Our Students
Our Learning Process and Academic Performance
Bilingual Diplomas
4 attempted
4 awarded
OSC High School Diplomas
100% (20)
students were awarded the OSC Diploma
Diplomas with Distinction
84% (16)
students were awarded the OSC Diploma with Distinction
100%
of students are following their first choice plan for life beyond OSC
4 students from the Class of 2023 received significant scholarships toward their university tuition
The Class of 2023 earned acceptances to 17 of the top 100 schools ranked by the Times Higher Education world rankings
Having started with a student population of just 25 children at inception, The Overseas School of Colombo now counts 311 students in the 2022/23 academic year. The School has the most diverse student and teaching faculty in Sri Lanka, comprising over 40 nationalities altogether.
This diversity is a fundamental part of our philosophy, as we place high value on belonging and personal identity, and it echoes in our determination to give each generation of students that passes through our hallways a holistic education that emphasises the value of compassion, courage, and curiosity while encouraging the pursuit of knowledge and its practical applications in the world. As such, we deeply value our community, working hard to keep it a safe and happy place, and the same goes for other communities we interact with and the environments we impact.
The largest percentage of students at the School are American (27%), followed by Sri Lankan (17%), British (8%), Australian (7%), and Indian (7%). The majority of our families come from diplomatic missions, United Nations (UN) organisations, and NGOs, while the remaining families have joined us from the corporate and private sectors. Our average annual turnover of students is 25% due to families being transferred to other posts abroad.
At OSC, we are committed to providing our students with a plethora of educational experiences that highlight the importance of learning within a classroom and beyond. This results in our students continuing to gain admissions to their best fit, and to respected universities in the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, and Europe, among other countries of their choice.
Our students have the values of the IB Learner Profile (refer to page 13) deeply ingrained in them, as they cultivate these principles not only through the School’s curriculum, but through every programme that the School conducts. As they grow older, our students learn how to apply these values in their lives and appreciate the importance of the contributions they can make as “global citizens”.
Student Profile at OSC
Students
311
Graduates
20
American
83 27%Australian
23 07%Austrian
2 01%Belgian
5 02%British
24 08%Bulgarian
01 00%Canadian
13 04%Chinese
07 02%Danish
03 01%Dutch
04 01%French
07 02%German
12 04%Ghanaian
04 01%Honduran
01 00%Indian
21 07%Indonesian
03 01%Irish
03 01%Israeli
02 01%Italian
04 01%Kenyan
01 00%Maldivian
03 01%Mozambican
01 00%Nepalese
04 01%New Zealander
02 01%Norwegian
03 01%Russian
03 01%Singaporean
02 01%South African
03 01%South Korean
04 01%Spanish
02 01%Sri Lankan
54 17%Swedish
05 02%Swiss
01 00%Thai
01 00%Education at OSC is not restricted to academic pursuits, as we seek to nurture well-rounded individuals cognisant of their own value and the value of their actions as they grow alert to the myriad ways in which they can shape the world. This desire to contribute is cultivated as they learn about and develop responses to social, global, and environmental issues, and is fostered by relationships with the cultures and communities that surround them. Curiosity leads them down many paths of knowledge, resulting in qualities of leadership coming to the fore as they strive to make a difference in the world.
PYP Exhibition
The PYP Exhibition is a stimulating final project taken on by our Grade 5 Primary School students that requires them to delve into diverse areas of research and present actionable solutions to problems discovered in their findings. The areas explored in 2023 were under the topics of language and culture, animal welfare, poverty and child malnutrition, climate change, gender equality, and sustainability.
This project proves to be a worthy challenge for our Primary School students, who are tasked with determining their area of interest, documenting their research-based discoveries and then presenting their findings via components such as writing, the arts, and technology. Students opt to present their research through presentations, 3D models, and posters that highlight practical steps that can be taken to improve the problems they uncover.
Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) 2022/23
The KG-Grade 5 Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2) allows teachers to determine whether students are reading on, above, or below grade level. Teachers can use DRA2 levels to plan appropriate teaching materials. The Fall DRA2 gives our teachers a baseline for where our students are when entering their grade while the Spring DRA2 reports reading progress at the end of the academic year.
