IB Results in Hong Kong: The roundup so far
The IB results for the 2017-18 academic year are in – and at least 38 students at Hong Kong’s local and international school have scored the maximum 45 points. According to the IB, the average grade in Hong Kong was 35.96 points, which is nearly six points higher than the global average.
Out of the 2,291 students who sat the IB, there were 15 top scorers from English Schools Foundation (ESF) secondary schools and two each from German Swiss International School and Victoria Shanghai Academy (VSA); Canadian International School of Hong Kong (CDNIS) and International Schools Foundation Academy each had one top scorer.
Top scorer James Chow from CDNIS will study medicine at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. The 18-year-old, who has studied at the Canadian school for 14 years, said he planned to have dinner with friends and family to celebrate. He summed up his DP experience and the secret for his success by saying:
“Always stay balanced. Ahead of academics, striving for balance is the most important aspect in my life. Both service and athletics play a big role in shaping who I am as a person. It has been a long journey, but I will never forget the experiences and relationships I have built along the way.”
In the local school sector, Diocesan Boys’ School had seven top scorers, there were two from Po Leung Kuk Choi Kai Yau School, and five from St Paul’s Co-educational College. The number of top-scoring students could also rise as some students choose to get their papers remarked in the coming weeks.
Of the schools that have published results so far…
The English Schools Foundations (ESF) scored six points above the global average across all five of its secondary schools and two all-through schools – and celebrated 15 students scoring top marks of 45. The average score from all ESF schools was 35.8, which is down very slightly from last year's 36; once again, 98% of its students passed the full IDBP.
ESF entered 958 students for IBDP at the following schools: Discovery College, King George V School, Island School, Sha Tin College, South Island School, Renaissance College, and West Island School all completed the IB Diploma. Sha Tin College, which was ESF’s top performing school last year, had six top scorers; Island School had five top scorers; and both King George V School and South Island School had two top scorers.
In addition:
• 15 top scorers
• 227 students (23.7%) scored 40 points or above
• 583 students (60.9%) scored 35 points or above
• 848 students (88.6%) scored 30 points or above
• Mean grade per subject was 5.59
Meet some of the ESF students who scored 45 points here.
So far, West Island School, Sha Tin College, South Island School, Discovery College (DC) and Renaissance College (RCHK) have released their individual results. DC and RCHK all-through International Baccalaureate (IB) schools are the only two Private Independent Schools (PIS) to be owned by the ESF.
Sha Tin College's cohort scored the school's – and ESF's – highest ever score of 37.4, and there were six students who achieved the full 45 points; another six students celebrated a high score of 44 points.
In addition:
• Six top scorers
• 30% scored 40 points or above
• 75% scored 35 points or above
• 96% scored 30 points or above
• Ten students were awarded the bilingual diploma
• Mean grade per subject was 5.9
Vice principal Paul Hoang said: "Whilst we are extremely proud of the students mentioned above, we are also particularly proud of the many students who fulfilled their personal potential and the students who were expected to find the Diploma Programme particularly challenging. Through sheer hard work and determination, these students have managed to achieve more than the 24 points needed to pass the IB Diploma."
West Island School had a 98% pass rate and its cohort of 143 students achieved an average score of 36, which is one point lower than last year.
In addition:
• 20% scored 40 points or above
• 60% scored 35 points or above
• 88% scored 30 points or above
• Mean grade per subject was 5.6
Principal Chris Sammons said: "We are proud of each individual and these average statistics cannot do justice to the many stories of personal growth. Students have made outstanding progress since kindergarten, which can be attributed to the commitment and hard work of everybody in our ESF community."
South Island School had a 98% pass rate and average score of 35, which is the same as last year.
