School News

Stellar International Baccalaureate Results For The International School Of Kuala Lumpur

Published by SchoolAdvisor | Aug 12, 2021

The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) has reported stellar results in this year’s International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP). Results were released by the International Baccalaureate Organization on 5 July 2021. ISKL’s Head of School, Mr. Madani described the school’s results as “a testament to the hard work, resilience, and determination of our students, teachers, and administrators during especially challenging circumstances”.

ISKL continued its long-held tradition of outperforming the worldwide IB Diploma average score with students scoring an average of 37.1 points, four points above the global average of 33.02 points. ISKL’s 98 percent pass rate was also well above this year’s worldwide pass rate of 88.96 per cent.  

10 students from ISKL were among the very top students worldwide to achieve a perfect score of 45 points, placing them in what is typically the top 0.3 percent of IBDP candidates globally. A further eight students scored 44 points and a remarkable 36.8 percent of students scored 40 or more points compared with 17.8 percent of students worldwide.

18.8 percent of students earned a Bilingual Diploma in Danish, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, and Spanish.

ISKL is Malaysia’s longest-running IB World School and this year’s cohort of 144 students was the largest IB Diploma cohort since the school was authorised to run the IBDP in 1989. Mr. Madani noted:

“It is a wonderful way to celebrate this milestone. Undertaking the IB Diploma is a major accomplishment and regardless of the score, we are proud of every student, the global citizen they have become, and the contribution they will make to the world. The IB offers a broad learning experience and opportunities to apply learning which are aligned with ISKL’s future-ready curriculum and educational philosophy”.

Mr. Madani said that faculty, staff, and administration were united in being proud of its students who have demonstrated continued resilience, agility, and determination. He also attributed the school’s success to the support and dedication of its IB Coordinator Ms. Ebony Manning, its team of highly experienced IB teachers, counselors, and administrators including High School Principal Jeff Farrington who was a 2021 recipient of the US-based National Association for Secondary School Principals Principal of the Year award. “We have an outstanding High School team who has acted exhaustively on behalf of our students’ best interests in a time of unprecedented challenge and uncertainty,” said Mr. Madani.

This year the International Baccalaureate Organization offered a dual-route for grading with schools in some countries by taking exams while others awarded grades via teacher assessment. ISKL advocated for its students to take IB exams and Ms. Manning said she believed this route will, “Help make a difference to students’ preparedness for university and beyond”.

Ms. Manning echoed Mr. Madani’s praise for ISKL’s students and teachers and also noted that in addition to doing everything possible to ensure its students could learn on campus whenever possible, “Our results also reflect the high quality of our online learning program which ensured our students experienced a seamless transition in their learning regardless of whether they were learning on campus or online. This is such a validation of ISKL’s successful management of learning under hard and ever-changing conditions”.

ISKL's bespoke online learning program, ‘Continuous Learning’, was designed to deliver ISKL’s high-quality academic program and ensure the continued progress towards established learning targets as well as nurture student well-being. The online program, which is refined on an ongoing basis, is based on recent global research and the previous 20 years of educational research on online and blended learning before the pandemic.

At ISKL, academic pathways are designed to accommodate the needs of every learner enabling students to select the program that fits with their interests, abilities, and aspirations. These pathways reflect the school’s commitment to being an inclusive school that values diversity and empowers each student to succeed. High School students have the choice of either the IBDP which is offered on a non-selective basis or the innovative ISKL Pursuits Program which gives students the opportunity to combine individual IB, Advanced Placement, and other High School Diploma courses to create their own program of study and focus in a chosen area. Each of these two-year pathways provides a comprehensive, relevant, and challenging course of study that can be tailored to individual interests, strengths, and goals.

In addition to attending universities and colleges worldwide, ISKL students are well prepared to undertake work and service placements, gap years, and internships in Malaysia and around the world. To date, the Class of 2021 has received more than 300 acceptances and offers from over 130 universities in 12 countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Australia, Korea, and Hong Kong.  

About ISKL

Established in 1965, The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) has become known as a centre of excellence in the world of international education. ISKL is a co-educational, private, not-for-profit school responsible for the learning journey of over 1,500 students aged 3-18 years from more than 65 countries, located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur.

ISKL offers a robust international curriculum that combines leading North American educational frameworks with global best practice.  The curriculum recognizes that students are on a lifelong learning journey and is driven by ISKL’s mission to challenge each student to ‘Be All You Are’ and develop the attitudes, skills, knowledge, and understanding to become a highly successful, spirited, socially responsible global citizen.

ISKL offers a range of high-quality, transdisciplinary pathways that enable every learner to choose the curriculum best suited to their abilities, interests, and aspirations. In 2020-2021 two new innovative High School options, PRAXIS 2030 (Grade 9 and 10) and the Pursuits Program (Grade 11 and 12) were added to the curriculum. Both focus on enhancing student agency and self-directed learning.

In Grade 11, students can choose to undertake the full two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), or combine individual IB, Advanced Placement (AP), and High School Diploma courses via the ISKL Pursuits Program to create a customized program that meets the specific individual needs of each student.

As the longest-running World IB School in Malaysia, ISKL has seen more than 1,500 students graduate with an IB Diploma over the past 30 years, representing a ninety-seven percent pass rate. This flexibility creates further education opportunities with ISKL students receiving acceptances from leading universities worldwide.

ISKL is accredited internationally through the Council of International Schools (CIS), and in the United States through the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). ISKL has a strong focus on service and sustainability across its divisions and is a member of the Eco-Schools organization and the Green Schools Alliance.

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