‘Very surprised’: Townsville’s Jonathan Davis nabs perfect score

A Townsville Grammar student has achieved the rare feat of attaining a perfect score in the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB), setting him up for a big future.

Townsville Grammar Year 12 student Jonathan Davis, 17, has achieved a 100 percent result in the International Baccalaureate Diploma. Picture: Evan Morgan

A Townsville Grammar student has achieved the rare feat of attaining a perfect score in the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IB) with the results released yesterday (Tuesday).

The school is the only institution to offer the diploma north of Brisbane and Year 12 student Jonathan Davis said he was very surprised when got his result and his parents and family very proud.

“I had no expectation. I was very surprised this morning. It was they’re quite rare, and it’s very easy to lose a point here and there,” the student said.

The international course is offered as an alternative to the ATAR stream and encourages independent learning with students choosing their subjects except for a second language which is mandatory.

“I was very lucky in that Grammar offers the IB. Not many schools, especially in this part of the world, do,” he said.

Townsville Grammar Year 12 student Jonathan Davis, 17, has achieved a 100 percent result in the International Baccalaureate Diploma. Picture: Evan Morgan

“In the IB you have the opportunity of studying subjects at a standard level or higher level.

“So I was drawn by the science subjects that I could study at a higher level, which included a greater breadth and depth of content than you would get in the ATAR curriculum.

“I studied high level physics, chemistry and maths, and the chemistry and physics especially go much deeper than in ATAR.

Townsville Grammar Year 12 student Jonathan Davis, 17, has achieved a 100 percent result in the International Baccalaureate Diploma. Picture: Evan Morgan

“So that gets me ready for university, and it lets me study more advanced content, which I found very appealing.”

The student has already had an offer from Australian National University in Canberra to do a science research degree and plans to start next year.

“I’m very interested in neuroscience and pharmacology, but honestly, there are so many, so many fields that I’m interested in, and I really love that that degree will let me pick and choose my interests and explore them at a high level,” he said.

“I’m really lucky to have had such a supportive environment here at school and from my parents and friends and family.

“The IB is was challenging, but it was it’s definitely been worthwhile, and I think it really has set me up for a good future.”

Townsville Grammar Head of Curriculum and IB Coordinator Dr Carolyn Moores said 15 students at the school had chosen the IB stream along with Jonathan and he was the third student since 2010 from Grammar to achieve a 100 per cent grade (as rare as a 99.95 ATAR score).

“The bonus in our school about the IB program is about the learning journey,” the Doctor said.

“All of the students who do the IB program have found that when they go on to university, later on, they find that the course at university is so much easier to deal with because they’ve built a whole range of independent study skills that they didn’t previously have.”

She said the school community was very proud of his achievement.

“He has done exceptionally well right through his schooling journey.”

Originally published as ‘Very surprised’: Townsville’s Jonathan Davis nabs perfect score