The enforced isolations that pockmarked and then overwhelmed the 2021 calendar proved to be a net benefit for a small number of students who exceeded their own expectations in achieving a perfect score in the 2021 International Baccalaureate.

Of the 2644 Australian students who sat the IB exams in November, 90 received a perfect score of 45 – the equivalent of 99.95 on the Australian Tertiary Academic Rank. Another 780 received scores of 40 and above – or above 96.5 ATAR.