At least 29 students in Hong Kong have achieved top marks in the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme, even after a global outcry from test-takers over concerns that the mathematics subject was too difficult.

More than 2,600 Hong Kong students sat this year’s IB exam on May 15, 16 and 21, showing a nearly 20 per cent increase from 2021, with the results released this Sunday.

The IB exam assesses students’ knowledge of several key academic subjects and plays a key role in their university applications.

Kristen Lo Man-yi, 17, was the only student from St Paul’s Co-Educational College to achieve a perfect score of 45, while eight of her classmates got a score of 44.

Lo, who said she “didn’t expect this [result] at all”, immediately thanked her friends and classmates for their support throughout the two-year slog throughout the programme.

“I think IB is like a marathon, and so I think a lot of work is actually continuous because we have to test two years’ worth of knowledge,” she said.

“So I think making sure that every step of the way, you’re doing the right preparation, such as making notes and all that … makes the lead-up to the final stretch before exams much easier to handle.”