PROVISIONAL IB LEAGUE TABLE 2015

In this post we give you our own provisional assessment of the Top IB Schools in the UK for 2015. These positions are compiled from the average points achieved by sixth formers taking the Diploma Programme of the IB.

A candidate can receive between 1 and 7 points for each of the 6 subjects taken. He or she can also get up to 3 points for The Theory of Knowledge and The Extended Essay – thereby meaning a maximum score of 45 points.

School	Average Points
1. North London Collegiate	41.1
2. Stephen Perse Foundation	39.6
3. Cheltenham Ladies College	39.4
4. Portsmouth Grammar School	39
= Wellington College	39
= King Edward's Birmingham	39
7. Sevenoaks	38.9
8. Fettes	38.6
9. Bromsgrove	38.5
= Headington	38.5
10. Ardingly	38
= The Abbey School = Manchester High School for Girls	38 38
13. Red Maid's	37.6
14. Christ's Hospital	37
= Haileybury	37
= Sherborne Girls	37
= Royal High School	37
= Charterhouse	37
19. Oakham	36.4
20. St Clare's	36.35
21. ACS Egham	36
22. Southbank = St Dunstan's College	35.6 35.6
24. Worth = Bradfield College 26. UWC Atlantic College	35.1 35.1 35
= Brentwood 28. Felsted	35 34.6
29. ACS Hillingdon	34.5
30. King William's College 31. Plymouth College	34.3 34.1
32. Greshams	34
= Leighton Park	34
= ACS Cobham	34
= TASIS = Bryanston 37. King Edward's Witley 38. CATS Canterbury 39. Box Hill	34 34 33.4 33 32.4
40. St Leonard's Fife	32
= Warminster 42. Stonyhurst	32 30

Note 1: There are a few gaps in our data, because the information is not freely available or a school will not supply it or it has not offered the IB for long enough to have DP results. If you represent a school and wish to let us know your score, please get in touch by emailing info@educationadvisers.co.uk 

Note 2: We make a substantial investment of time and effort in preparing these tables, and all copyright and database rights in the tables belong to us. Please respect this by not reproducing the tables or the information within them, in whole or in part, without our consent. If you wish to reproduce any of our tables or the information within them then please contact us for details.

EXPLAINING THE INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE

The International Baccalaureate is an international qualification now offered by around 3500 IB schools worldwide. It is overseen by The International Baccalaureate Organisation or IBO in Switzerland. 

There are 80 private UK schools, which offer one or more of the International Baccalaureate programmes.

There are four programmes;

1. The Diploma Programme (DP) for students aged 16 to 19
2. The Middle Years Programme (MYP) for students aged 11 to 16
3. The Primary Years Programme (PYP) for students from 3 to 12.
4. The IB Career Related Certificate (IBCC) for students 16 to 19

In the UK, the vast majority of schools only offer the IBDP. There are less than 10 schools offering the IBPYP or MYP. They are mostly London schools catering for international expatriate workers.

The IB is favoured by many international parents because it is transferrable from one country to another if their job changes to another part of the world. The IBDP is regarded highly by universities everywhere. However because the IBDP has 6 mandatory subject groups including maths, science and modern languages it is not always suitable for students who want to specialise or drop certain weaker subjects when the get to 16+.

In the UK, the IB Diploma Programme is still a minority curriculum. Only 70 out of 700+ independent senior schools offer it so far, but several more have announced their intention to introduce it. We would expect the number to rise to 100 or more in a couple of years. One reason stems from the changes in the admissions process by the elite UK universities.

Education Advisers Presenting a Crystal Award to North London Collegiate School - The Top IB School 2014

With so many university applicants now presenting with straight As in 3 A Levels, the elite universities feel that A Level grades are no longer a satisfactory way to differentiate between bright candidates. The IB DP offers a more stretching alternative to A Levels and the intention of many independent schools to offer the Pre U exam will open up another curriculum for university applications.

In fact the conversion chart to UCAS tariff points for IB DP exams is exceedingly generous as can be seen here:

IB Diploma Points	UCAS tariff Points	Equivalent A Level A grades
45	720	6.0
40	611	5.1
35	501	4.2
30	392	3.4

Given that the vast majority of UK independent schools with the IB DP are averaging more than 33 points, you can see that even an average IB student achieves sufficient UCAS points to be considered for a top 25 UK university with the equivalent of 4 As at A level. However, please bear in mind that some Universities do not seem to be following the UCAS conversion table, which we will discuss later.

The other interesting aspect of the IB DP is that it is an international qualification. If you need to change schools to another country, the theory is that you can transition to exactly the same curriculum elsewhere. Additionally, the Diploma is recognised by most big international universities including those in the USA.