Singapore IB School Rankings

[Argiyama]

Have you guys ever heard of ACS(I)? Last year, they took their 'first' IB exam and apparently 9 of them got perfect score 45 / 45 and the average student score is 39.5 or something. Now, I'm thinking about moving to Singapore but i realize that the schools are very competitive even though it's not the best one. ACS is probably my first choice but do you have any other suggestions of top school there? and how to prepare for getting into IB program over there?? I'm thinking about doing summer school for 2 months before i take an admission test in August / September so i can have a higher chance of getting into the school that I really want. any idea? thanks so much

[deissi]

average student score is 39.5

that's more or less our school average too ;o

But Argiyama, you shouldn't stress about the IB that much yet - you aren't even doing it! I don't think it's a good idea to do summer school now, when you can still enjoy life to the max - worry about your academics later. Remember that all IB schools are the same in the sense that no uni is going to say "I want you" just because you came from a good school - points is what they want you to have. Though, obviously, there is difference between teaching in schools etc.

[Argiyama]

thx for your concern

Yea I do understand your point but you have to realize that Singapore's Secondary schools are really competitive. and I do mean VERY competitive...if you go there, you can pretty much find everyone sleeping with their review papers or tons of assessment books. They are extremely hard to get in and i still want to get in the top school because they have high-quality teachers. Like the one that i mention before, ACS is news to IB system, yet their first exam results are one of the best school in the world. ( 9 students got 45/45 and there are only 20 around the world so that make up almost half of it)

that's the reason why i wanna have at least plan B and C in case i can't get into ACS since there are many nerdy asians but still wanna get into top 10 - 20 there! thx

[Forester]

they got 9 perfect scores because of corrupted teachers helping them in IAs. this info comes from one of the students there so i doubt its wrong

[revolutionz]

Hi there!

About their teachers being corrupt, i dont think that is the main reason they do so well.. i mean there has to be more than that and even so the IBO would find out about it right if they really did provide alot of help to their students for their IAs? Im Singaporean but i am not studying there. My secondary school teacher is now the dean of science there though. Anyway ACS is the only "public" school that offers IB in Singapore. I heard a few others might be switching soon but it will take more time. Also, if u are interested, the rest of the schools in Singapore do A levels, but it is a different syllabus written my the SEAB and Cambridge together. However, there are other pretty good international schools there too like overseas family school and united word college (south east asia) you might want to consider those. Anyway i hope this helps!

[Agneisse]

ACSI is a good school (the cut-off point is 8 points or something, so their students have to get lots of As to get in). I have two friends who are doing IB there, but they only just started IB in January, so they probably won't have been hit by IAs yet, corrupt teachers or not. However, almost all Singaporean students who are serious about their work take Additional Math at O Level (lots of calculus) and everyone takes two languages since first grade (but ACSI allows the non-English language to be taken as a Language B), so that probably helps their score a lot as well.

I will say, however, that top tiered 'public' Singaporean schools are very much sink-or-swim. It's very competitive, so you're very much on your own if you do choose ACSI.

[Abu]

Hmm I've seemed to miss this whole conversation. ACS(I) is a school with flawed principles. Firstly, as mentioned before about teachers helping students with their IAs, students get detentions if they do not get a 7 on their IA as well. Secondly, another reason why ACS(I) does so brilliantly on languages is because they let ethnically Chinese students do Mandarin B, that too at SL and a year early which give them the chance to have a crack at easy 7s. Some other reasons why I would not go to any Singaporean local schools, is because of the level of competitiveness that exists within the school. Singaporean students tend to be very competitive, and generally it's all work and no play. This last point may be a bit racist or stereotypical, but personally I won't be a able to stand the Singlish in the school.

If you do want to go to a well rounded school, why not try UWCSEA? They are pretty competitive to get in to though, their waiting lists are huge because they're the school of choice for foreign students. OFS is pretty good, so is ISS. You could try Chatsworth, they do have great teachers who help you all the way.

Lastly, as Deissi said above, it's not the school you go to, it's the student that you are that makes a difference. You can't really expect to just go to ACS(I) and expect to get 39 and above. If ones a crappy student, then no matter how much tuition one does get, one is bound to be substandard.

[Forester]

If you are a crappy student, you won't get into ACS... lol ...but Aboo's right.

Isn't Raffles another good school?

[Abu]

If you are a crappy student, you won't get into ACS... lol ...but Aboo's right.

Isn't Raffles another good school?

Yeah Raffles is a good school, but it doesn't do IB and it's a girls school.

Ariyagama, here's a list of IB schools: http://www.ibo.org/school/search/index.cfm...nd_schools=Find

I forgot to say that GESS (German European School Singapore) is a pretty good school as well.

[Agneisse]

I think Forester was talking about Raffles Junior College, and not RGS/RI. It's very highly ranked and crazily competitive, but it's not an IB school.

Edited March 31, 2008 by Agneisse

[Abu]

Any chance you live in Singapore Agneisse? You seem to be very knowledgeable

[Forester]

Yes the school I was talking about had guys in it, as they visited our school in my country.