DRA2 – Developmental Reading Assesment
| FALL 2022 ALL PRIMARY STUDENTS KG – GRADE 5 | ||||||
| Below grade |
Beginning grade | Mid grade |
End of grade |
Significantly above grade | ||
| All students (109) | 17% (19 students) | 43% (47 students) | 22% (24 students) | 12% (13 students) | 6% (6 students) | 81% on or above grade level |
| SPRING 2023 ALL PRIMARY STUDENTS GRADE 1 – GRADE 5 | ||||||
| All students (123) | 6% (7 students) | 9% (11 students) | 26% (32 students) | 52% (64 students) | 7% (9 students) | 94% on or above grade level |
Push in and pull out interventions are in place for the 17% below grade level.
| FALL 2022 GRADE 2-5 (73 Students) | ||
| Below Grade Level |
On Grade Level |
Above Grade Level |
| 66% (48) | 27% (20) | 7% (5) |
| SPRING 2023 GRADE 1-5 (101 Students) | ||
| Below Grade Level |
On Grade Level |
Above Grade Level |
| 17% (17) | 48% (48) | 35% (36) |
At the end of the School year 83% of students were on or above grade level.
ISA: International Schools’ Assessment
The International Schools’ Assessment (ISA) is designed for students in Grades 3-10. The ISA writing assessment comprises two writing tasks: one Narrative/Reflective task which involves writing a story in response to a prompt, and one Exposition/Argument task which prompts students to write out their ideas based on a proposition.
Middle Years Programme (MYP)
| MYP Subjects | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | 2018/19 | 2017/18 |
| Language and Literature | 6.0 | 5.7 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.5 |
| Language, Literature, and other | 6.2 | 6.3 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 6.3 | 6.7 |
| French B | 5.6 | 5.7 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 5.5 |
| Spanish B | 5.0 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 5.5 |
| Sinhala | 6.6 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.9 | 5.7 | |
| Individuals and Societies | 5.9 | 6.2 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.2 | 5.9 |
| Science | 5.3 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 5.8 |
| Ext. Mathematics | 6.1 | 6.2 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 5.3 | 5.9 |
| Mathematics | 4.2 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 4.5 |
| Theatre | 6.5 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 6.1 | 6.3 | 6.5 |
| Music | 6.0 | 6.0 | 5.7 | 6.0 | 6.1 | 6.5 |
| Visual Arts | 5.8 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 7.0 |
| Physical and Health Education | 5.9 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 5.6 | 5.7 | 5.6 |
| Design | 6.4 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 6.5 | 5.7 | 6.5 |
| Personal Project | 5.6 | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.1 | 5.2 | 4.6 |
Yellow highlighted cells represent courses where marks were moderated, down, or up |
||||||
MYP subject grades – Class of 2025 (Internal assessment)
OSC overall MYP average 2023 – 5.8/7
MYP personal project
(External assessment)
OSC PP average 2022 – 5.6
OSC PP average 2021 – 5.1
World PP average 2022 – 4.1
MYP personal project
Class of 2024
(External assessment)
OSC average 2023 – 5.6
IBDP 2023
The pass rate at OSC for 2023 full diploma candidates was 100%, compared to the world average in 2023 of 80%.
The IB Diploma Programme
Since 1983, we have continuously offered the two-year IB Diploma Programme at OSC to Grades 11 and 12 students. All students at our School are enrolled as IB Courses candidates with almost all students opting to take the full IB Diploma. Students who complete the IB Diploma will have studied six subjects, with three of these at Higher Level, earning a minimum of 24 IB Diploma points. In addition, students must meet the IB criteria in the following core components of the programme:
- Extended Essay (EE): A 4000-word independent research essay that helps develop research skills, academic essay-writing, and time-management skills.
- Theory of Knowledge (TOK): This course promotes critical thinking and enquiry skills, connecting knowledge developed in the six subject groups.
- Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS): Encourages a balanced approach to extracurricular activities beyond OSC’s taught curriculum.
Whereas CAS is an essential but ungraded component of the IB Diploma, a student’s grades in TOK and the EE contribute up to three additional points to their IB Diploma points total. The maximum available points is 45 which is achieved annually by less than 1% of students worldwide.
