IBDP University Recognition in Brief (8)


10 Reasons Universities love the IB

The normal worry about any student taking the IB Diploma and courses is how this will be recognised in schools and universities around the world and specifically for students at Dulwich College (Singapore.) The good news is that over recent years universities have made a great deal of progress on understanding the IB Diploma and also seeing many IB Diploma students flourish in their colleges and so it has really become an advantage. Below are some of the reasons and a number of excellent links to sources / articles you might like to dip into.

Hear from University Admissions Directors themselves

A series of videos from University of Cambridge, Nottingham, Kings and East Anglia highlight why these UK Universities think the IB makes for successful IB Students.

University Admissions Reports

I have been IB Diploma Coordinator for many years, and at my previous school we commissioned independant research each year regarding university admissions viewpoints on the IB Diploma in comparison to other qualifications including Advanced Placement and UK A Levels. 

The latest report can be accessed here - University Admissions report 2016 and 2017 in which as in every year of the 10 years and more of reports the IB Diploma is seen as the best preparation for University by a long way. Other reports can be downloaded here , or individual reports can be accessed for - 2014, 2015.

The graphic below from one of the admissions report even challenges the notion that although the IB is excellent in terms of its breadth, it does not prepare students with the depth of knowledge needed. Please click to reveal.

The world no longer rewards people for what they know – Google knows everything – but for what they can do with what they know. Because that is the main differentiator today, global education today needs to be much more about ways of thinking, involving creativity, critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making; about ways of working, including communication and collaboration. -  Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Scholarships - Worldwide

50 Scholarship Opportunities 2017

Universities around the world are now offering more and more scholarships for IB Diploma students, noting this includes more than the usual US Universities. 

A recent article highlights 50 scholarships for new IB Diploma graduates, including countries as diverse as Australia, Canada and for Singapore citizens interested in studying Economics anywhere in the world!

The IB continues to ensure University recognition

Further UK recognition information

The IB employs a Universities Liaison Officer to work throughout the UK publicising and discussing with admissions officers their policies for acceptance of students with the IB Diploma. 

Something that is continually in the news is that of grade inflation where a specific countries system continually gets easier so that the countries cohort of students gains better results each year. This is a very contentious point but if you would like to read below you can see a few of the many articles discussing these issues in the UK. Schools and Universities are well aware of this - and many are starting to ask students to complete there own internal examinations before being accepted. However the great advantage of the IB is that over the years it has been examined NO Grade inflation is present ... in fact if you look at the figures recent pass rates of 79% worldwide have gone down from 81% a couple of years ago. 

Alongside this is the fact that many UK Universities in recent years have reduced the overall points score for entry as the data has supported that IB Diploma students are likely to succeed more than other students with different qualifications - this has happened at - Leeds University, Oxford University, Bath University and Birmingham to name a few.

The US simply loves the IB Diploma

Simply put the US Universities and Colleges love the IB Diploma, recognise it as the most rigorous High School programme. It simply fits perfectly with the Liberal Arts structure that most of their Universities graduate courses follow. Many Universities will offer credit for excellent IB overall scores, and for scores of above 5 in HL. Some will even allow you to have credit that allows you to skip the first year of study! Just listen to Stanford Universities admissions to understand why.

The 'Press' on the IB Diploma

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We would lean over backwards to admit more IB students. - Physics Department University of Manchester

The Extended Essay improves research skills of students and fits in well. - 96% of Universities suggested