International Baccalaureate results 'among best'

Guernsey's International Baccalaureate (IB) students are continuing to perform better than the global average, the latest results show.

Seventeen students took the diploma instead of A-levels and achieved a pass, mirroring the performance in 2024.

The top result in the IB is 45, while 24 points is a pass equivalent to three grade Bs at A-level.

Sixth Form Centre principal Kieran James said the results were a testament to the hard work of students and their teachers.

He said: "They are among our best results ever. We're thrilled with them this year.

"The average diploma score this year is 35, compared to a world average of around 30, so we're really thrilled with the general scores of our students.

"Two of our students have achieved 43 and 42 points respectively and are going on to university in Cambridge."

Another IB student has been awarded the Brock scholarship, an undergraduate placement open to one local student at Brock University in Canada.

Students Gracia van Zutphen and Lea Ackermann said they were looking forward to future studies in higher education.

Gracia said she was planning to study biomedical science at university in the Netherlands, and then enrol on a masters degree.

"Just the two years that I've been at sixth form, I managed to work hard and get the results that I wanted," she said.

Lea is taking a gap year to work at Guernsey's hospital before heading to King's College London to study nursing.

She said: "I got the exact points I needed to go to the university I wanted, so I'm also pleased with what I got.

Both said they studied IBs over A-levels due to extra subjects offered, including compulsory foreign languages, maths, science and humanities.

Gracia said: "I wanted to take a broad range of subjects and I did the IB because I wanted to study abroad, so it's an international program and that's why I did it."

Lea agreed: "I guess I also wanted that breadth that IB offered, and, at the time, I didn't really know what I wanted to do, so it kept my options open."

Nick Hynes, the island's Director of Education, said: "This is a very impressive set of results and a credit to both students and staff at the Sixth Form Centre."

However, the post-16 International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) run has been paused for the 2025/26 academic year, due to a low number of students signing up.

Follow BBC Guernsey on X and Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].