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New Westminster International Baccalaureate students score high marks

New Westminster Secondary School students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program last year exceeded the worldwide average in 16 of 17 subjects.

New Westminster Secondary School students enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program last year exceeded the worldwide average in 16 of 17 subjects.

The program, which is graded on a worldwide seven-point system, is one of the most difficult academic programs students can take and Royal City students have more than held their own.

"I believe this deserves the light of day," said school superintendent John Woudzia as he presented the overall results to school trustees on Sept. 27. "Any time your average grade is more than one point higher than the average worldwide grade is statistically significant. ... This is a remarkable achievement by our students and they deserve to be commended."

No better evidence of this occurs in the local scores in the sciences.

In standard physics, five NWSS students registered a 6.20 average, more than two points higher than the worldwide average of 4.10. Of those five local students, three had perfect 7.0 scores while the other two had 5.0 ratings.

In higher level biology, 16 local students had an average score of 5.50, well above the worldwide average of 4.39. Two local students had perfect 7.0 scores, with another eight scoring 6.0.

In standard level biology, eight local students also averaged 5.50, well above the worldwide average of 4.27.

Local students also had higher averages in two English classes, one Spanish class, one French class, one history class, two psychology classes, three math classes, two biology classes, two chemistry classes and two physics classes.

The only class where local students scored lower than the worldwide average: standard level French, where 23 students scored a 4.57 average, or 0.10 less than the worldwide average of 4.67.

In total, local students registered 16 perfect 7.0 scores in eight different subjects.

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