level students.
Please click here to see the admission requirements for all the Academy's programmes, including language requirements.
To access the online application service, please click on one of the options below.
For applicants applying from Tajikistan, please click here.
Contact the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa
Where to Find Us
We are situated on an 18-acre (7.3 hectares) campus in the Kizingo area of Mombasa, Kenya, overlooking the ocean.
The Aga Khan Academy Mombasa
Mbuyuni Road
Kizingo Mombasa
KENYA
Mailing Address
The Aga Khan Academy Mombasa
P.O. Box 90066-80100
Mombasa
KENYA
Landline: +254 (0) 202 048 490
Mobile: +254 (0) 720 631 144 / 735 931 144
Admission Requirements
The Academy uses a multifaceted assessment in identifying students. The assessments enable students to demonstrate their cognitive, literary, mathematical, creative and leadership abilities.
Admission is competitive and based on student merit.
Please click here to get more information.
Nursery School
Kindergarten 1, 2 and 3: Early Years Programme
Students entering Kindergarten 1 must be 3 years of age by 31 July of the year of entry.
All prospective students must demonstrate the potential for high achievement. Each applicant will participate in a variety of assessment exercises. Assessment exercises include different sets of skill tests (communication skills, social skills and motor skills).
Junior School
Grades 1–5: Primary Years Programme
Students entering year 1 should have completed at least three years of nursery school and must be 6 years of age by 31 August of the year of entry.
All prospective students must demonstrate a potential for high academic achievement and demonstrate competency in literacy and numeracy. Each applicant from Grades 2-5 must sit a standard assessment in logic, English (reading and writing), mathematics and creativity. Applicants will also have personal interviews with key members of the Junior School staff as part of their application process.
Senior School
Grades 6–10: Middle Years Programme
All students applying for a place in the Senior School must have attained high scholastic achievement in their former educational institutions. They must also demonstrate a keen interest and participation in community service projects outside the classroom and/or extracurricular activities such as sporting activities, clubs, arts and music.
All applicants must schedule an appointment for a standard assessment test in logic, English, mathematics and problem-solving at the school, in addition to providing past student grade reports and certificates of achievement. Applicants will also have personal interviews with key members of the Senior School staff as part of their application process.
Diploma Programme
Grades 11–12: Diploma Programme (DP)
Applicants for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme at the Aga Khan Academy Dhaka, must have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement as well as a proven record of civic mindedness and participation in community projects.
The application process requires prospective students to undergo a standardised assessment test in English, mathemathics and logic as well as an interview with IB Diploma Programme coordinators and key members of the Senior School staff.
New students will not be accepted in the year of the Diploma exam.
Calendar
What Makes Us Unique
The Aga Khan Academies are an integrated network of about 18 residential schools in 14 countries in Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East. They are dedicated to expanding access to the highest standard of education for exceptional young men and women, regardless of their ability to pay.
The Academies are more than just residential schools that strive to give their students a sound academic foundation. Each school emphasises the importance of academic excellence while instilling in students a sense of civic responsibility, leadership skills, and the desire, ability, and commitment to give back to their communities locally and globally.
The Academies are grounded in an educational approach that measures success not just by academic achievement, but by how students apply what they know to make the world a better place.
Students receive a grounding in ethics and also develop openness towards difference and acceptance of pluralism by living in diverse communities. As the network of Academies develops, both students and teachers will participate in visits and exchanges to Academies in other countries and regions.
Aims of the Academies programme
Our programme aims to:
- build inquiring, tolerant and creative minds
- empower gifted individuals, including girls, to innovate and lead
- over time, educate a cohort of well-trained local leaders with a sound ethical outlook and great intellectual capacity
- establish a global learning community across diverse geographic, social, economic, religious and tribal boundaries by providing merit-based admissions
- develop highly trained and effective educators
- positively influence education broadly across the targeted regions of the world, with measurable impact.