[tournedos]

I'm in ACSI!

Have you guys ever heard of ACS(I)? Last year, they took their 'first' IB exam and apparently 9 of them got perfect score 45 / 45 and the average student score is 39.5 or something. Now, I'm thinking about moving to Singapore but i realize that the schools are very competitive even though it's not the best one. ACS is probably my first choice but do you have any other suggestions of top school there? and how to prepare for getting into IB program over there?? I'm thinking about doing summer school for 2 months before i take an admission test in August / September so i can have a higher chance of getting into the school that I really want. any idea? thanks so much

Well Argiyama, since when isn't life competitive? To clarify, we DON'T sleep with our textbooks nor do wejust work without play. I see no meaning in simply studying, studying, studying! I'm sure you'ld agree. Secondly, ACS (Independent) is the only 'public' (receives government subsidy) school offerin the IB. The others offer the 'A' levels. International schools like United World College, which is just beside ACS (I), offers it too.

that's more or less our school average too ;o

But Argiyama, you shouldn't stress about the IB that much yet - you aren't even doing it! I don't think it's a good idea to do summer school now, when you can still enjoy life to the max - worry about your academics later. Remember that all IB schools are the same in the sense that no uni is going to say "I want you" just because you came from a good school - points is what they want you to have. Though, obviously, there is difference between teaching in schools etc.

Deissi, ACS (I) had a cohort of 357 students for its pioneer batch. Thus for the average to be 39.5 is a tremendous achievement.

they got 9 perfect scores because of corrupted teachers helping them in IAs. this info comes from one of the students there so i doubt its wrong

Forester, your comments are absolutely untrue. That teachers 'help' students with their I.A.s is totally nonsensical. This is a Methodist institution founded on Christian values, and if the teachers DO help their students e.g. helping them to write the I.A. , they would be sacked. I have been doing I.A.s in this school since last year, and no teacher has ever offered to help me do a single piece of work, so how can it be that 'one of the students there' told you so?

Hmm I've seemed to miss this whole conversation. ACS(I) is a school with flawed principles. Firstly, as mentioned before about teachers helping students with their IAs, students get detentions if they do not get a 7 on their IA as well. Secondly, another reason why ACS(I) does so brilliantly on languages is because they let ethnically Chinese students do Mandarin B, that too at SL and a year early which give them the chance to have a crack at easy 7s. Some other reasons why I would not go to any Singaporean local schools, is because of the level of competitiveness that exists within the school. Singaporean students tend to be very competitive, and generally it's all work and no play. This last point may be a bit racist or stereotypical, but personally I won't be a able to stand the Singlish in the school.

If you do want to go to a well rounded school, why not try UWCSEA? They are pretty competitive to get in to though, their waiting lists are huge because they're the school of choice for foreign students. OFS is pretty good, so is ISS. You could try Chatsworth, they do have great teachers who help you all the way.

Lastly, as Deissi said above, it's not the school you go to, it's the student that you are that makes a difference. You can't really expect to just go to ACS(I) and expect to get 39 and above. If ones a crappy student, then no matter how much tuition one does get, one is bound to be substandard.

Aloo, whatever flawed principle there may be, there is no such rule which allows teachers to dish out detention for those who do not get a 7 for their I.A. . Furthermore, if, as you said, 'teachers helping students with their IAs', wouldnt they give their students a 7 for it because it is their own (teachers) work? Your statement fails under scrutiny. Yes, they do allow the ethnic Chinese to take up Mandarin B and that gives them a 7 for most of them.

Your other point, the singlish. You are in Chatsworth, a private school. This is ACS (I), I would like to know how you could suggest singlish is spoken in our halls? ACS (I) is mostly english speaking, and only a minority speak singlish.

You have raised pretty good schooling alternatives for Argiyama, well done.

Yeah Raffles is a good school, but it doesn't do IB and it's a girls school.

Ariyagama, here's a list of IB schools: http://www.ibo.org/school/search/index.cfm...nd_schools=Find

I forgot to say that GESS (German European School Singapore) is a pretty good school as well.

Aboo, Raffles has a boy school too, its called Raffles Institution.

Raffles Junior College is a good school, one of the best Senior High Schools in Singapore, but it offers the 'A' level course instead of the IB.

[Abu]

Aloo, whatever flawed principle there may be, there is no such rule which allows teachers to dish out detention for those who do not get a 7 for their I.A. . Furthermore, if, as you said, 'teachers helping students with their IAs', wouldnt they give their students a 7 for it because it is their own (teachers) work? Your statement fails under scrutiny. Yes, they do allow the ethnic Chinese to take up Mandarin B and that gives them a 7 for most of them.

Your other point, the singlish. You are in Chatsworth, a private school. This is ACS (I), I would like to know how you could suggest singlish is spoken in our halls? ACS (I) is mostly english speaking, and only a minority speak singlish.

You have raised pretty good schooling alternatives for Argiyama, well done.

