What do universities think of the IB Diploma?

Competition to secure a place at a good UK university is fierce. Whilst IB Diploma students are not immune from the same sort of application issues that A-level students face, IB Diploma students do stand out as students who can offer qualities and skills that transfer well to university-level study.

 An admissions tutor at a leading Russell Group university says: "Students who have taken the IB qualification are generally much better prepared for a degree than those who have taken A-levels. IB students tend to have better independent study skills, greater ability to take sensible notes in lectures, and are more able to deal with open-ended and multi-part questions than their A-level counterparts."’  (Independent, 3 February 2011) 

 The IB is a tremendously valuable educational currency not only in the UK, but also worldwide.  Here are four typical views.

Imperial College, London

“We find that IB students adapt more easily to a university style of learning and become independent learners from an earlier stage compared to those from other backgrounds.”

 Source: Dr Lorraine Craig, Geophysics & Engineering

Liverpool University

“We regard the International Baccalaureate as an extremely well-respected entry qualification, which we are more than happy to accept for entry to all our programmes.”

 Source: Gaynor Glover, Head of Admissions, Student Recruitment and Admissions Office, Liverpool University, 2010

Harvard University

“IB is well known to us for excellent preparations. Success in an IB programme correlates well with success at Harvard. We are always pleased to see the credentials of the IB Diploma Programme on the transcript.”

Source: Marilyn McGrath Lewis, Director of Undergraduate Admissions, Harvard University

 Exeter University

 “The interesting finding that we have is that those who are coming in with the International Baccalaureate do better in firsts and 2.1s than the average, by about 6%, and no IB student has yet dropped out of university. We think that that is worth noting.” 

Professor Steve Smith, Vice-Chancellor, University of Exeter, 2008 

As you would expect, offers vary from course to course and from university to university. Sample offers, which usually include specific subject and/or level requirements, include 40 points for Economics at Cambridge; 36 for Modern Languages at Durham; 36 for Medicine at St Bart’s; 34 for Philosophy at York; 24 for Business at Sheffield Hallam (source: Nick Lee, IBSCA University Liaison Officer, 2011)

The following document shows over two hundred actual offers for a variety of courses from a range of universities. This has kindly been supplied by Julian Metcalf, IB/IBSCA University Liaison Officer and Deputy Head, Dartford Grammar School.