AFTER the controversy that surrounded International Baccalaureate (IB) results last year, students this time round are celebrating and looking to the future.

Last year, there was a drop-off in the number of students achieving the very best scores due to the grading system introduced to replace exams.

With final exams again not taking place this year, IB results were based on a combination of teacher predictions and externally marked coursework.

Students at St Clare’s in Banbury Road scored an average of 39 points out of a possible 45, up from 36 last year.

Six students attained a perfect score of 45 points, placing them in the top one per cent globally, while nearly half the cohort scored 40 points or more.

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One of those students who scored 45 was Denis Pisarskiy, who will now study Land Economy at the University of Cambridge.

Vice principal Alastair Summers said: “In many ways we learn more about people from how they behave in adversity than when things are easy.

“I feel a huge sense of pride when I think about what our students have achieved under the most challenging of circumstances.

“Not only are the results they have produced simply outstanding, but their resilience, determination and collective spirit have been quite humbling.

“We enjoyed many precious moments when our students returned for the final few weeks after Easter to complete their course, and seeing their efforts rewarded in this way seems very fitting.

“I am confident that our graduates will take these experiences with them, and they leave ready to excel in the next stage of their educational journeys.

“I hope they will look back with fondness and gratitude when they think about the amazing team of people who supported and guided them during their time at St Clare’s.”

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Meanwhile this year’s IB cohort of eighteen girls will be the last at Headington School.

The school will move to A-levels only for next year’s graduating class.

Headmistress Caroline Jordan said: “I am tremendously proud of each of the girls who have dealt so well with all the disruption, changes and challenges forced upon them.

“What they have achieved is incredible and we are delighted to be able to celebrate with them.

“I’d also like to say a huge thank you to our director of IB, James Stephenson, who has run the course over the past decade, for all his hard work nurturing these students and ensuring they achieved to the best of their ability.”

St Edward’s School in Woodstock Road saw two pupils – Izzy Rees and Kunal Barman – achieve full marks, with the duo now off to study Liberal Arts at Durham University and PPE at the University of Oxford respectively.