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Wesley College student Sissi Li knows how to stay calm in a crisis.
So even though the year 12 student, who opted to study an International Baccalaureate over VCE, had to wait a week longer than her VCE peers for her results, she kept a level head.
It paid off for the 18-year-old Wantirna student, who hopes to work in medicine, as she scored 43 out of a possible 45.
Wesley College students Sunny Wong, Kirwan Schoenborn and Yanxi ( Sissi ) Li receive their IB scores.Credit: Eddie Jim
A score of 45 converts to an ATAR of between 99.75 and 99.95.
To complete the two-year, internationally recognised IB program, students must complete a language, humanities, science, maths and arts, with 75 per cent of work assessed through exams and the rest based on school-based assessments.
Students also have to complete a 100-hour subject on the theory of knowledge and a 4000-word research essay, and participate in creative, sporting and service activities.
For her service, Sissi volunteered in Cebu, in rural Philippines, on a medical internship, where she ended up stitching an injury suffered by a drunk motorcyclist who had been cut when carrying bottles.
“During this emergency situation, I witnessed how doctors were able to remain in such a professional and calm manner, but deliver such efficient and technical skills in my future career,” she said.
“That really made me realise I really enjoy helping others, and kind of ... put me in a direction of where I wanted to be for my career in healthcare.”
Mont Albert student Kirwan Schoenborn, 18, scored 42 out of 45.
“I was very nervous when I opened [the results] – I was quite shocked,” she said.
She received a scholarship to the University of Melbourne’s Ormond College and will study a bachelor of science.
Glen Waverley Wesley campus IB dux Rick Foley achieved a perfect score of 45 and said the breadth of the IB diploma helped prepare him for real-world challenges. Rick hopes to study medicine or engineering.
At Methodist Ladies’ College, two students achieved a perfect diploma score of 45, three had a score of 44, and 19 scored 40 or above.
Principal Julia Shea said the school’s IB results showed what could be achieved when young people were encouraged to take responsibility for their learning and pursue their interests with confidence.
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The college’s IB dux, Nishka Khanna, said she was pretty nervous about opening her results.
“My stomach was tying itself up into knots,” she said. But her perfect score allowed her to relax.
“Now I feel like I’ve finally been able to stop holding my breath,” she said. “I’m very proud of myself, and I’m very thankful for all the people that got me here.”
Nishka, who plans to do a double degree in law and something politics-related, balanced her studies while being the lead in the senior musical, and said that helped her studies.
“I would be able to come home and get to work on my studies feeling a bit rejuvenated because I’d done what I loved beforehand,” she said.
There are 26 Victorian schools offering the IB diploma, and 815 students received their results this year, compared with 823 last year.
The diploma is most popular in Victoria. In NSW, 742 students completed it, while 727 students received results in Queensland, 426 in South Australia and 56 in Tasmania.
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State school Albert Park College had one class of IB students, and 23 per cent of the students scored above 40. “We are pretty proud of those kids,” said assistant principal Hayley Schirmer.
The school won a Victorian education excellence award for global learning and teaching for its IB program.
Mac.Robertson Girls’ High School principal Sue Harrap said the school had been offering IB for three years, and this was the school’s best year yet.
“We only had 13 students out of our 300 year-12s complete it,” she said. “But they did incredibly well. The mean raw score is out of 45, and it’s 39.4. The median is 41.
“We are really delighted for them. They work so hard, and it’s a really demanding but such a fulfilling course for students to do.”
Globally, 23,392 students received their diploma or career-related program from November 2025 exams, a 6.8 per cent increase on the previous year.
The global average diploma score in 2025 was 29.3 points.
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