Class of 2018 graduates receive their IB Diplomas

Congratulations to the 72 Academy students from the class of 2018 who recently earned the IB Diploma, with a special acknowledgement of the 30 who successfully received a bilingual diploma! Our highest achievers, Tvisha Devavarapu and Freya Lalani each scored a 42, out of a possible score of 45. As per last year’s statistics, this would place them within the top 5% in the world. The 2018 class average remains above the IB Diploma Programme world average for 2018.

Academy students, selected for their exceptional talent and leadership potential, are inherently well-suited to be Diploma Programme candidates. The Academies’ mission and the IB’s mission resonate in their aspirations to nurture ethical young leaders who will help create a better and more peaceful world marked by empathy and pluralism. Towards this end, the Academies implement a dual-language programme which supports the belief that proficiency in one’s mother tongue helps proficiency in all languages, as well as increases the student’s future options and affirms their sense of cultural identity. Students are working towards bilingualism in Hindi, Telugu, Bangla, Dari and Russian. It comes as no surprise then that over 40% of the cohort received a bilingual diploma; on average, only about 23% of graduates globally achieve a bilingual diploma. Two graduates pursued self-taught Telugu and both received the highest grade possible.

Overall, the performance in languages was of particular note. 26 students received a Level 6 or above (out of a possible score of 7) in Hindi Literature (SL), while 11 students were awarded a 6 and above in English Language and Literature (HL). 30% of the grades achieved were a 6 or above. Other notable individual achievements were recorded in Economics (SL), History (SL), Geography (SL) and Chemistry (HL & SL), where the Academy’s average was significantly above the global average. A special mention for Gaurav Asok Kumar for brilliant scores in his Extended Essay (Physics) and Physics papers; and Amitha Vallapuram for obtaining top grades in Math (HL).

Graduates from the class of 2018 will soon be going on to pursue higher education in prestigious universities in India, Canada, USA, UK, Europe, Australia and the UAE, with a number of acceptances to universities in the top 100 in the world, based on the Shanghai Ranking (also known as the Academic Ranking of World Universities) for 2017. Overall, there were over 100 scholarship offers amounting to over US$5.3 million. These include offers made to some students from the Talent Identification Programme, which provides full financial aid to gifted students. Some of the notable institutions that have admitted our students are: Sciences Po, University of Utrecht, Yale-NUS, University of California (San Diego & Davis campuses), University College London, Imperial College, University of Toronto, Indian School of Business & Finance, University of Edinburgh, King’s College London, University of Manchester, Purdue University and Monash University.

The Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad extends gratitude to all our staff, the graduates’ families, alumni and students for playing a part in nourishing the newest members of our growing alumni network. We would also like to thank our partners in the Aga Khan Development Network, through whom our grade 12 students experience unique summer service internships annually – placements which shape them to be conscientious and compassionate human beings. We acknowledge the Province of Ontario (Canada) for their continued support, especially with regards to the post-secondary full tuition waivers that will enable over 100 Academy graduates in financial need to attend world-class higher education institutions in Ontario over the next five years. 2018 scholarship students are headed to Schulich School of Business, York University, University of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario and York University. We wish them all the very best!