OSC also offers a thorough college counselling programme for all students, providing guidance and support in choosing a suitable path for their lives beyond high school, wherever that may take them.
| IB Worldwide May 2023 |
OSC 2023 | OSC 2022 | |
| Registered IB Candidates | |||
| Number of IB Diploma Programme Examination Candidates | 173,704 | 19 | 24 |
| Number of students attempting the IB diploma | 91,421 | 19 | 24 |
| Percentage of students attempting the full diploma | 53% | 100% | 100% |
| Award of the IB Diploma | |||
| Number of IB Diplomas awarded | 73,146 | 19 | 22 |
| IB Diploma pass rate | 80 | 100% | 92% |
| Number of IB bilingual Diploma earners | 19,749 | 4 | 3 |
| Percentage of bilingual Diploma earners | 27% | 21% | 13% |
| The Distribution of IB Points | |||
| IB Diploma earners with 35 points and above | 28% | 63% | 50% |
| IB Diploma earners with 40 points and above | 9% | 5% | 8% |
| Mean IB Diploma Points | 30.2 | 34.8 | 33 |
| Mean Grade IB | |||
| Mean grade for IB Candidates | 4.8 | 5.6 | 5.2 |
| Extended essay and TOK | |||
| Students earning EE results of A | 10% | 5% | 25% |
| Students earning EE results of B or higher | 35% | 42% | 63% |
| Students earning TOK results of A | 9% | 5% | 4% |
| Students earning TOK results of B or higher | 43.7% | 47% | 33% |
Total points distribution – Global
| Total points | 2019 % |
2020 % |
2021 % |
2022 % |
2023 % |
OSC 2023 % |
| 23 or fewer | 18.14 | 11.51 | 8.42 | 10.92 | 16.10 | 0 |
| 24 to 29 | 30.42 | 26.59 | 20.59 | 23.09 | 28.30 | 5.26 |
| 30 to 34 | 26.11 | 28.05 | 26.94 | 27.81 | 26.95 | 31.57 |
| 35 to 39 | 17.73 | 22.86 | 25.66 | 23.48 | 19.78 | 57.89 |
| 40 to 45 | 7.61 | 10.99 | 18.39 | 14.70 | 8.87 | 5.26 |
IB exam results by subject
| Number of candidates |
Average grade | ||
| School | World | ||
| Language and Literature | |||
| English A: Language and Literature HL | 14 | 5.6 | 4.8 |
| English A: Language and Literature SL | 3 | 6.3 | 4.9 |
| English A: Literature HL | 2 | 5 | 4.6 |
| Language Acquisition | |||
| French ab initio SL | 7 | 5.1 | 4.8 |
| French B SL | 8 | 5.6 | 5 |
| Individuals and Societies | |||
| Economics HL | 7 | 5.4 | 5.1 |
| Economics SL | 2 | 6.5 | 4.8 |
| Env. Systems and Societies SL | 7 | 6.1 | 4.2 |
| Geography HL | 7 | 5.4 | 5.3 |
| History of Asia and Oceania HL | 2 | 6 | 5.1 |
| History SL | 1 | 5 | 4.7 |
| Experimental Sciences | |||
| Biology HL | 5 | 5.6 | 4.4 |
| Biology SL | 3 | 5 | 4.2 |
| Chem HL | 3 | 5.3 | 4.6 |
| Chem SL | 2 | 5 | 4.1 |
| Physics HL | 2 | 6.5 | 4.8 |
| Physics SL | 2 | 7 | 4.2 |
| Mathematics | |||
| Mathematics AA: HL | 6 | 5.5 | 4.9 |
| Mathematics AA: SL | 9 | 5.2 | 4.6 |
| Mathematics AI: SL | 4 | 4.8 | 3.9 |
| The Arts | |||
| Music SL | 1 | 6 | 4.2 |
| Theatre HL | 8 | 6.4 | 5 |
| Visual Arts HL | 5 | 5 | 4.4 |
Notable Class of 2023 Extended Essays
Extended essay projects that received grades of A or B
| Subject | Topic | Research question |
| CHEMISTRY | Kinetics, Transitional Metals | What is the relationship between the electronegativity (1.9, 0.93, 1.55, 1.31, 1.83) of metal sulphates (CuSO₄, Na2SO₄, MnSO₄, MgSO₄, FeSO₄), respectively, and their catalytic ability in a Luminol-Sodium hydroxide oxidation reaction, as determined by the duration of chemiluminescence. |
| ENGLISH A | The rhetoric used by political figures to communicate meaning | To what extent does the language and rhetoric used by H E Mahinda Rajapaksa in his speech in 2009 communicate meaning? |
| ENGLISH A | An exploration of how the female protagonist, Jane Eyre, is empowered by the effective use of the narrative stance | How does Charlotte Brontë use the narrative perspective to convey the eponymous heroine, Jane Eyre's, developing empowerment throughout the novel? |
| GLOBAL POLITICS | The impact of European Union foreign policy on an asylum seeker's ability to enter the European Union | To what extent have asylum seekers attempting to enter the European Union been used as a geopolitical tool by neighbouring autocratic foreign nations, for their own economical benefit, within the last decade? |
| HISTORY | The impact of the 5th Hakka migration | In what ways did the arrival of Hakkas during the fifth Hakka diaspora impact the United States and Malaysia economically and culturally in the 20th century? |
