Universities Officer’s Report

This summer has proven to be much quieter than last year and I hope that you have not had any unexpected issues with universities’ acceptance of this year’s Diploma and Career-related programme results. If there have been any problems could you please let me know.

As we move forward into the new academic year I would like to remind you about two studies that the IB commissioned and which I hope will be useful in supporting recruitment of students.  The first is the third in the series of reports comparing the university outcomes of IB Diploma and A Level students: “International Baccalaureate students studying at UK higher education institutions: How do they perform in comparison with A level students?” and continues to provide strong independent evidence that IB Diploma students outperform A levels students in achieving places at top universities and in their university outcomes.

The second study investigates the outcomes for Career-related programme students and is the first UK study in this area. It can be found on the IBO website. I can also inform you that IB will shortly be releasing a grade to grade equivalence between MYP e-Assessments and GCSEs.

You will be aware that the Department for Education published its report on the second stage consultation for the post 16 funding review, which confirms the retention of funding for the full Diploma Programme, but not the Career-related Programme. It is also unclear on the funding of Diploma Courses and whether the new ‘academic’ replacements for Applied General Qualifications will be funded in combination with Diploma Courses. Adrian Kearney, Director IB World Schools, has invited all CP schools to a virtual meeting at 10:00 on 22nd September to discuss the way forward. Details of the meeting and the zoom link will be sent out week beginning 13th September. Although this issue appears to only affect state schools in England, it will have wider repercussions as the availability of Applied General Qualifications to the private sector may be affected.

In order to supply evidence to the DfE on the need for Diploma Courses and the CP I will be writing to all schools in my role as IB Development and Recognition Manager to collect data on the outcomes of Diploma Courses and CP candidates in this summer’s assessment session. I will also be asking for numbers of students studying in Years 12 and 13. This data proved very helpful in removing the individual Diploma Courses from the scope of the low and no enrolment defunding and preserving funding for new starts until August 2024.

Peter Fidczuk

Universities Officer, IBSCA