Four local students achieve perfect IB scores
Four Hong Kong students have been awarded perfect scores for their International Baccalaureate Diploma this summer - equivalent to six grade As at GCE A-level.
Clement Ho Sun-man, 18, came top of his class at Chinese International School, with full marks at 45 points, an achievement matched by Jason Yu Hong-ting, 20, and Jupiter Yue Zhouda, 18, of Li Po Chun United World College, and Suzanne Zhou, 17, of Sha Tin College.
The results were announced in the week that British universities gave a resounding endorsement for the diploma, with the vast majority of admission tutors favouring the IB over A-levels. And under a new points tariff announced by Britain's Universities and Colleges Admission Service, the average scores being achieved by all IB schools in Hong Kong compare favourably with A-levels. A score of 33 - the minimum average in this year's Hong Kong results - will be equivalent to four A grades at A-level while 45 will equate to six.
The results will also help allay concerns that the rigorous IB is not suitable for less academic students. At Yew Chung International School students Samantha Chan, Joyce Tang and Alex Szeto, who had failed to score enough points in their HKCEEs to stay in their local schools for A-levels, scored between 34 and 36 points - equivalent to four As in GCE A-levels.
At Sha Tin College, the first English Schools Foundation school to offer the IB before the rest make the switch next year, 25 of its 131 candidates gained 40 or higher, with an average of 35 points.
At Yew Chung, six students scored 40 or more points. The average was 33.
At Li Po Chun, the average points for its 124 candidates was 36, with 32 gaining 40 or more.
Students at Chinese International gained an average of 35 points with 15 scoring 40 or higher.
David Cottam, principal of Sha Tin College, said: 'The rise in our pass rate - 97 per cent from last year's 95 per cent - and our average points score - 35 from last year's 34 points - are particularly pleasing, given the broad academic profile of the year group.'
Results for other schools that offer the IB were not available.