I was quoting the detention's part from another Singaporean IBer, so I'm not totally sure about that, so I can't really justify that claim.

The singlish part, well I live here, and all Singaporean schools are English speaking and most students that go to local schools speak Singlish. I saw it again today on Orchard Rd as well. It may be an exception in ACS (I) but in most places, they do speak Singlish quite commonly.

Aboo, Raffles has a boy school too, its called Raffles Institution.

Raffles Junior College is a good school, one of the best Senior High Schools in Singapore, but it offers the 'A' level course instead of the IB.

Yes I was corrected before as well. My bad, I was aware of Raffles JC, but the girl's one came to mind

[deissi]

Well Argiyama, since when isn't life competitive?

Must high school be competitive? Especially since competing doesn't help anyone, it just increases the stressload.

Deissi, ACS (I) had a cohort of 357 students for its pioneer batch. Thus for the average to be 39.5 is a tremendous achievement.

It certainly is, by no means I didn't mean anything else . But IF the accusations of cheating are true, then one might question the means used to achieve this average.

Aloo, whatever flawed principle there may be, there is no such rule which allows teachers to dish out detention for those who do not get a 7 for their I.A. . Furthermore, if, as you said, 'teachers helping students with their IAs', wouldnt they give their students a 7 for it because it is their own (teachers) work? Your statement fails under scrutiny.

Bear in mind that IAs are moderated externally, should a teacher give everyone a seven, the marks would simply be brought down to a realistic level.

[Agneisse]

High school doesn't 'need' to be competitive, but it is so in Singapore. Meritocracy is drilled into the kids since first grade, and that competitiveness soon becomes second nature (think streaming-by-ability from second grade onwards and the school you attend being a major source of pride for your parents) (:

My point about the native-speaker-taking-language B SL still stands, as does the easy-Math deal - most students entering ACSI have done A Math, which greatly eases their study of Math. That's 2 out of 6 IB subjects that are basically free 7s, so the average ACSI student would be doing 2/3 the academic work of the average IB student given the nature of the Singaporean education system. I'd also interpret Forester's "helping" as teachers giving excessive guidance, and not really explicitly telling "do this and do that".

Also, (and I acknowledge that I say this without knowing the entire student population of ACSI) while I am not aware of major gangster-Singlish being spoken, I wouldn't say that everyone in ACSI speaks perfect English either. However it would be unfair to judge ACSI based on the students in Orchard Road, because (let's face it) most students in the elite schools aren't hanging out in Orchard Road every week and pulling off 39.5/AAAA for IB/A Level.

[tournedos]

High school doesn't 'need' to be competitive, but it is so in Singapore. Meritocracy is drilled into the kids since first grade, and that competitiveness soon becomes second nature (think streaming-by-ability from second grade onwards and the school you attend being a major source of pride for your parents) (:

My point about the native-speaker-taking-language B SL still stands, as does the easy-Math deal - most students entering ACSI have done A Math, which greatly eases their study of Math. That's 2 out of 6 IB subjects that are basically free 7s, so the average ACSI student would be doing 2/3 the academic work of the average IB student given the nature of the Singaporean education system. I'd also interpret Forester's "helping" as teachers giving excessive guidance, and not really explicitly telling "do this and do that".

Also, (and I acknowledge that I say this without knowing the entire student population of ACSI) while I am not aware of major gangster-Singlish being spoken, I wouldn't say that everyone in ACSI speaks perfect English either. However it would be unfair to judge ACSI based on the students in Orchard Road, because (let's face it) most students in the elite schools aren't hanging out in Orchard Road every week and pulling off 39.5/AAAA for IB/A Level.

How true, lol

[Agneisse]

How true, lol

Ah, I do tend to get carried away (: Major insomnia and nightmares the day before I got PSLE results and several other similar events before major academic events will haunt me for a long time to come.

^ Yet more evidence that Singaporean-educated students are mucho competitive.

Edited April 3, 2008 by Agneisse

[nobita89vn]

hi there , I'm IB1 student in ACSI , and yeah , its really time consuming.. I check with my friend from ACSinternational , he said his school time is only about 19 hours per week , while in ACSI I think the time is approx 35+ hours ... hmm

[gsinspirer]

Yup, I'm an IB Y1 student in the same school too. I found Forester's comment really really funny. I can't imagine why. Really. Let me rack my brains over it. Oh wait, I need to get my teacher's help... *runs off to look for a teacher*

In any case, I think tournedos has pretty much covered the facts, except for maybe Singlish, so here I am to talk about it! But really, if you think about it, what's the real problem with Singlish? If I let my 357 students speak Singlish and score their 39.67 points, then sure, by all means why not? Seriously speaking, Singlish is something that's practically inevitable anywhere in Singapore: it's a native dialect.

Anyway, to Argiyama, IMO the reason why ACS(I) was so successful in the first batch is as because of the Singaporean overcompetitive mentality, since it just transited from that previous system. So all I can say is... Get ready for the work to pile on.