How do children around the world learn Shakespeare?
We asked students to tell us about their experiences:

Wiki Shakespeare:  A Worldwide Classroom

If you are a teacher or student we want to know how you study Shakespeare. You can add or edit the wiki entry for your country.

We want every country in the world where Shakespeare is taught to be represented. Help us do this by contributing to the wiki »

Initial information for the wiki came from a survey sent out through British Council offices around the world. From the responses we received from 43 countries, covering two thirds of the world's population of school-children, the following statistics emerged:

• 50% of school-children across the world, at least 64 million each year are studying Shakespeare at school
• 65% of countries surveyed have Shakespeare as a named author on their curriculum

If you are passionate about Shakespeare and want your students to share that passion, why not work towards our WSF: Shakespeare Certificate.

Wiki Shakespeare »
Read the full report on the British Council survey »

The RSC are working with the British Council to lead workshops and talk to teachers and students about what Shakespeare means to them in: Brazil, Czech Republic, Oman, plus India, Hong Kong, South Africa, and USA in a special project Shakespeare: A Worldwide Classroom.

Shakespeare: A Worldwide Classroom 

Through the British Council's Connecting Classrooms programme and the RSC's Learning and Performance Network, four partnerships have been set up linking a cluster of schools in the UK with a cluster of schools in another country. The overseas schools will also be working closely with a local arts organisation.

The partnerships began in September 2011 when a lead teacher, artist and student from each of the overseas hub schools come together with two lead teachers and two lead students from each of the UK hub schools.

They took part in a four-day seminar in Stratford-upon-Avon where they shared their ideas and skills, and learned together.

From September 2011 to April 2012, students in the hub schools and their local cluster of Primary schools will exchange plans and activities about working with Shakespeare and learn more about each others' culture. Each partner will also lead a core group through a Bronze level Arts Award, the WSF: Shakespeare Challenge.

Each overseas cluster will form the basis of a case study on what Shakespeare means to young people in that country.

Look out for more details on these pages (and on the blog) throughout the year.

Lead teachers and students will present their achievements and findings at Worlds Together, an international education conference in September 2012.

The partnerships are:

• Hillcrest School and Community College, Dudley with Delhi Public School, Newtown in Kolkata
• Honley High School, Holmfirth with schools and Theatre Noir in Hong Kong
• Princes Risborough School with schools and ShakeXperience in South Africa
• St Thomas More High School, Southend with schools and Inner City Arts in Los Angeles

Keep watching these pages and the blog for more details!

As part of the World Shakespeare Festival, the RSC has worked with Arts Award to develop the WSF: Shakespeare Challenge, a special project for Arts Award centres delivering the Bronze Arts Award. The Challenge celebrates how Shakespeare's plays are re-imagined and interpreted by cultures and countries around the world.

Schools outside the UK can take part in our project to earn the WSF: Shakespeare Certificate.

Find out more:
WSF: Shakespeare Challenge »