Freeport, Bahamas – As the school years start for all children in The Bahamas, Lucaya International School is celebrating above average results from their International Baccalaureate program and the the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations.

LIS had ten students out of its sixteen graduates take the demanding and highly respected IB Diploma Programme examinations. In late July results published showed that ninety percent (90) of the graduates of the 2008 IB class were awarded the prestigious IB Diploma. “This is an exceptional achievement for a small school,” said Head Master Mark Gifford, “we in fact surpassed the average pass rate which was 78% internationally.” (http://www.ibo.org/announcements/ibawardsdiplomas.cfm)

These LIS students now hold their own among the 30,000 students worldwide who were awarded their diplomas in the May examinations. The LIS IB students and their fellow graduates have all now gone on to attend various International Universities and Colleges of their choice. Some of these include: University of Manchester, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Kingston upon Thames in the United Kingdom, McGill University in Canada, Linden University in Missouri and University of Tilburg in The Netherlands. These former LIS students are now enrolled in majors including French, Drama, Masters in Engineering and Pre Med (2nd year entry).

To add to this wonderful news the school is also very pleased with the results from the Year 11 students who took the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) examinations in May. “They all preformed beyond our expectations and produced some very encouraging results,” declared Gifford. “Top honors went to Conner Goodrum with the outstanding results of five A* and two A grades, Natalia Gonzalez 3 A & 3 B and Revanno Smith who received 1 A, 4 B & 1 C.”

The IGCSE examinations are set by London University and are taken in over 100 countries worldwide. IGCSE courses are renowned for developing vital educational skills, including recall of knowledge, oral skills, problem solving, initiative, team work and investigative skills which is the main theory behind the LIS school curriculum. Gifford also noted that the student’s results were particularly pleasing as these students were the first to take these prestigious examinations in the school and they had less than a year to prepare instead of the normal two years.

“We changed to the IGCSE last year,” commented Nigel Kirkby, LIS High School Coordinator, “they are set to the same level as the BGCSE’s that are taken by many Bahamian students but these exams are one of the most recognized qualifications in the world.” With the results gained, the 9 students entered by the school managed to perform above the national average with 5A*’s, 6A’s, 13 B’s and 14 C’s.

Many of last years 11th year students have now begun their two-year IB program which can open the doors to some of the finest universities around the world. The IB diploma can enable students to gain university credits that allow students to either, enter directly into the second year of a degree or straight in to a masters program.