| HISTORY | Examining the social events that led to the emergence of the Sri Lankan civil war |
To what extent was the civil war in Sri Lanka a result of racially motivated events? |
| PHYSICS | Investigating the relationship between the eddy current drag force exerted on a conductor and its velocity | How does the velocity of a conductor entering a magnetic field affect the eddy current drag force exerted on it? |
| WLD. STUDIES ENV/ECO SUSTAINABILITY | Maldivian Tourism | To what extent did the post-pandemic economic recovery strategies of the Maldivian tourism industry impact the high-end resort sector and how did the source markets change relative to the ongoing globalisation of the leisure market? |
OSC College and University Offers 2016-2023
The UK
Aberystwyth University
Aberdeen University
Anglia Ruskin University
Bangor University (2)
Bournemouth University (2)
Brunel University (3)
Canterbury Christ Church University
Cardiff University (3)
City University, London (3)
Durham University (3)
European Business School London
Goldsmiths College, University of London (2)
Imperial College London
King’s College London (9)
Kingston University (3)
Lancaster University (2)
Leeds Beckett University
Leeds College of Art & Design
London School of Economics
London Metropolitan University
Liverpool University
Newcastle University (2)
Nottingham Trent University (3)
Queen Mary, University of London (5)
Queen’s University Belfast (2)
Swansea University (2)
Sussex University
St George’s, University of London
University of the Arts London
University of Aberdeen (3)
University of Bath (2)
University of Birmingham
University of Bradford (2)
University of Brighton (4)
University of Bristol (3)
University of Central Lancashire
University College London
University of Creative Arts
University of Dundee
University of East Anglia (2)
University of East London (4)
University of Edinburgh (8)
University of Essex (4)
University of Exeter (3)
University of Glasgow
University of Greenwich (2)
University of Hull (2)
University of Kent (8)
University of Leeds (5)
University of Leicester
University of Lincoln (2)
University of London (2)
University of Loughborough (5)
University of Manchester (11)
University of Nottingham (8)
University of Plymouth (3)
University of Portsmouth (2)
University of Reading
University of Roehampton (3)
University of Sheffield (5)
University of Southampton (5)
University of St Andrews (2)
University of Surrey (2)
University of Sussex (3)
University of the Arts London (2)
University of Warwick (4)
University of Westminster (3)
University of York (3)
The USA
Amherst College
Arizona State University
Bard College
Bates College
Beloit College
Boston University (9)
Brown University
Carnegie Mellon University
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
California State University Fullerton
California State University Northridge
California State University San Diego
California State University San Franciso
Carleton College
Case Western Reserve University
Claremont McKenna College
Clark University (5)
Clemson University
College of William & Mary (3)
College of Wooster
Colorado College
Columbia College
Cornell College
Creighton University, Nebraska
Denison University
DePaul University, Chicago
Drexel University (3)
Emerson College (2)
Eamus University
Emory & Henry College
Embry Riddle University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida International University (2)
Florida Institute of Technology (2)
Florida State University
Fordham University (7)
Georgetown University
Georgia Institute of Tech
George Washington University (3)
Goucher College
Hofstra University (2)
Ithaca College (2)
Iowa State University
James Madison University (2)
Knox College (2)
Lewis & Clark College (2)
Lynn University (3)
Macalester College
Marymount Manhattan College (2)
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Science (2)
Milwaukee School of Engineering, Wisconsin
Montgomery College
New York University (10)
North Carolina State University
Northeastern University (2)
Northwestern University (2)
Occidental College (2)
Oregon Institute of Technology
Parsons NYC
Pepperdine University
Penn State University (3)
