The anniversary, 20th, edition of ICEF has become outstanding in terms of student achievement. 168 students graduated from the programme, and the total number of its graduates since the college was established is now close to two thousand. 79 graduates received a diploma from the University of London with 1st class with honours, and 31 with honours from the Higher School of Economics.
Since mid-March 2020, the entire educational process at ICEF and at the University of London, including examinations, has moved online due to the pandemic. However, this did not prevent the College and its students from successfully completing the programme, and in some ways even surpassing the results of previous years. In connection with the new situation, students received new types of online assignments, materials, webinars and much more. The exams were also conducted in a new way: ICEF conducted its exams using the Examus proctoring system, while the University of London conducted online exams in the Open book format, allowing the use of external sources of information to complete more complex tasks than usual.
Initially, the 4th year ICEF students passed the final examinations of the Higher School of Economics. This year, for the first time, online defense of graduate theses was held for all participants, for whom it was a difficult but interesting experience. In the opinion of the organizers of the defense, the process of conducting it in digital format could be compared to a large conference. In the undergraduate programme, almost 150 people defended their graduation papers, and the commissions included more than 50 leading researchers and representatives of the largest employing companies. Online defenses took place over a six-day with the simultaneous work of 3-4 commissions.
About half of the students (49%) received excellent marks, which is 15% more than in 2019. The number of students receiving the highest marks (9 or 10 points) is the largest in comparison with previous years - about 27%. As a result, 31 graduates received an HSE diploma with honours, which is especially difficult for a double degree program. In 2019, there were 16 such diplomas - so the number also the doubled.
At the beginning of autumn, the University of London annually sums up the results of training on its international programme, and ICEF students consistently rank among the best in the world in terms of international exams. The 2019-2020 academic year has become the most productive in the history of the Institute's successes, despite all the difficulties faced by universities around the world during the pandemic.
In 2020, 79 ICEF undergraduate students received a 1st class UoL degrees, which is 47% of all degrees, and together with the Upper Second class honours degrees accounted for 78% (an excellent stable level over the last few years - 60%, in the world - about 20%). The previous record in 2018 and 2019 was 49. The degree level accumulates the success of a student during all his years of study; it is not only the result of the exams of the last year. Therefore, the outstanding results of the 2020 graduates are especially valuable.
Every year ICEF receives about 70 letters of commendation and 15 prizes from the LSE for the world's best exam results in certain subjects among students of the UoL international programme. The results in 2020 on these indicators have not yet been announced, but are already expected to be unusually high. For instance, this year 12 undergraduate students received marks of 100 points out of 100; usually such marks are of a single nature for all students in the world. These students have already guaranteed themselves the status of the best in the world in their subjects, and 2nd year student Ekaterina Ivanushkina received 100 out of 100 in two subjects. The full list of winners will be announced by the University of London at the end of 2020.
The University of London degree has several classes. The best one is a first honours degree; its owners are highly in demand, both among companies and among the grants and scholarships founders. More than 30% of graduates receive a first class honors degree, (compared with 4% of the University of London graduates around the world). As a result, our graduates are expected in the best Masters and PhD programs globally. We have received recognition from our colleagues from the UK, and for the outstanding achievements of students, our institute was awarded the status of the University of London Affiliate Centre.
About 45% of bachelors with two degrees continued their studies at leading international universities this year. Abroad, they chose LSE (9 alumni), LBS (4 alumni), Imperial College London, University of Warwick, University of St. Gallen, Carnegie Mellon, Bocconi, New York University and others. In recent years, the number of students choosing HSE master's programs has also been growing, along with the growth of the university's recognition worldwide. Therefore, according to the QS rating, the HSE entered the top 100 best universities (2020-2021), it is often chosen by the best graduates, including those who received the UoL 1st class honours degree - in 2020 their number was 12.
Of those graduates who immediately started work and professional careers, the majority went to the real sector, in total; about 55% of graduates of the bachelors programme have already started work. Many have received offers from well-known international companies, including Deloitte, EY, McKinsey, KPMG, PWC, Goldman Sachs, Yandex, Gett, Citi, Credit Swiss, VTB and Sberbank.
