Dear ISB Community,
Today, students in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program received their examination results. This is the twelfth year of the IB Program at ISB. Students met the world average and surpassed the average of the United States. The top score was 40, and that score is achieved by 1% of candidates in the world.
An impressive 72% percent of our students obtained a bilingual diploma, which requires successfully passing advanced literature classes in two languages or, for second language learners of English, successfully passing an advanced literature course in their first language and all other courses in English. This year, students paired English with French and Chinese.
The following details reveal other notable achievements of our class of 2017:
Since the IB grading system is quite different from either the French or the American model, it might help to explain a few points:
- Each of the students' required six subjects receives a score from 0 -7 (42 points maximum). A grade of 7 is not easy to achieve, and both 6 and 7 are considered the equivalent of an A in the American system. This year, students received 7's in Math HL, French A, German and Russian, as well as in Physics.
- The grades from the Extended Essay and the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) final essay (both letter grades) provide 0 – 3 additional points for a possible maximum total of 45. A "C" on the Extended Essay is considered as fulfillment of the requirements of the work. This year, grades of A in the Extended Essays were awarded in History, and Visual Arts.
- The minimum score needed to obtain the diploma is 24. The world average score is 29. The number of IB candidates in the world who achieve a perfect score of 45 represents approximately one-third of one percent.
For an idea of the scores required by some of the most selective non-U.S.* universities:
- Oxford University: 39
- Imperial College: 38
- McGill University: 33 for Faculty of Arts, 36 for Faculty of Arts & Science, and 36 for Faculty of Science
*Universities in the United States do not have specific IB score requirements but rather value the diploma as a highly challenging program in their evaluation of applicants.
Congratulations to the IB Class of 2017 and to its teachers!
Sincerely,
Richard Ulffers
Head of School
