STUDENTS at Windermere School have broken the record for the second successive year after picking up their International Baccalaureate (IB) results.

The mean score of 35.03 is the highest average score the school has obtained since the IB was introduced ten years ago, while the points awarded for the core also saw a new benchmark set, with an average of 1.97 out of a maximum of three.

The IB Diploma mean world average for students taking their exams in May 2016 was 30 points, and the world average for the core in the same year was 1.29.

Headmaster Ian Lavender was delighted with the results, saying: “There was a wonderful atmosphere in school as the students arrived to collect their results. To set new standards for the second year in a row is a real success story, all the more so given that the school is non-selective, and one of which the students and the staff should be very proud.

"The average score of just over 35 is a fantastic achievement and with a number of students just one point off the next grade boundary, we anticipate that our 2017 results might be even stronger following re-marks.”

The core is an additional element to the main subjects which students following the IB curriculum have chosen.

It is made up of an extended essay of 4,000 words, which offers students the opportunity to investigate a topic of special interest; the theory of knowledge, which encourages critical thinking and creativity, action, service.

Creativity is at the heart of the programme, encouraging students to be involved in a range of activities alongside their academic studies.

This year, thirty-four students sat the IB, of which thirty were IB Diploma candidates and four were IB career-related candidates.

Of the thirty sitting the IB Diploma, six students will take their place on the school honours board with a score of 40 points or more.

A score of 40 points of more puts these students in the top seven per cent in the world – Julia Sojka (44), Kate Kuian and Wilfred Lau (41) and Ruben Pohle, Maria Swietlinska and Marc Ungeheuer (40).

Many students have secured places at prestigious universities worldwide, including Wilfred Lau, Ruben Pohle and Maria Swietlinska, who will be continuing their studies at University College, London; Julia Sojka, who will be reading Jewish Studies at Oxford University; Carol Chi and Almaz Khabibullin, who are going to the University of Edinburgh; and Francois Husson, who will be studying at St Andrews.

Bristol, Durham and Lancaster are among some of the other choices.