Sam Ireland, pictured with Rossall headmaster, Dr Stephen Winkley at the School’s Prize Day, where the top International Baccalaureate student also scooped five of Rossall’s most coveted awards.
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International Baccaulaureate Results Success
The eagerly awaited International Baccalaureate results are out and Rossall has recorded a 10% overall increase in pass rate, taking it above the world average.
Rossall, which is now in its twelfth year of teaching IB, has increased its pass rate to 84.38% and has a number of the world’s top scoring Diploma students, in what is recognized as a more challenging alternative to A-levels.
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The School’s top scoring student, Isabell Mencher from Stuttgart, Germany achieved 44 from a possible maximum points total of 45 for six subjects (the maximum number of subjects permissible), but also added an extra seven points by passing a seventh subject, Spanish, which regrettably won’t be counted in her total. She is joined in the high pass grades by local student, 18-year-old, Sam Ireland of Bispham (42 points) and local golfing sensation, Jenna Birch, also 18, of Larkholme (33 points). Anh Vu, a Vietnamese boarder at the school achieved the school’s second highest total with 43 points.
Last year, there was not one recorded pass in the world with a full 45 points and only 0.03% of all students achieved 44 points, and there were similar percentage passes for 43 and 42 points totals. Those statistics show that this year’s figures indicate a remarkable performance from a non-selective school, and IB supporters will also suggest that the consistency of annual pass rates indicates that, unlike A-Levels, there is no grade inflation with the International Baccalaureate. This they argue is because the IB is free of political interference.
Developed by the International Baccalaureate Organisation, a non-profit making educational foundation in Switzerland, the Diploma is built around a strong intellectual philosophy of breadth, depth, personal study and community/international awareness. The IB Diploma involves students gaining a number of points from the study of six subjects and the ‘Core’. The ‘Core’ comprises three additional areas where students study the Theory of Knowledge; produce an Extended Essay of around 4,000 words under personal tutelage and involve themselves in a programme of Creative, Action and Service, to encourage community involvement and to develop themselves as people and members of the wider community. They must also study sport or art related activities.
With more than a decade’s involvement with the International Baccalaureate, Rossall’s experience has been the key to its successful year. Commented Rossall IB Co-ordinator, Dr Doris Dohmen: “Although we have a percentage of overseas students coming here specifically to study for the IB, the number of local students taking the Diploma is on the increase. Many take the IB because of its acceptance by the world’s leading universities, but equally they are taking it to stretch themselves and because they know it will improve them in so many ways. It’s an extremely demanding two-year study, but I’m delighted with the application of our students this year who have reaped the rewards for their efforts with outstanding pass scores.”
Local student Sam Ireland, whose points score was equivalent to 6 A grade A-levels, is now off to study medicine at University College London and is pleased with his achievement. He said: “I’ve been studying really hard for the Diploma and keeping up a part-time job during evenings and weekends as a waiter at the Imperial Hotel, to try to get some money behind me before I go to university, so it’s great to get the results and the score of 42 out of 45. It was worth the effort and I hope I can now achieve my goal of becoming a doctor. That would really please my mum who’s a district nurse in Blackpool!”
Following its experience with the IB Diploma for Sixth Form students, Rossall is now one of only a handful of schools in the UK to offer the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, which prepares junior school pupils for IB study.
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