ExclusiveHong Kong schools seek review of students’ poorer-than-expected results as International Baccalaureate grading sparks dismay, global petition

Hong Kong’s biggest international school group has joined thousands of students worldwide in demanding that the International Baccalaureate explain poorer-than-expected grades based on schoolwork, after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of written examinations. The English Schools Foundation (ESF) confirmed on Friday that some of its seven secondary schools had asked the Swiss-based organisation that runs the IB to review the scores of some students. Coronavirus: International Baccalaureate cancels exams, affecting more than 200,000 students worldwide Thousands of students among the 174,000 worldwide who obtained their grades early this month were upset when their results were considerably poorer than predicted by their schools. The organisation which conducts the exam has pledged to review cases raised, but offered no assurance that those who complained would receive a higher score. The IB is an internationally recognised university entrance exam, with candidates awarded scores up to a maximum of 45 points across six subjects. Hong Kong saw the number of perfect scorers fall by nearly a third, from 34 last year to 23 this year, despite the total number of local candidates inching up from 2,284 to 2,324. Like candidates elsewhere, many in Hong Kong were dismayed when their results were several points below what they expected and some expressed worry they would not meet the requirements for university courses of their choice. A global online petition demanding an explanation has drawn more than 23,000 signatures, while in Britain, exam watchdog Ofqual has stepped in to scrutinise IB’s grading process. Hong Kong third wave: kindergarten, international school terms will not start until at least August 17 amid Covid-19 outbreak The written exams originally scheduled for May were cancelled because of the pandemic, and candidates were told they would be graded under a special mechanism based on their coursework and predicted scores. At ESF, the average IB score across its seven secondary schools this year was 35.7, slightly higher than last year’s 35.6. A spokeswoman for the group told the Post: “While this has been an unusual year, we are satisfied that the overwhelming majority of our students received the grade that properly reflected their performance.” However, she added that the schools were “speaking with the IB about some grades achieved by individual students that we feel require review”. In a letter to Year 13 students and parents on Monday, head teachers at ESF’s Discovery College said they had a number of concerns after “analysing and understanding” this year’s results. Hong Kong’s private and international schools told to justify extra charges “It is undoubtedly the case that some of the statistical processes used to generate this year’s results have produced outcomes of questionable validity for some students and subjects,” it said. Among other things, the school found a “significant disparity” between its average predicted score and the average actual score, while its average actual score per student did not match its “historical growth pattern”. The letter added: “Individual subject disparities have added up, for some students, to produce extreme disparities between the overall predicted scores they have been relying upon … in making [higher education] decisions and their actual results.” However, it advised students to proceed with their plans to apply to universities and not wait for the outcome of the review, as it was “very hard to foresee how any changes might impact specific students”. I spent most of my life trying my hardest to get the best grade I could. I wanted to study economics in university, but with the drop now, I don’t have the grades Student at ESF’s Discovery College One Year 13 student at the school said he was crushed when his result of 26 points was far lower than his predicted score of 34. He added that he would not be appealing because he believed the chance of receiving a better grade was slim. “I spent most of my life trying my hardest to get the best grade I could,” said the student, who asked to remain anonymous. “I wanted to study economics in university, but with the drop now, I don’t have the grades.” He said some of his peers hoping to go to law school or study music or art were uncertain of their chances now that their grades had dropped so much from their predicted grades. A Form Six student from St Paul’s Co-educational College, an elite local school offering the IB, said he was satisfied with his results, but a few of his classmates were worried they would face problems getting into universities of their choice because of their lower final scores. Opinion: How Covid-19 is changing the definition of ‘home-schooling’ – we are all doing it now The IB organisation was unable to say how many complaints they received from Hong Kong or provide the reasons why some students' final grades were significantly lower than predicted. In a statement, a spokeswoman acknowledged the “anxiety” around this year’s results and said a new process was in place to review extraordinary cases. She said the organisation would prioritise appeals linked to deadlines for university applications and gave an assurance that reviews were unlikely to result in any lowering of grades. “The IB is committed to a rigorous review of all these cases but cannot guarantee higher grades as a result of the review, [but] results that are deemed reasonable will not go down as a result of this process,” she said.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Swiss-based organisation will review cases raised, with no guarantee of improving grades Disappointed students worry they will not meet the cut-off for preferred university courses

Swiss-based organisation will review cases raised, with no guarantee of improving grades

Disappointed students worry they will not meet the cut-off for preferred university courses