What Happens When Independent Researchers Put IB Education to the Test

The results are in – and for Scots College families, they make for very good reading.

Earlier this year, the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) published the findings of one of the largest independent studies ever conducted into International Baccalaureate (IB) programme outcomes. More than 71,000 students across 254 internationally accredited schools were assessed. The question was straightforward: do students in IB schools actually perform better than their peers in comparable non-IB schools?

The answer was clear: in no domain and at no year level did non-IB students outperform their IB-educated peers – and across reading, writing, and scientific literacy, IB students demonstrated consistent and measurable advantages.

What the Research Found

The study, published in February 2026, compared students in the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) against students from other internationally accredited schools sitting the same assessments – the ACER International Schools' Assessment, which covers Mathematical Literacy, Reading, Scientific Literacy, Narrative Writing, and Expository Writing.

IB students outperformed their non-IB peers in reading in seven of eight year groups from Year 3 to Year 10. In scientific literacy, IB students showed significant advantages over non-IB peers at multiple year levels, and when their scores were measured against the OECD's international PISA benchmarks, IB students in Years 9 and 10 performed substantially above the global average – with large effect sizes recorded at both year levels. Strong reading performance appeared to carry through into writing, with IB students achieving significantly higher results in both Narrative and Expository Writing at multiple year levels.

What makes these findings especially credible is the methodology behind them. The researchers used hierarchical linear modelling – a statistical approach that accounts for the nested nature of school data and controls for individual student factors including gender and English-language background. In other words, the IB advantage was not explained by the type of school, the mix of students, or any other background variable the researchers could measure. The curriculum itself was doing the work.

In not a single year level or subject area did non-IB students outperform their IB-educated peers.

A Timely Affirmation for Scots College

The research arrived at a meaningful moment for Scots College. In April 2026, the College hosted an IB evaluation team – international assessors who spent several days on campus, observing classes, speaking with students and staff, and reviewing how the IB programme operates in practice.

Their conclusion, delivered at the close of the review, was that Scots College is "living its mission."

That is not a phrase used lightly in IB evaluation. It means the values that underpin the IB – inquiry – international-mindedness, principled thinking, and genuine care for others – are not presented as ideals at Scots. They are observable. They are the texture of daily school life.

Scots College has held IB World School status since 2008. The PYP runs through the Junior School in Years 1 to 6, the MYP through the Middle School in Years 7 to 10, and the IB Diploma is offered alongside NCEA for students in Years 12 and 13. In Year 11, students follow a Scots-designed programme – called the Scots Tohu – that prepares them thoroughly for whichever Senior School pathway they choose. The 2026 five-year review affirms what nearly two decades of commitment to this curriculum has built.

What This Means if Your Child Attends Scots

For families in the Junior School and Middle School, the ACER research offers something that most school communications cannot: independent, peer-reviewed evidence that the curriculum your child is learning within is producing measurably stronger academic outcomes than comparable non-IB schools.

School choice involves a great deal of trust. Families weigh up environment, values, co-curricular opportunities, and pastoral care – and they do so largely on the basis of what schools say about themselves. Research of this scale and rigour is different. It does not rely on a school's own account. It measures outcomes across 254 schools, across two full years of data, and it controls for the variables that might otherwise muddy the picture.

The findings are clear. The IB curriculum works – and at Scots, it is working well.

A Pathway Built for the Long Term

The IB learner profile sits at the heart of all three programmes offered at Scots. It describes ten attributes – among them curiosity, principled thinking, open-mindedness, and genuine care for others – that develop progressively as students move through the Junior School, Middle School, and Senior School.

This is not a set of aspirational statements. At Scots, these attributes shape how subjects are taught, how students are assessed, and how learning is structured from one year to the next. The coherence of the pathway – the fact that a student who begins in Year 1 and sits the IB Diploma in Year 13 has been working within the same intellectual and ethical framework throughout – is one of the things the ACER research captures, even if indirectly.

Students do not arrive at Year 12 having suddenly adopted a new way of thinking. They arrive having practised it for over a decade.

Read the Research for Yourself

The full ACER report – Performance Comparison between IB and Non-IB Students on the International Schools' Assessment – is available to download. It is a detailed and thorough piece of work, and for families who want to understand exactly what was measured and how; it rewards close reading.

A Closer Look at the International Baccalaureate Programmes

Join us on Tuesday 9 June for an evening insight into the Junior and Middle School at Scots College.

Hear a brief overview of our recent IB review, then explore the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and Middle Years Programme (MYP) – what sets them apart and why they are globally respected. We will also share key research on IB outcomes, outline recent NCEA changes, and hear directly from current students about their experience.

This is open to both current and prospective families. We look forward to seeing you there.