Average scores for the International Baccalaureate diploma have risen to a four-year high, reversing a previous downwards trend.
This year, candidates worldwide achieved an average score of 29.9 points out of a possible total of 45 - a rise on the previous year’s average of 29.62.
Both 2019 and 2018 had seen slight year-on-year falls in the average score.
The IB diploma pass rate also rose, with 78.75 per cent of candidates passing in May 2020 compared with 77.16 per cent in May 2019.
As with this summer’s GCSEs and A levels in England, the coronavirus has meant that the results are not based on students’ performance in exams, which have been cancelled.
IB results day 2020: The impact of the coronavirus
Instead, grades were calculated based on coursework, teacher predicted grades and historic data.
The UK had an average pass rate of 94.54 per cent, significantly higher than the global average. UK candidates achieved an average of 34.87 total points, up from 34.47 last year, and an average overall grade of 5.50 compared with a global average of 4.67.
In total, 5,127 pupils sat the IB diploma in the UK this year - a slight decline compared with the 5,201 pupils who studied this programme in the previous year.
In total, 174,355 students around the world received IB Diploma Programme (DP) and IB Career-related Programme (CP) results today.
Dr Siva Kumari, director general at the International Baccalaureate, said: “I would like to share my heartfelt congratulations with all 2020 Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme graduates for their efforts over the last two years.
“An IB education has always been about more than results and, this year, students have had to deal with a level of global disruption that has never been experienced before.
“Every IB graduate should be proud of their achievements, not just in reaching this milestone but in the great flexibility and commitment they have shown in overcoming such obstacles.
“We know that the IB has prepared them to be better learners for life - to be better, more critical thinkers, better at formulating excellent questions and finding the answers, and better suited to adapting to our ever-changing world.”
Paula Wilcock, chief assessment officer at the International Baccalaureate, said: “The IB community has collaborated under extraordinary circumstances to keep students front and centre of our decision-making. I would like to thank teachers, administrators, examiners, parents and, of course, students for enabling us to issue students with a grade which is reflective of their work.”
WATCH: How the IB delivered grades without exams this year
Tes spoke with Paul Teulon, head of global recognition at the International Baccalaureate, about how the organisation worked to provide students with grades despite no formal exams taking place this year and what this could mean for the future of IB assessments. Watch the interview below:
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