It is hard to believe that over three years have elapsed since the pandemic rampaged across the world and turned education upside down. It is equally hard to believe that this is the first time since those dark days that our IB students have been required to complete a full set of examinations and other assessments, and have been graded as they would have been pre-pandemic. This is no small matter, given the massive disruptions they experienced in the two years before they started their diploma programmes. We could not be prouder of the St Clare’s IB class of 2023 as they receive their diploma results.

A quarter of our students scored 40 points or more (the equivalent of at least A*, A*, A in A level accompanied by an excellent EPQ), placing them in the top few percent of school-leavers worldwide and giving them access to an impressive range of courses at universities across the globe.

Where will our students go next?

One student achieved the rare top score of 45 points on the IB, one of only 25 in the UK to do so and they will be matriculating at Minerva University, a diverse, global and highly selective university where students study on six different continents, pursuing an innovative and dynamic curriculum.

Around half our students will study in the UK, with two students taking up places at the University of Oxford, and three students going to Imperial to study biomedical engineering, biochemistry and electronic engineering. One student will head to LSE. and a much larger number to King’s College London and University College London. demonstrating the continuing popularity of the UK’s largest city for our students. Four students have been admitted to leading art schools including Esmod in Paris, ArtFX in the south of France, Manchester School of Art and Loughborough University, and one student will be studying Songwriting and performance at one of the premier music industry schools, BIMM, in Brighton. The universities of City, Durham, Edinburgh, Exeter, Goldsmith’s, Manchester, Newcastle, Queen Mary, UAL and Warwick will also be welcoming St Clare’s alumni this year.

Global success

The growing popularity of European universities means that two students will be studying International economics and management at Bocconi University in Italy; one French student, after a year at the Edhec campus in France, will head off on their global business BBA to Singapore and UCLA after starting in France; two students will be studying medicine in Poland.

Eleven students will be studying in the USA, enrolling at the University of Chicago, New York University in the USA and Abu Dhabi, Lafayette College, Loyola Marymount University in California and Northeastern University in California and Boston.

Scholarship news

Driven by international ambition, and aided by generous financial packages, our RISE Global prize-winner from Poland will study medicine at the University of Navarra in Spain on a fully funded place and a student from North Africa has received almost 100% funding to study at the Bowdoin College, a prestigious liberal arts institution in Maine, USA.

Our Principal, Duncan Reith, commented: “I am struck by the remarkable resilience and wisdom shown by our students as they completed the final stages of their schooling here at St Clare’s. The IB Diploma is renowned as a rigorous and challenging qualification and is rightly regarded extremely highly across the globe, and our students have taken on this challenge at a time of ongoing uncertainty and change. They have been exceptional in the way they have supported each other and have been superb role models for our younger students. We are delighted with the impressive range of courses and institutions they are moving on to, and look forward to welcoming the class of 2023 back to tell us about their experiences in future years.”

St Clare's, Oxford