There are 26 Australian students who received perfect scores of 45 in IB in 2010. SA is among the largest centres in the world for IB schools and students across all year levels. 12 South Australian students achieved flawless scores.

There are a few Australian schools produced more than 3 top scoring students in the International Baccalaureate, outperforming the entire United States, which produced just one top scoring student. The perfect IB score is equivalent to a university entry rank ATAR of 99.95. One Adelaide school - Pembroke School got five. This is believed to be an Australian record. One Victorian school - Lauriston Girls' School got four and one Sydney school - MLC Burwood got three.

Greg Valentine, the manager of development for IB Australasia, said just under 2000 year 12 students in Australia sat the IB in 2010 and 2711 students would study it in 2011. He said the stakes were not as high in the United States as in Australia because American students received university offers before sitting their final exams.

"They are not under the same pressure to get a high score as they are in Australia. In America they also do SAT [admission] tests and interviews … to get into university."