Leighton Park IB students were celebrating this weekend as their International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme scores were released on Saturday 6th July.
The mark required to pass the IB is 24 points and the maximum achievement possible is 45 points. The 2024 cohort achieved 33 as an average number of points, three points above this year’s global average and an increase of 5% on last year. Alex Wallace, Deputy Head (Academic), commented, “The students have been a joy to work with whether they have joined us from overseas at Sixth Form or been part of Leighton Park since Year 7. The IB is always a special, close-knit group and a very important part of our community. They should all be immensely proud of achieving their Diploma, it is a fantastic qualification and will have set these students up for life. We are further investing in the IB by appointing a new role of Director of IB from September 2024 and have also launched five IB Scholarships to support more students to consider this highly-regarded international programme.”
“I am very proud of all the IB students and of everything that they have achieved.” commented Helen Taylor, Head of Sixth Form. “The IB Diploma has given them a broad and rigorous education and will pave the way for their next steps. Some of our students are already confirmed their places at UK or US universities and others are now in the process of applying to universities around the world – from Japan to Poland. This has been a very busy cohort of students, involved in every part of school life from our Sixth Form charity group, Amicus, to the school’s production of ‘West Side Story’, with some of them on the music tour in Tuscany at the moment.”
As a prestigious international programme, nearly half of our students decided to apply to leading universities in other countries. Examples of offers to UK universities include Medicine at King’s College London and Edinburgh, Neuroscience at Warwick, Law at Queen’s University Belfast, Engineering at Queen Mary University and Business Economics at Exeter.
Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director General of the International Baccalaureate, said: “It is always an honour to congratulate IB graduates on all their achievements, and this year their results are nothing short of praiseworthy.”
IB student Aidan, explained, “I was attracted to the versatility of the course. Being around so many people from different cultures really adds to the experience. IB helps us to ..gain a level of independence that maybe I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
Classmate Marta, who has a place for Engineering at King’s College London next year, reflected, “If you are considering what to do next year and you want to explore more subjects I think it’s a great option…It allows you to be multiple versions of yourself at the same time which I think is great.”
Reia, one of our international boarders who will be reading Global Studies at a Japanese university, commented, “When I completed GCSEs I was not sure what I wanted to do in the future. However, choosing IB at LP allowed me to choose subjects from a wide range of options and explore different fields. I was able to get a higher score than my predicted score and full grades in EE and TOK. I am extremely thankful for all the teachers who have been teaching me since I joined LP.”
The IB Diploma Programme is a phenomenal qualification, preparing students for life at university and beyond in a way that few other Sixth Form programmes can do. The Diploma offers a much wider variety of academic subjects than A Levels with six choices, ranging from visual arts to the Sciences, and the chance for students to select either a higher or standard level of study.
The additional compulsory units include Community, Activity, Service (CAS) which ensures physical and mental wellbeing and inspires an enduring commitment to volunteering and community engagement, very much in line with the School’s Quaker values. The development of skills for lifelong learning via the Theory of Knowledge (TOK) module and the Extended Essay element are exceptional. The ability to think critically, to research thoroughly and to produce a structured and sustained piece of writing are attributes that universities and employers alike value immensely.
Just over 5,000 of the IBDP’s 2024 cohort of around 190,000 students are based in the UK, keen to secure a globally relevant qualification. While many schools only recommend the IB Diploma for their top academic students, Leighton Park’s student-centred approach sees the value of the programme for any student who enjoys course work and interdisciplinary projects, has an international outlook and doesn’t want to narrow their subjects down at this stage of their education.
The School is offering Year 10 and 11 students the opportunity to learn more about the IBDP at the Sixth Form Open Afternoon on Saturday 21st September or you could learn more about our IB Diploma Programme or watch the Leighton Park IB video.
Take the next step by selecting an option below, or if you want to drop us a quick message, you can do so with the form.
Δ