International Baccalaureate Students Do Better at Uni

ACER’s recent study of International Baccalaureate (IB) student performance in tertiary studies has shown the IB produces students who do better at uni than those that haven’t been through the program.

The study, Australian university outcomes: A national study comparing International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and non-Diploma Programme students, demonstrates that DP students consistently and significantly outperform non-DP students in offers of university admission, persistence to the second year of study, and university completion rates.

The findings indicate an “added layer of benefit” for DP student groups, for instance while persistence and completion rates are already higher for female students compared to male students overall, they are higher still for female DP students compared to female non-DP students.

The IB Diploma Programme (DP), taken by students aged 16-19, is delivered over two-years and helps young learners to develop intellectually and encourages future-ready skills preparing them for university.

The study identified positive post-secondary outcomes across gender and socio-economic status (SES), with DP students from lower SES backgrounds showing similar success to higher SES peers.

The findings were based on population-level data for all students who applied to and entered universities in Australia between 2013 and 2018. The study also examined outcomes by groups within the populations that were more alike: for example, by gender and SES.

Across all cohorts, offers of university admission were significantly higher for DP students than non-DP students by about 10 percentage points. Furthermore, DP students from low-SES backgrounds tended to have similar success rates to those from high-SES backgrounds, while success rates differed by SES among non-DP students.

Almost all DP students continued into the second year of their university course, with a persistence rate that was significantly higher by about 4 percentage points for DP students compared to non-DP students. These positive persistence findings for DP students hold even when considering a variety of student characteristics, such as gender and academic achievement, compared to non-DP students.

University completion rates were significantly higher for DP students than for non-DP students across all cohorts and check points examined in the study (4 years, 6 years and 9 years after commencement).

Four years after university commencement: completion rates for DP students were around 50% compared to 45% for non-DP students  Six years after starting university: completion rates for DP students were around 80% compared to 70% for non-DP students. By nine years post-university commencement: 91% of DP students had completed their studies compared to 79% of non-DP students.

Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director General at the IB, said, “It is empowering to see how the research findings support the IB’s mission, allowing us to observe the advantages and developments the Diploma Programme offer to young learners. This sort of introspection is important, to ensure that IB curricula are continually reviewed to provide the best education for future global leaders”.

The IB champions critical thinking and flexibility in study by crossing disciplinary, cultural, and national boundaries. It focuses on giving students the ability to ask the right questions considering this to be as important as discovering answers.

Image by Valentin Antonucci