Students are celebrating their International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme results, with nine students achieving scores equivalent to four A* grades at A Level or more.
Top achievers Callum Macintyre and Max Kharchenko got the highest diploma score this year of 41 points (maximum is 45). This puts them well ahead of the world average 30 points. The average score this year is 34.2 with 27 students achieving their IB Diploma. Over half the students achieved 36 points or more, allowing entry to top universities across the country and overseas.
18 year old Callum Macintyre was a boarder from Oxford who originally lived in New Orleans and Kenya. He joined Taunton School in Lower Sixth with an academic scholarship and took Higher Level English, History and Music, and Standard Level Design Technology, Maths and Spanish. Callum said “I’ve never experienced an official ‘results day’ so it’s great to come to School and collect my results with my friends. The whole process here has been excellent and I really believe I wouldn’t have got the same results anywhere else. I’m taking a gap year now, volunteering in South America and then I will be applying to Cambridge for Human Social and Political Science. I can see myself working in an NGO or foreign policy environment, or journalism, in the future.”
Max Karchenko, 17 and also a boarder is originally from Ukraine. He joined Taunton School in the Sixth Form and with his excellent results, will now be heading to Queen Mary University of London to read Law. Max took Higher Level Economics, Geography and English and Standard Level Design Technology, Spanish and Maths.
Head Girl Josie Taylor is celebrating securing her university offer to read Medicine at Bristol University after getting an impressive 39 points. Josie, from Norton Sub Hamdon, joined Taunton School in Year 9 after leaving Hazlegrove Preparatory School. She took Higher Level Biology, Chemistry and Latin and Standard Level English, Mathematics and Psychology. She said “I’m so pleased to have got the requirements for my first choice university. I especially needed a high score in Chemistry and Biology which I’m glad to say I got! I’m quite interested in paediatrics, so I may do something in that field in the future but I’m keeping my options open.”
School prefect Joey Rogers, who also achieved 39 points got his first choice university offer to read Science at Maastrict University in the Netherlands to study Social Science. Joey started his journey at Taunton School on the day he was born (his parents were running a boarding house) and joined the School Nursery when he was a year old. He said: “I’m really pleased to have got good results across the board. Even though I had an unconditional university offer, I tried hard and was playing for pride for these results. I’m especially glad to have done better than my brothers who did the IB a few years ago!” He added: “I’m a keen hockey player having been part of the 1st XI team at School, and I hope to join Maastricht hockey club when I start university.”
High achiever Nina Porter from Taunton got 38 points and is planning to go to University College London to study Social Sciences. She joined Taunton School in the Lower Sixth and took Higher Level English, Visual Arts and History and Standard Level Spanish, Biology and Maths. Nina said: “It’s a massive relief to get my results today as it means I have secured my first choice university. Today I’ll be celebrating with my friends and family.” She added: “In the future I hope to work in fields such as Broadcast Journalism or working with NGOs or IGOs.”
The IB Diploma has now been established for 50 years with Taunton School being one of the first in the region to set up their IB programme in 2007. Mr Martin Bluemel who has been running the programme since then will be stepping down as IB Diploma Coordinator this year and handing the reins over to Mr Adrian Roberts, an experienced teacher of the IB at Taunton School. Martin says: “This is our 10th set of Diploma results and I’m delighted that our students have once again excelled themselves with these impressive results.”
This year’s results are the third highest on record for Taunton School. With an established track record, the IB Diploma Programme grows in popularity and Taunton School leads the way with its persistently high standards. It is an internationally recognised qualification; in context, a total of 165,752 students worldwide will receive their results today.
Taunton School Headmaster, Mr Lee Glaser said: “Our students have worked tirelessly to secure these outstanding results. Many of them have chosen to follow some truly inspirational careers, and I wish them well on their journey. At Taunton School we pride ourselves on giving students the very best experience, and I look forward to news of further successes this summer.”
The IB qualification is growing in popularity worldwide with top UK universities increasingly recognising the breadth of knowledge and skills students gain on this demanding programme. The IBDP is also proving to be increasingly valuable as graduates enter employment where their wide range of experiences make them highly sought after candidates. Taunton School is an experienced provider, one of few in the area, of this prestigious qualification.
