The intellectual calibre of Singaporean students has been proved once again with strong performance in the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma examinations conducted in November 2016.
According to the IB foundation, 1,849 Singaporean students participated in the examinations with 57 scoring the maximum possible 45 points. There were only 94 perfect scores in the global examinations. There was a 97.32 passing rate for Singaporeans, compared to a global passing rate of 70 per cent.
Singaporean students have consistently performed well in the IB diploma examinations as seen in previous years. In the November 2015 examinations, 97.7 per cent of students passed and the 48 perfect scores from Singapore accounted for about 59 per cent of those who achieved the maximum marks.
The average total score in Singapore was 38.27, higher than the global average of 29.21 and the Asia Pacific average of 34.82. 14,071 students worldwide took the November exams, up 15 per cent from the previous year. For the whole of 2016, 161,344 students received their IB diplomas, 6 per cent more than 2015.
Founded in 1968, the International Baccalaureate is a non-profit foundation, with more than 1.3 million IB students attending about 4,580 schools in 150 countries and territories. Around 508 schools in Asia Pacific offer the Diploma Programme.