Hong Kong Schools Mark Record IB Scores on Results Day

Monday brought another landmark morning for Hong Kong's international school community, as IB Diploma results released on 6 July showed the city's leading institutions continuing well above world norms. Data compiled by WhichSchoolAdvisor Hong Kong, which tracked outcomes across the city's most prominent schools throughout results day, found averages ranging from 36 to 39 points against a global benchmark of 30.58.

The English Schools Foundation recorded a group average of 36.4 points across its seven secondary schools, with 1,007 students earning the diploma at a pass rate of 98.3 per cent. Twenty-seven students achieved the maximum 45 points, the highest single-session perfect-score total the group has recorded. The ESF numbers represent a larger cohort than the previous year while holding the same average, a result operators typically regard as a positive indicator in an expanding school system.

Record performances at CDNIS and VSA

Both Canadian International School of Hong Kong and Victoria Shanghai Academy posted averages of 39 points. CDNIS has now produced at least one student with a perfect score for thirteen consecutive years; this cycle saw 48 per cent of its 69-strong cohort reach 40 or above. Victoria Shanghai Academy surpassed that, with nine students achieving full marks, up from six the year before, and the school describing the outcome as the best in its history.

St. Stephen's College joined the list of schools marking personal bests, with five students reaching 45 points. The breadth of strong outcomes across different types of institutions, from large ESF comprehensives to smaller independent schools, suggests Hong Kong's IB performance is systemic rather than confined to a handful of elite outliers.

A widening gap from global averages

Hong Kong schools have consistently outperformed the IB global mean for well over a decade, and the 2026 session extends that run. The roughly six-point spread between the ESF group average and the worldwide figure is significant; individual schools running eight or nine points ahead make the disparity more striking still.

Premium schools in the city have long used IB results as a central admissions argument, and with a growing proportion of students seeking the diploma as a pathway to North American and British universities, sustained performance matters commercially as much as academically. Schools that can demonstrate consistent 40-plus averages and a track record of perfect scores are, in practical terms, running the most persuasive recruitment campaign available.