SINGAPORE – Students who sat the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma exams in Singapore in November 2023 once again outperformed their peers worldwide. Their average score was 37.76 out of 45, higher than the global average of 29.06.

Twenty-five schools in Singapore conducted the IB examinations in November 2023.

They include Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) (Independent), St Joseph’s Institution (SJI), Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah, Singapore Sports School and School of the Arts Singapore (Sota). Students in the international school arms of ACS, SJI and Hwa Chong also collected their results.

The Switzerland-based IB organisation, which conducts the exams, said that diploma programme (DP) and career-related-programme students in Singapore received their results on Jan 3. There were 20,385 candidates globally.

Since May 2023, the IB has stopped releasing data on the number of IB students with perfect scores of 45. This is to discourage the use of assessment results for comparisons among students, schools or communities, it said.

Ever since it joined the IB programme in 2005, Singapore has consistently produced at least half of the perfect scorers worldwide.

All 441 students from ACS(I) – the first Singapore school to offer the IB diploma programme after it was accredited in 2005 – passed the exam. Their average score was 40.8 points, with 324 of them obtaining 40 points and above.

All 270 IB students at SJI who took the DP exam passed, with an average score of 40.1 points. More than six in 10 students attained at least 40 points.

SJI International’s cohort of 209 students all passed with an average score of 36.7 points, and 33 per cent of them attained at least 40 points.

Twenty-three students from Madrasah Aljunied Al-Islamiah who did the DP passed the IB exam with an average score of 33.7.

Of the 29 student-athletes at the Singapore Sports School who took the IB diploma exam, 60 per cent scored at least 40 points. The school declined to provide the average score of its students.

“The school does not wish to focus on the school’s average scores or perfect scorers, but to celebrate the excellent passion, drive and resilience of its student-athletes,” said principal Ong Kim Soon.

A total of 160 students from Sota sat the IB exam, with more than half scoring at least 38 points. Sota also declined to give the average score of its students.

Driven by interests in science and music

Eight years ago, Dillon Josh Tan heard his older sister play the violin at their grandfather’s wake and was moved by her performance of Amazing Grace.

“It made me realise how powerful music is, and it makes the process of letting go easier,” said Dillon, who is now a skilled violinist and pianist. He was the president of ACS(I)’s philharmonic orchestra from 2020 to 2023.

Dillon, 18, scored 43 points in the IB exam, and plans to pursue paediatric medicine after completing national service.

He also takes a keen interest in science.

He remembers how intrigued he was in lower primary school by how dry ice prevented ice cream his mother had bought him from melting. 

“Even something so simple can be used to solve a problem and keep the ice cream frozen. That was one of the earliest incidents that piqued my interest in science,” he said.

His research on music therapy led to a collaboration between ACS(I) and Rainbow Centre – which serves children with special needs – in mid-2023 to teach children with autism how to play musical instruments.

“I was especially intrigued when I read stories about how individuals with autism can actually have heightened musical aptitude and music perception,” he said.

Monthly workshops were held to help children manage their anxieties through classical music.

Said Dillon: “I saw how gentle they were with the instruments. So it goes against the stereotype that they can’t control their movements because once they hear the music, they actually become very gentle and relaxed.”

Finding a voice through visual arts

In primary school, Muhamad Irfan Muhamad Rapid, 18, found it difficult to make friends because he was shy and reserved. The youngest of four siblings said he spent much of his time drawing whenever he was alone.

Irfan secured a spot at Sota after the Primary School Leaving Examination through the Direct School Admission scheme.

There, he found his voice and got a boost of confidence as he pursued an education in the visual arts.

“I think it’s the fact that I was surrounded by so many like-minded people. It made me more confident about what I liked and what I did,” he said.

Irfan, who declined to give his IB score, hopes to study South-east Asian art at the University of the Arts Singapore, which will open its doors in August 2024.