Moving from elite international schools to elite(ish) universities: the pathway leading to Toronto rather than Harvard

Abstract

ABSTRACT The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) celebrates its 60th Anniversary in 2022 as an international mobility “passport”, offering potential entry to universities around the world. Globally, 3,600 schools in July 2022 offer the IBDP. Within these, there is a sub-grouping of well-established private “elite traditional international schools” (ETISs), epitomised by the International Schools of Geneva and Yokohama. Using matriculation data mined from the websites of individual ETISs, this paper reveals the major university destinations. The emergent dominance of relatively few destinations (five in particular), mainly in Canada and England, offers an interesting avenue for research inquiry. Conversely, the relatively low entry level of ETIS graduates into the world’s most prestigious universities, such as the Oxbridge pairing, can be compared. A seemingly “natural pathway” to Toronto rather than Harvard has emerged and warrants much further discussion and investigation.