English Schools Foundation students grab half of Hong Kong’s perfect International Baccalaureate scores in year without written exams
- The Covid-19 pandemic forced drastic changes to normal testing protocols and saw grades awarded using criteria such as coursework done during the year
- Ten of the 12 ESF students to score a 45 plan to head to overseas universities, while one will study medicine at HKU and another will take a gap year
More than half of the 23 Hong Kong students earning perfect scores on this year’s International Baccalaureate diploma exams came from the English Schools Foundation (ESF), Hong Kong’s biggest international school operator.
Ten of the 12 ESF students to score a top grade of 45 are expected to continue their studies at top universities in Britain and the United States, while one plans to study at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and another will take a gap year.
Due to this year’s unprecedented cancellation of written exams amid the Covid-19 pandemic, pupils were graded under a special mechanism that took into account criteria such as coursework and predicted scores in mock exams.
Last year, ESF, which runs seven secondary schools across the city, taught 20 of the 34 Hong Kong students who earned perfect scores.
Jun Yeji Lim, who has received an unconditional offer to study medicine at HKU, is among those who scored a perfect 45 this year. A hospital job-shadowing experience last year prompted her to make up her mind to become a doctor, she said.
“I shadowed a professor from Chinese University at Prince of Wales Hospital and it was for three days. I went through different specialities [such as] paediatrics,” the 17-year-old said.