FIS IB Diploma results summer 2023
This week Mr Clayton and I presented to the Board of FIS on the topic of the IB Diploma. In this talk we were able to show data about the trends since 2011 which pertain to the different cohorts: not just the individual year average grade, but inter alia the number of students taking the diploma and the number/percentage of students scoring over 40 points. The Board felt that they now understood more fully the workings of the diploma, and asked pertinent questions as to how we saw future cohorts performance levels given our data from upcoming year groups.
The Board was able to see that since 2011 FIS cohorts have scored in the range of 34 to 38 points on average: and that our 12 year average is 36 points. As such our 34.4 average in 2023 falls within that historic range. In terms of the world average for the 180,000 students that annually take the IB Diploma, this is 6 points above and is in the top 70th percentile of all IB schools. This is a long term success story: and we are proud to count the 2023 graduates in that success story.
The strong message that we wanted to put across to them was that it is far healthier to measure performance in terms of individual student potential rather than against other schools in Hong Kong, or at least those that choose to make them public. Each year every student that enters the IB Diploma course at FIS sits a Cognitive Ability Test (CAT 4) at the start of year 12 which makes predictions for each subject that our students undertake, and is based on a weight of data from previous IB Diploma students around the world. The lower average score for 2023 did not come as a surprise for us, as it was in the range that the CAT4 predicted.
As part of our ongoing drive to improve the school, we annually analyse our examination results at teacher, head of department and senior leadership level in the first month after the summer vacation. This is currently ongoing, and improvements in the teaching of each subject will be put into place where identified. On a bigger scale we have already committed to some changes in terms of firmer deadlines with IAs and Extended Essays to ensure the final term is clear for revision and exam paper practice: moving the mock exams in January forward to avoid clashes with sports tournaments, bringing a renewed focus on the need to work hard for them: and adding an extra level of accountability on top of the subject teacher and tutor, in the form of a Senior Leader Mentor Programme. These senior leaders will check in with them in this first term to make sure they are keeping on top of their commitments.
Strategy 1.1 of the School strategy talks about empowering each student to reach their ambitions and fullest academic potential. The inclusive approach that the school has in terms of the admission of students at all levels and in both streams gives FIS the rich and varied mix of cultures from around the globe that makes it a popular option for families in Hong Kong. The ambitions of each student are different, as can be seen by the vast range of courses they apply for at university level, and the increasingly wider number of countries besides the dominant France and UK ones seen in the past. Our data shows that our year groups in the International Stream are getting both larger and more diverse in their ambitions for when they leave the school.
In summary, it is natural for a school’s average examination results to move up and down from year to year. If using this as a measure of a school, the results over a long period of time is by far more reliable. To this end FIS students always do extremely well: and in the 2023 cohort this includes the 40+ points student gaining a place to study psychology at St Andrews University (recently placed as the top in the UK by the Telegraph and the Guardian) as well as the student with a below average world score who achieved her goal of entering the Culinary Arts Academy in Switzerland. Empowering each student to reach their ambition: that is what our school has always done, and will continue to do so in the future. We remain fiercely proud of our spirited and confident students!
