Uncover the secrets to academic success from GIIS high achievers across different curricula – International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), and CBSE curriculum. Jaishita Mohta, who scored 44/45 in the 2024 IBDP exams emphasises the importance of starting assignments early, and viewing the IB experience as a fun, valuable journey. Rishabh Manikandan, who scored 43/45 in 2024 IBDP exams credits his triumphs to relentless hard work, early preparation, and leveraging school resources.
Sharad Gaur with an exceptional score of 98% in 2024 CBSE exams asks his juniors to keep it simple with a consistent study plan, dedicating four to six hours daily to mastering subjects like Physics and Chemistry. Roshni Ray, who achieved a high score of 95% in 2024 CBSE exams advises CBSE students to stay calm, manage their time effectively, and focus on quality over quantity. These insights from successful students highlight that dedication, strategic planning, and a balanced approach are key to excelling in rigorous academic programmes.
Let’s hear more about effective study techniques from our students.
‘Begin your assignments early’
What study techniques did you find most effective in preparing for IAs and exams in the IBDP programme? What kept you motivated throughout your IBDP journey? Any tips for your juniors doing the IB Diploma Programme?
Rishabh: IB high achievers, including our GIIS school alumni, were my main motivators. The idea that I could potentially be among top scorers and secure top university placements, and a strong career was a huge motivating factor for me.
With my IAs and exams, the main study strategy I used was to put in a dedicated number of hours. I have always believed that hard work pays off, and through putting in the hours to nail my IAs and have clear concepts for the exams, I was able to score good grades. The resources provided by the school along with online video study materials proved incredibly useful for me.
Some tips for my juniors:
● Enter the IB with an open mind. A key factor that I believed was critical to my success was that I started IB with an open mind. I gauged the difficulty level myself. And, at the end of the day it was purely a mental game, which helped me succeed in the DP.
● Begin your assignments early. Starting the Extended Essay (EE) earlier than my cohort was very useful, as during the submission month of February, while most people were busy completing the EE, I was simply left with minor touch ups, thereby giving me extra time to prepare for the main exams.
● Go for extracurriculars to destress yourself. Having a physical activity, such as gym, tennis or any sport, and a cerebral activity such as chess. Reading, together with creative hobbies, definitely play an integral part in diverting one’s mind away from the workload.
Also read: From GIIS to Oxford: Achieving success with the IBDP Programme
‘Understand the value of your work’
Jaishita: I think what has helped me the most is always my attitude, aiming to do my best. I would always strive to do well with school grade boundaries, trying to strengthen my concepts. I started early on a lot of writing assignments.
I came up with my EE idea immediately after the EE briefing, and I worked on my first draft in the June holidays, instead of waiting for the school to start. This was useful because in September a lot of things start coming, and having finished a good chunk of your work beforehand goes a long way.
For motivation, I always saw it as a fun experience – IB is a great curriculum, and it has taught me a lot about research and articulation.
Some tips for my juniors:
● If you stay on top of your work and understand the value of what you’re doing, you’ll learn to manage your study load, and eventually do well.
● Don’t forget to take a break when needed and don’t hesitate to reach out to your seniors for help.
Here are some strategies, as adopted by our CBSE 2024 cohort students.
‘Focus more on quality’
What study techniques did you find most effective in preparing for CBSE exams?
Roshni: The first advice that I gave to myself, and would like to give to other students, is don’t panic because there will be some subjects that you will find challenging, or you won’t be able to grasp the concepts in the first go. But if you keep asking questions in the class, keep practising, and keep revising — it gets easier.
You always have the support of your family, teachers, and friends. And there will be times when you will have to juggle a lot of things together. In 12th grade, especially, you have so many exams happening back to back – co-curricular activities, uni application process, internal assessments, external exams etc. So it might seem like a lot to deal with but the key is to just stay calm.
Some tips for my juniors:
● Manage your time, prioritise your tasks, and don’t procrastinate.
● I feel it’s imperative to focus more on quality than quantity. It’s better to study one concept sincerely, every day, rather than attempting multiple concepts, without proper focus or understanding.
‘Keep the study plan simple’
Sharad: I believed in giving four to six hours every day to my studies, outside my school hours, where I would focus on the topics done in the classes, as well as on the next day’s scheduled lectures, especially in Physics and Chemistry. I felt these were the subjects where it’s important to focus and prepare regularly.
My strategy has been to keep my study plan simple. I never made complex timetables for any subject.
Celebrating GIIS’s student success
In 2024, students at the Global Indian International School (GIIS) celebrated outstanding results in both the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) examinations. Our IBDP students achieved an average score of 36.04%, significantly higher than the global average score of 30.32.
With eight (8) World Toppers and Near-Perfect Scorers, 64.2% of the cohort scored 35 grade points and above while 31.2% of the cohort scored 40 grade points and above.
Our CBSE cohort at GIIS SMART Campus attained a school average of 82.8% with 31% of our Grade 12 students scoring over 90%. These achievements reflect GIIS’s dedication to providing high-quality education and our holistic approach to student development, ensuring success across diverse curricula.
GIIS students heading to top global universities
At GIIS, our secondary students receive guidance on university applications and process, under our Career Counselling team. Over the years, GIIS graduates have been accepted in leading global universities – including University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, University College London, UCLA, Brown, UC Berkeley, NUS, and NTU.
In 2024 alone, almost 240 offers have been made to GIIS students from some of the top ranking universities in the US and UK. On an average, our students have received 4-5 offers from premier global universities.
We are happy to share that four (4) GIIS students are heading to the University of Oxford, five (5) to Imperial College London, one (1) each to UC Berkeley and Northwestern University in the US. And we are counting! The university placement numbers for 2024 are still updating for us.
If you are keen to know more about high school curricula choices at GIIS, please don’t hesitate to contact our admissions team.
Shubhdarshani Mitra
Shubhdarshani has over 10 years of experience in content creation, curation and editing. She has worked for Indian newspapers, school magazines and international news websites where she worked closely with the leadership on the execution and communication of the content strategy. Aside from work, she’s a passionate B&W photographer and storyteller.