Pratt Institute, NY (2)
Purdue University (2)
Reed College (2)
Rochester Institute of Technology
Sarah Lawrence College
Savannah College of Art & Design (2)
Stanford University
Suffolk University (2)
Syracuse University (4)
Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi
The New School, NY
The University of Iowa
The University of Wisconsin – Madison (2)
Tufts University
University of Arizona
University of California, Berkeley
University of California Davis (8)
University of California Irvine
University of California Los Angeles
University of California San Diego (4)
University of California Santa Cruz (2)
University of California Santa Barbara (2)
University of Cincinnati
University of Colorado Boulder (2)
University of Chicago
University of Denver (2)
University of Idaho
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
University of Maryland
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Massachusetts Boston (4)
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
University of Massachusetts Lowell (2)
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of New Hampshire
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2)
University of Oregon
University of Pennsylvania (2)
University of Pittsburgh (3)
Rutgers University, New Brunswick
University of San Diego (4)
University of San Francisco (2)
University of South Carolina
University of South Florida
University of Southern California (2)
University of the Pacific
University of Tampa (3)
University of Texas at Austin
University of Washington (3)
University of Wisconsin, Madison (4)
Utah State University
Vassar College
Virginia Tech (2)
Western Washington University
Wake Forest University
Washington University in St Louis
Wesleyan University
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Canada
Brock University
Carleton University (4)
Concordia University (5)
Dalhousie University (4)
HEC Montreal
Laurentian University
Queen’s University
Ryerson University (2)
McGill University (9)
McMaster University
Memorial University of Newfoundland (4)
Queen’s University
Saint Mary’s University
Simon Fraser University
Trent University
University of Alberta (2)
University of Calgary (2)
University of British Columbia (12)
University of Ottawa
University of Newfoundland (3)
University of Saskatchewan
University of Toronto (17)
University of Victoria (2)
University of Waterloo (3)
University of Western Ontario
Western University
York University (2)
Australia
Australian National University
Deakin University
Monash University (1)
RMIT University
University of Melbourne (6)
University of New South Wales
University of Sydney (4)
UTS LaTrobe
Western Sydney University
Belgium
Brussels School of Governance
Czech Republic
Charles University
China
New York University, Shanghai
France
American University of Paris (3)
Universite Toulouse
UTC, France
Germany
Jacobs University
Hong Kong
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
Hong Kong Polytechnic University
University of Hong Kong (2)
Hungary
Corvinus University of Budapest
India
Christ University, Bangalore
Nirma University
NIS Allahabad (2)
Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology
Manipal University
Ireland
University of Limerick
Italy
Bocconi University
Japan
International Christian University
Tokyo International University
Temple University
Waseda University
Korea
Yonsei University
Latvia
Riga Stradins University
Netherlands
Amsterdam University College
Erasmus University Rotterdam (2)
Leiden University (6)
Maastricht University, Maastricht
Technische Universiteit Eindhoven
University of Groningen (3)
University of Amsterdam (7)
University College Maastricht (2)
Utrecht University (2)
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
New Zealand
University of Auckland
University of Otago
Philippines
Ateneo de Manila
Singapore
National University of Singapore
LaSalle College of the Arts
Spain
ESADE University
EU Business School, Barcelona
IE University
Switzerland
Les Roches School of Hospitality
Turkey
Koc University
Bahçeşehir University
UAE
American University of Sharjah
New York University, Abu Dhabi
University of Birmingham, Dubai
Zayed University
KEY
Listed = Acceptances
Bold = Matriculated
( ) = Number of Students Accepted