Hong Kong
Hong Kong Sets a New IB Benchmark as Perfect Scores Rise to 73
The city's May 2026 cohort outperformed the global average by more than six points, with Victoria Shanghai Academy recording the single strongest haul of perfect 45s in its history.
At least 73 students from 17 Hong Kong schools received perfect 45 points in the May 2026 International Baccalaureate Diploma examinations, according to the South China Morning Post, as the city posted an average score of 37.02 against a global mean of 30.88 across 2,912 candidates — an 11 percent increase in Hong Kong entries from the prior year.
Leading schools
Victoria Shanghai Academy led the private-school sector with nine perfect scorers, a school record, while nearly half its graduating cohort scored 40 or above and the school finished with an average of 39. St Paul's Co-educational College posted the highest school average in the city at 42.6 with six perfect 45s, and German Swiss International School achieved an average of 42 alongside eight perfect scores, also a school record. Across the English Schools Foundation network, seven secondary schools combined to produce 27 students with maximum marks, the broadest spread of perfect scores among any institutional group in Hong Kong.
The overall IBDP pass rate held at 98 percent, in line with prior years, while 34.8 percent of all Hong Kong candidates, roughly one in three, finished with 40 points or above. That proportion places the city's high-end performers well ahead of their counterparts in most Western markets.
What this cycle reveals
The growth in candidate numbers is notable. IB enrolment in Hong Kong has continued to expand despite structural pressure on expatriate populations since 2021, and the increase is driven principally by affluent local families, particularly at private independent schools such as Victoria Shanghai Academy, and at the small group of well-resourced local schools offering the IBDP alongside Hong Kong's local examination pathway.
For university admissions, the results carry real weight. Hong Kong's average of 37.02 positions it at the upper tier of IB markets globally and reflects the depth of investment in the diploma across both the international and non-international school sectors. Schools report strong placement outcomes, with top scorers receiving offers from universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, and leading institutions in the United States and Canada.