This year’s IGCSE results shed light on some outstanding personal achievements and has given students and teachers at Yew Chung International School of Beijing much to feel proud of.

Maths and ICT

Students particularly excelled in Maths and Technology. In ICT, results were so strong that the school will be offering computer science as part of the International Baccalaureate next year.

Amy Yin and Hyunju Ju scored A* grades in Maths and Additional Maths. Both girls’ scores were so high that they will find themselves in the top percentiles in China. Hyunju in particular scored full marks in her Maths paper, situating her amongst the best IGCSE mathematicians in the world. We are waiting to hear from the exam board where they rank globally, and in the meantime celebrating this enormous achievement.

Girls in STEM

Both Amy and Hyunju completed internships this summer at Siemens.

“I am pleased to say that there is a complete gender balance at YCIS Beijing between boys and girls taking maths and science subjects”, commented Mr Michael Warner, Secondary Science Teacher and IGCSE coordinator. “On top of that, having two of our female students completing internships with a leading technology company is definitely something to celebrate.”

Success for our English Intensive Programme

Eunseo Park joined YCIS Beijing at the end of Year 9, just two years before sitting her IGCSEs. When she joined she hadn’t learned English before and was placed on our English Intensive Programme (EIP). This year, Eunseo scored an A* in Global Perspectives – an English language paper that is marked heavily on writing ability.

“This is an immense achievement for Eunseo”, explained Mr Warner. “To arrive at the school with a beginner level of English, and then take a paper alongside English native speakers all about English writing proficiency shows a lot of determination. We are delighted for Eunseo.”

Chinese Language Programme Delivers Results

Chinese language is a particular strength at YCIS Beijing thanks to our Chinese programme. In this year’s Chinese as a Foreign Language paper, 5 out of 11 students achieved A*s, and two students who earned A grades arrived at YCIS Beijing just two years ago having never studied Chinese before.

Special Language Tuition

Every year, a small group of students choose to sit papers in additional foreign languages that they have learned previously. YCIS Beijing offers additional tuition to guide them through the exam. This year, two students took papers in German as a Foreign Language and three students took Japanese. Two Japanese students scored As and both German students scored A* grades.

Enrichment Time

“As part of the IGCSE learning we run Enrichment Time. This is an opportunity for students to pursue an interest and project of their own,” explains Mr Warner. “The projects were brilliantly varied and reflected a diverse range of interests and talent. Particular favourites of mine were Amy’s alcohol-powered potato canon (which saw her firing potatoes across the school playground!) and Hyunju’s very own Primary maths resources, which she then used to teach a maths lesson to Primary students. Allowing students to explore their interests outside of the curriculum encourages them to learn in more varied and relevant ways, not just for an exam paper.”

Congratulations

More than half of the students who took the International Certificate of Education scored 3 or more A-A*s and 32% percent scored 5 or more. There were 5 A*s in both Foreign Language Chinese and Global Perspectives – reflecting YCIS Beijing’s ethos of Global Citizenship and Chinese language learning. Our warmest congratulations go to the 2018 IGCSE cohort. We wish them the best of luck as they embark on the IBDP.