The Stephen Perse Foundation has been awarded Sunday Times IB School of the Year 2013 in acknowledgement of its outstanding results.

The school received the award in its first year of IB teaching, in 2010, but is now established as a leading IB school in the UK. Dame Bradbury’s School, in Saffron Walden, merged with the Foundation in September.

The Foundation’s results have been confirmed by the International Baccalaureate as the joint-highest in the world (the other school is not in the UK).

Principal Tricia Kelleher said: “Awards like these are an amazing tribute to everyone involved. It is a complete vindication of our decision to introduce the independent international curriculum.

“We have a record of academic excellence that goes back to the 19th century – we will never disrupt this, but we are delighted with our decision to seek inspiration for the school’s future direction from outside the standard UK system.

“Our IB students had a 100 per cent success-rate with their first choice universities, including one student going to Utrecht in the Netherlands, another to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a large number going on to Oxford and Cambridge.

“There is no one-size-fits-all qualification. The IB will not be right for everyone – it is broad as well as challenging. However, it is clear to me that many students miss out if they are restricted to the standard A Level offerings. You can’t argue with the 100 per cent success rate, after all.”

The Stephen Perse Foundation has launched a learning website – stephenpersefoundationlearning.com – whic showcases its educational ethos and thinking on a range of topics. The site is still in evolution and will develop over the coming weeks and months to include staff research and other items of educational debate.