2008 IB Results (Coda)

The International Baccalaureate Organisation has been commendable in its approach to keeping IB results announcements at a civilised and low-key level. It makes it hard to dig around and get specific data for schools unless you go to the schools themselves. At which point, you find some lovely surprises.

Let me introduce you to a school somewhere near the heart of my education (which these days is but a faint memory of Highbury in North London). This North London school, founded in 1850, has posted an average IB score of about 42 out of 45 points over the last THREE years. (As a benchmark, 40 points will get you into Cambridge, Oxford or just about any university in the world.) This year, I hear they had an average of 41.3, which I suppose is a bit lower than usual. That average comes from a results distribution in which 90.1% of ALL their grades were 7 on a scale of 1-7.

They do have the advantage of a small cohort. But I think that from what I've heard, they have the greater advantage of being a small, well-knit and positive community, full of interesting educators and even more interesting students. They're also, interestingly enough for an IB school, a girls-only school. I'm sure some people might consider that an advantage too.

What I'd really like to know is what their subject statistics are. My guess is that they must be exceedingly good at Groups 1 & 2 (Literature/Language) and Groups 3 & 6 (Humanities and Aesthetics). That's not to say their other results are not good; I'm just speculating here about where the highest of their many high points might be.