Ravenswood girls Vivienne Yang and Zia Bohm top International Baccalaureate

Georgia Clark, The Daily Telegraph
January 4, 2021 6:14pm

Two Sydney school students are on top of the world having achieved perfect scores in the 2020 International Baccalaureate — the international alternative to the HSC.

Ravenswood School captain Vivienne Yang and environment prefect Zia Bohm, both 18, both recorded a perfect IB mark of 45, equivalent to a 99.95 ATAR in the NSW system.

The mark places the pair in the top 0.5 to 1 per cent of all IB students worldwide.

The program released results to more than 3000 Australasian students on Sunday, just in time for Australian universities’ January round offers.

Ravenswood’s School Captain Vivienne Yang (R) and Environment Captain Zia Bohm (L) both achieved maximum marks in the IB or 45 out of 45.

Unlike the HSC, results in the IB are mainly based on the final exam and Ms Yang’s perfect mark will land her a spot in her dream course — commerce/law at the University of Sydney.

“I’ve grown up in an environment at home where my parents discuss business and finance and I’ve always been fascinated by the potential for the business world to drive growth and change in society,” Ms Yang said.

Ms Bohm will study chemical engineering at the University of NSW before launching a career with a focus on renewable energy.

“I grew up in a very environmentally aware family and have always tried to live in an environmentally sustainable way, such as using the car as infrequently as possible,” she said.

Ravenswood’s 2020 IB cohort represents the largest proportion of Year 12 students to study the IB at the Gordon school.

They join a growing number of students choosing the international program. In 2014, 2307 Australian students completed the diploma — a figure that increased 15 per cent to 2651 in 2019.

The certificate is a pre-¬university course offered to more than 150 countries worldwide and is often selected by students who want a diploma recognised in Australia and overseas.

Its structure is different to the HSC and requires students to complete a first language, an acquired language and a humanities, maths and arts subject.

They must also complete a 4000-word essay, a theory of knowledge course and a community service program.

Ms Yang described completing the IB as “one of the best decisions” she made, saying it gave her flexibility and a global perspective.