St Mary’s international students excel at English examination

International students from The Sixth at St Mary’s are celebrating success after receiving impressive results in their International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinations.

Results reveal that 44% of St Mary’s students who took the test achieved an overall band of 7.5. That’s in stark contrast to worldwide IELTS figures from 2019 (the last year for which statistics are available), where only 6% of candidates achieved a comparable score. In addition, 27% of St Mary’s pupils gained an overall band 8, compared to just 3% of worldwide candidates in 2019.

The IELTS examination is the world’s leading test of English language proficiency for those who want to study or work where English is used as the language of communication.

In less than three hours it assesses a student’s abilities in listening, reading, writing and speaking. Aimed at individuals for whom English is not their native language, the exam allows students to meet the English language requirements for university applications.

When comparing St Mary’s results to the worldwide average for female candidates, they are significantly stronger overall and in each paper. This is most notable in listening with St Mary’s candidates achieving a mean band score of 8.1, compared to 6.3 for worldwide female candidates in 2019. In addition, St Mary’s test takers achieved a mean band score of 7.5 in reading, whereas worldwide female candidates achieved 6.2.

Ms Patricia Brooks, Joint Head: EAL and Sixth Form Tutor at St Mary’s School, said:

“We are especially proud of the 2021/22 Upper Sixth students. Like their predecessors in 2020/21, they met the challenges of remote learning and the additional sets of mock examinations with fortitude – going on to achieve excellent results.”

Find out more about IELTS and English Tuition for International students at St Mary's.