On Saturday, July 6th, students in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program received their examination results. This is the fourteenth year of the IB Program at ISB. The top score from the class of 2019 was 37, which is a score only 10% of candidates around the world achieve. This year's passing rate was 94%, which is above the world average of 78%.
Out of all ISB students who registered for the IB diploma, eight candidates met the requirements for the exclusive Bilingual Diploma. The IB Bilingual Diploma 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. This year's passing rate was 88%, which is above the world average of 28%.
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 to 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 7s in: Biology HL & SL, English A: Literature HL, French B HL, and English B HL, as well as 6s in English A: Literature HL, English A: Lang & Lit SL, French A: Lang & Lit HL & SL, English B HL, French B HL & SL, Spanish B HL & SL.
- 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 Psychology, and grades of B were awarded in History, World Studies, and Business Management.
- 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-US* universities:
- Oxford University: 39
- Imperial College: 38
- McGill University: 33 for Faculty of Arts, 36 for Faculty of Arts and 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.
