Plymouth College is celebrating today after the release of its first ever results for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma. The school's overall mark was an impressive 34 points, which equates to 474 UCAS points and is equivalent to more than 3A*s at A Level.
Plymouth College was the first school in the city to offer the diploma when it added the IB to its educational mix in 2009 to run alongside A levels. The structure of IB offers a true breadth of study, designed to equip students with the ability to not only be international in their outlook but also to develop independence in learning and life to give them an all-round educational benefit. Students study six subjects, including a foreign language, science and humanities subject, and have to complete three compulsory elements: Theory of Knowledge, Extended Essay and Creativity, Action, Service. These areas very much drive the IB ethos for encouraging an appreciation of other cultural perspectives, developing independent study and life skills and fostering students' awareness and understanding of life outside the academic arena.
The school's top performing pupil was Fred Wild, 18, from Liskeard, who achieved 37 points, which equates to 545 UCAS points and is equivalent to 3A*s and 1 A at A Level. He studied English, Economics, History, Maths, Physics and Spanish.
"I really enjoyed the style and variety of learning that IB offered", said Fred. "We were encouraged to be quite independent and that gave us flexibility in how we learnt. In English, rather than following a set text, I was able to write my own creative piece followed by a commentary."
Thinking 'outside the box' and educating the 'whole person' are integral to the ethos of IB. Creativity, Action, Service saw Fred undertake the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and spend a week teaching in The Gambia. In fact it was during this week that the flexibility of learning styles IB offers was really brought home to him.
"We had a Theory of Knowledge lesson sat round a camp fire", said Fred. "I can think of no better way to get you thinking about how the world works than to lean back and look at the stars in what has to be the clearest sky I've ever seen!"
As well as students from England, a number of Fred's classmates were from overseas - Plymouth College has a boarding facility - giving lessons a real international dimension.
"It's great because the German students, for example, brought another set of learning styles to the mix, and in a History lesson about World War 2, they would have a very different perspective from me and the other English students."
Fred is about to start his gap year gaining work experience in politics and will apply to Oxford University in 2012.
"I am absolutely delighted that our first set if IB results are so strong and pass on my warmest congratulation to all the students involved", said Plymouth College Headmaster, Dr Simon Wormleighton. "It is a rigorous qualification that possesses the ultimate level of portability in a world where national boundaries are increasingly becoming less significant, opening up endless possibilities for students to study at universities around the world. Equally, the qualification is highly-valued by UK universities not least because of the independent research element of the Extended Essay.
"As a school we very much encourage our pupils to look outwards, learning to respect themselves and others, becoming self-sufficient and independent so that by the time they leave school they will be ready to contribute responsibly as members of a global community. IB fits very much into this vision."
