DBS academic performance

本帖最後由 Annaystsoi 於 16-7-22 12:46 編輯

This post concerns primarily the academic performance of DBS boys, I would like to share my opinions on it with DBS parents and any parents who might be interested in letting their children get in DBS.

(my major source of information is data from my 2 sons, who graduated from DBS in 2014 (NSS) and 2016 (IB))

Overview:

Although my elder son fortunately survived in 2014 DSE, his fellow schoolmates performed quite disastrously if judged only by the overall results. 150 something students taking DSE, with only slightly more than half of them being able to secure places in local universities. However, as I looked at the overall picture by taking into account the IB boys and those who left early at G11, I came to realize that among the students from the class of 2014, there are nearly 10 students from HKU Law, 10 something from HKU/CU Medicine, around 10 from Oxbridge as well as a great number of students attending the most prestigious universities ranging from LSE, KCL, UCL, Ivy League colleges from the US etc. The number is truly impressive.

My observation:
The DSE result of DBS is declining, although DBS 2015 DSE was exceptionally great. The major reason is, as I perceive, not “poor” Chinese result, nor is it caused by any substantial drop in the quality of students being admitted. I believe it is because there is a growing tendency that DBS boys either go for IB, GCE, or even study abroad early since they (or their parents) lose faith in the local NSS system, which, as many people might agree, is obsolete in a sense that it does not equip students with the essential life skills not just for the examination.

This tendency is actually evidenced by the form ranking of my elder son, who ranked at 5x/23x in G9, and subsequently became the top 20 students in G10 NSS stream, mostly because there were only 15x students left for NSS. There was also remarkable improvement in his English ranking from 1xx/23x in G9 to 4x/15x in G10 and so on. For the class of 2014 cohort, there were 60 students taking IB, and half of the top 10 students went for IB. As for the class of 2016 cohort, nearly all the top 10 students went for IB (including my younger son), and subsequently the DBS DSE 2016 result is poorer than ever.

By comparing the university offers of DBS students from 2012 to 2015, it became surprising that the rates of students attending the most prestigious schools, and studying the most competitive degrees are more or less consistent - 1x law students, 1x medic students and a high number of students studying in the best universities in the world, such as Oxbridge and Ivy League Schools for each cohort. DBS DSE 2015 was exceptionally excellent, yet, the number of Law, Medicine and Oxbridge offers is somewhat similar majorly because in DBS, DSE result might fluctuate a lot according to the preferences of students, whether to take IB, DSE or GCE. However, the overall quality of the students from both streams still prevails and remains consistent. In DBS, DSE is never a sole determinant of the students’ performance.

My Advice
DBS is definitely one of the most academically excellent secondary schools in HK, however, it is always fatal for the boys to be to over-confident, particularly the DSE stream students. While their remarkable improvements in ranking from G9 to G10 might have boosted their confidence, such improvement is more or less illusional improvements caused by the drop in the number of exemplary students who left the local stream and the increase in the number of sportsmen contributed by the newcomers in senior grades. Many fellow schoolmates of my sons from the DSE stream fell short of their expectation mainly because they predicted their grades only by their rank and results from previous years, without actually considering whether or not they had made sufficient efforts. Although DBS DSE is comparatively weaker, a good many offers from Oxbridge and law medicine have always been given to the DSE boys. My advice is that, you better ask your son to aim high only if he has made exceptional efforts.

For prospective parents, I would like to express that when you are considering the academic performance of DBS, do not just look at the DSE results, but also IB and so on. Aside from the study of DBS, I feel proud that my sons actually spent their secondary school life in this DBS community that comprises people from such diverged backgrounds.