According to the Wall Street Journal in late 2007 and the Brown Daily Herald in 2014, the college has top university acceptance rates and is identified as one of the world's top 50 schools for its success in preparing students to enter Ivy League universities, one of only two schools located outside the US.

Other United World Colleges have since been established in North America, Europe, Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere in Asia[4] In 1978, Dr Lee Quo-Wei GMB JP, as the Chair of the UWC Hong Kong Selection Committee, initiated the idea of building a UWC college in Hong Kong with the help of Mr Li Shiu Tsang MBE JP, one of the richest men in the city, who set up the Li Po Chun Charitable Trust.

[5][6] The trust donated HK$100 million towards the construction of the college, while the Hong Kong government gifted a former mining site in Ma On Shan for use as the campus.

[6] In 2019, the school initiated a solar power system, installing 1,168 panels on campus and will use the revenue generated to provide need-based scholarship for students from grassroots families or developing countries.

[8] Patrons of the college and the movement have included Nelson Mandela, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, and the Prince of Wales.

[18] Li Po Chun UWC offers the following subjects on the IBDP level:[19] The CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) program is one of the three core elements of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.

[20] Li Po Chun UWC's adaptation of this system is called the "Quan Cai" program ("全才" in Chinese, meaning "development of the whole person" ).

Li Po Chun UWC offers more than 70 Quan Cai activities for students to participate in every year, including Initiative for Peace, Playback Theatre, Coral Monitoring, and Lion Dance.

[9] Some students stay in Hong Kong, where they work with local organizations or undertake a 150km hike across the New Territories without access to technology.

[33] In May 2018, Li Po Chun UWC announced a HK$50 million donation from Dr. Lee Shau Kee for the development of a Belt and Road Resources Center on campus, scheduled for an opening in Fall 2019.

[46] The name of the center has since then been changed to Lee Shau Kee Peace Education Centre, designed by M Moser and Associates.