Why? Because no matter what VTAC does, the two systems will always be incommensurable. Apples and oranges. The two systems are so different that a comparison is impossible, making ‘equity’ between IB and VCE fantastical.

Now, to be giving so much criticism, I must have the groundbreaking solution, so here it is: place the onus on the universities to determine IB entry scores. Not only does this stop the need for direct comparison, it allows the universities to ascertain the value of the IB in respect to each individual course.

For example, an arts course might value the experience IB graduates gained from writing the four-thousand-word extended essay, so would set a lower IB entry score than a science degree that has the same ATAR admission score.

This is the tried and tested method that works everywhere else in the world. All the major US, UK and south-east Asian tertiary institutions post IB results in conjunction with their local system.

While Australian universities do post IB entry scores for courses, this only applies to international applicants, meaning that domestic students have to convert their scores and subject themselves to the ATAR requirements. Therefore, it doesn’t seem like it would be difficult for universities to abolish the conversion and simply value domestic IB scores in their own right.

While I agree that the current conversion system is flawed, I reject the ill-considered fix that explicitly undermines the IB philosophy.

As an IB graduate, I implore Australian universities to adopt IB scores as a method of granting entry to domestic students.

Maxwell Yong is an IB graduate of 2018 and is now studying a Bachelor of Commerce and Diploma of Music at Melbourne University.