“The Aga Khan Academies aim to create ethical leaders with a strong sense of civic responsibility who will go on to the best universities in the world, pursue careers of their choice and…become leaders in the governments and the institutions of civil society in their own countries, in international organisations and in all those institutions, academic, economic and artistic that create positive change in our world.”
Embedded in our programme, the Aga Khan Curricular Strands (AK Strands) aim to strengthen understandings and outlooks needed by leaders of the future.
They encompass five critical areas of study:
- Ethics
- Pluralism
- Cultures (with an emphasis on Muslim civilisations)
- Governance and Civil Society
- Economics for Development.
The AK Strands examine issues of global importance and are also tailored to the cultural context of each Academy. This allows students to engage with international issues and challenges while remaining strongly grounded in their local context.
Dining Services
The Academy's dining services provide a varied menu throughout the week. We aim for meals to be nutritious and delicious and for mealtimes to be an important aspect of Academy life. We are committed to providing balanced meals.
See below the lunch menu for the week.
Ham Serunjogi: Blazing a path across three continents
Look below for a video of Ham talking about his experience at the Academy.
Swimming from Uganda
Ham Serunjogi, age 23, grew up in Uganda and started swimming competitively at age 6. His parents encouraged his academics and his athletics, and Ham excelled in both. In 2010 he enrolled at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa, Kenya.
On his way to Kenya, he competed in the Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010. At AKA Mombasa, he trained and studied hard, learning leadership and teamwork. He became president of the AKA Student Representative Council. At the Academy he became fascinated by digital communication. In 2011 he conducted a school project back home in Uganda, where he interviewed the IT manager at Cineplex Uganda.
To America
Ham’s drive got the attention of educators. After graduating from the Aga Khan Academy he received a scholarship to study in the United States. He pursued a bachelor’s degree at Grinnell College, where he majored in Economics.
With a fellow Grinnell student, Ham developed an app that allowed users to send short, encrypted voice recordings that would self-destruct after they were played. It was a smart solution that anticipated the rise of privacy concerns in technology. The app could work in places where voicemail systems weren’t common, like Ghana, where his app partner grew up.
The habits cultivated at AKA continued to bear fruit, he says. “The education I gained at the Academy had an emphasis on critical thinking,” Ham explains. That critical ability for problem solving fueled his achievement at Grinnell, along with a conviction that he had something to contribute.
Taking New Ideas to Facebook in Europe
As he prepared to graduate from Grinnell, Ham let himself dream big. He set his sights on the biggest social media giant he could find. “I took an unorthodox approach,” Ham said of his strategy for getting a job. “Instead of applying online, I sent an email directly to Sheryl Sandberg.”
He received responses to his email within hours, urging him to apply online. Soon recruiters were calling to set up interviews. The interviews led to an internship on Facebook’s Global Accounts Team in New York during the summer of 2015, before his final year of study at Grinnell College. There he enjoyed a surprising degree of autonomy to tackle issues that he cared about. In his first weekly one-on-one with his supervisor, she asked him, “What are you most passionate about?” He took that as encouragement and created a new initiative.
Ham is amazed by where life has taken him.
Keeping up Connections and Giving Back
Again and again, Ham has drawn on his experiences from AKA Mombasa, and the bonds among his Academy friends remain strong. Before starting his new job in Ireland, he visited friends and family in Uganda. He still connects often with his AKA Mombasa roommate, Aleem Mawji, now a student at the University of British Columbia. Ham’s friend from the AKA swim team, fellow Ugandan Joshua Tibatemwa, followed his path as a AKA swim team star and student president. Joshua also followed Ham’s example to Grinnell, where he’s now a student. Joshua competed for Uganda at the Rio Olympics last summer.
Ham took time away from settling into Dublin life to watch the Olympics on television, hoping to catch a glimpse of his friend.
Ham has launched into a life of active engagement, creating networks that make people’s lives better. He has seen how such networks make a difference. He shows dedication to paying it forward.
This spotlight is republished courtesy of AKF USA.
