Home Page > HOME > FEATURES INDEX Google Search
FOR A HIGH-QUALITY BRITISH EDUCATION, TRY LEAVING THE COUNTRY.


British schools outside of the UK are performing just as well, if not better, than many schools in the UK. Following the announcement of GCSE and A-Level exam results for 2007 the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) did a survey of its member schools to see how British Schools outside of the UK were performing in comparison with schools back home. The results were impressive. Of the COBIS schools that responded, an average 87% of students achieved 5 ‘good GCSEs’ (A*-C). This is compared with a national average of 61.5%. The A*-C pass rate was 85%, compared with a national average of 63.3%. A-Level results were no less impressive, with many schools reporting a pass rate of 99% or 100%. And schools offering the International Baccalaureate (IB) scored an average of 32 points (the mean IB score worldwide from November 2006 was 30). Considering the fact that many of the responding schools are non-selective, these results are even more remarkable.

Member schools of the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) represent many of the highest-quality British Schools outside of the UK and can be found in 27 countries around the world. For more information visit www.cobis.org.uk.

Further details:

COBIS is a Membership Association of British Schools of quality and is affiliated to the Independent Schools Council (ISC) of the United Kingdom. The mission statement of COBIS includes the following as its main objectives:
  • Quality assurance in member schools
  • Representation with the British Government, with educational bodies, and with the corporate sector
  • A forum for discussion through conferences, seminars and continuing professional development
  • A network of support through contacts, consultancies, information and marketing.

COBIS holds an Annual Conference in London in May for Heads, Governors, and members of school Senior Leadership Teams. It also holds conferences for teachers at different venues outside the UK. A fundamental aim of COBIS is to support its members and represent their interests in Britain and overseas, particularly with Government, education authorities, and educational associations in order to advance the interests of British schools outside the UK. Unlike many other countries, the British Government does not support schools abroad. British schools outside Britain therefore depend entirely on independent, non-governmental organizations.

COBIS was founded in 1981 as COBISEC (Council of British Independent Schools in the European Communities) and is a Charitable Association registered in The Hague.

For more information about COBIS see www.cobis.org.uk or contact the general secretary at general.secretary@cobis.org.uk or by telephone on: +44 1865 488 564.

Students in British schools outside of the UK generally write IGCSEs, the international equivalent of the GCSE exams, administered by University of Cambridge International Examinations. For more information see www.cie.org.uk.

For more information on the Independent Schools Council see www.isc.co.uk.

For more information on the International Baccalaureate see www.ibo.org.

Dr Fiona Rogers - General Secretary
COBIS
Oxford Brookes University
Harcourt Hill Campus
Oxford, OX2 9AT, UK
Tel: +44 1865 488 564
Fax: +44 1865 488 666
www.cobis.org.uk


Posted 27Nov07