In addition:
• Two top-scoring students with 45 points
• 22% scored 40 points or above
• 51% scored 35 points or above
• 85% scored 30 points or above
• Mean grade per subject was 5.4
• 15% students achieved the bilingual diploma
Discovery College had a 96.7% pass rate, compared to 93.2% last year, and its average score was 35.2; this is higher than last year's score of 34.6 and very slightly lower than the ESF 2018 average score of 35.8. The school had a cohort of 90 students
In addition:
• 21.1% scored 40 points or above
• 56.7% scored 35 points or above
• 83.3% scored 30 points or above
• Mean grade per subject was 5.47
• 15.6% students achieved the bilingual diploma
Renaissance College (RCHK) had a 98% pass rate and an average score of 35, which is the same as last year. RCHK is also one of only a few schools in Hong Kong to offer the IB Career-Related Programme (IBCP). The pass rate for the IBCP was 100% and the point average for arts courses offered in collaboration with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) was 2.9.
In addition:
• Highest score was 44
• 20% scored 40 points or above
• 60% scored 35 points or above
• 85% scored 30 points or above
• Mean grade per subject was 5.5
• 15.6% students achieved the bilingual diploma
Speaking at the release of the IBDP results, ESF CEO Belinda Greer described ESF as “one of the highest performing education systems in the world”. Referring to the 15 top scorers, she added:
“It is an incredible achievement for a student – and their family – to achieve top marks. It marks years of hard work, of dedication and support. It is a result that every single student who got the top score should be very proud of as it is something that, globally, is so rare.”
CDNIS was one of the top performing schools with an average score of 36.9; this is slightly higher than last year’s average score of 36.5, and it has been 36 or above for the past four years.
The school, which has one of the largest IB cohorts in Hong Kong at 114 students, had a 100% pass rate. In addition:
• One top scorer
• 11 students scored 43 or 44 points
• 40 students scored 40 points or higher
• 12 students received the Bilingual Diploma
As well as the IB Diploma, CDNIS students also graduate with the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD).
Upper school principal Tim Kaiser said: “We've always had terrific DP results at CDNIS, especially considering that all of our students take the full IB programme and over half of our graduates started at CDNIS when they were in pre-school. But this year they really knocked it out of the park! On top of that, we had double the amount of scholarship offers and 81% of our Class of 2018 received at least one offer from a QS ranked top 100 university in the world.”
Victoria Shanghai Academy (VSA) had an average score of 36.2, and for the third year in a row its average score is above 36 points. In addition:
• Two top scorers
• 90% of students scored above 29
• One student scored 44 points
• 22 students scored 40 points or higher
• 21 students received the Bilingual Diploma
VSA had two perfect scorers, Liu Cheuk Yin Cherrie and Sin Zhen Ye Daniel, who have both received an all-through education at the school. Liu plans to study medicine or biochemistry in Hong Kong, and Sin is deciding between Biological Science at Durham University or at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He said:
“VSA encourages us to think about real-life applications of the concepts we acquired in class. This grows my natural curiosity for knowledge and shaped my career aspiration to engage in laboratory research in bacteria.”
At the French International School (FIS), its international stream students achieved an average score of 35 points in the IBDP, which is lower than last year's average score of 37.5; 27% of FIS students received the bilingual diploma. The school has been running the IB programme for 30 years.
The Independent Schools Foundation Academy (ISF) celebrated a high average score of 39, which is significantly higher than last year’s score of 35.9, and a 100% pass rate.
Head of School, Dr Malcolm Pritchard praised the students’ efforts saying:
“The ISF Academy commends the 36 members of the Class of 2018 for their dedication, commitment, diligence, mindfulness and perseverance during the challenging IB journey; our seventh cohort of IB students have achieved the highest results ever for The ISF Academy.”
• One top scorer
• Six students scored 44 or 43 points
• 16 students scored 40 points or above
• 26 students received the Bilingual Diploma
50 years of the IB
2018 was a good year for IB in Hong Kong, and the 50th year of the IB was not a bad one for the International Baccalaureate programme either. Today there are over 1.7 million learners worldwide, and the global school average for 2017/18 is 29.78 points, down only slightly from 29.9 last year. According to the International Baccalaureate Organisation, 2,291 Hong Kong pupils took the exams across 29 international and local schools.
IB Chief Assessment Officer Paula Wilcock, said: “As we celebrate our 50th year I look forward to continuing to ensure that our assessments measure what is important, and continue to evolve with our rapidly changing world”.
