Number of Hong Kong students with perfect scores in International Baccalaureate drops by nearly a third after grading system change amid pandemic
- Examinations were dropped globally in an unprecedented move by the IB body, with a new mechanism factoring in coursework
- City’s average score was 36.31 this year with a 97.9 per cent pass rate, higher than the global average of 29.9
The number of Hong Kong students bagging perfect scores in the International Baccalaureate (IB) exams dropped by nearly a third to 23 this year, with grading based on schoolwork after written tests were cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Hong Kong’s average score was 36.31 this year with a 97.9 per cent pass rate, higher than the global average of 29.9, according to the IB office.
Classes in Hong Kong schools were suspended from early February because of the Covid-19 pandemic, while the IB body decided in March to cancel written exams globally – originally set to take place in May – in an unprecedented move.
Students were instead graded based on criteria such as their internal coursework, as well as from predicted scores in mock exams, under a mechanism formulated by the IB office.
The two-year IB curriculum, aimed at those aged between 16 and 19, requires students to take six subjects and complete three components, including a 4,000-word essay. It offers students an internationally accepted qualification for university entrance.
