Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah and Pengiran Anak Isteri Sarah Salleh with their four children at the ISB awards ceremony where their son Pengiran Muda ‘Abdul Muntaqim (centre) was awarded a bronze. - BB
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, the Crown Prince and Senior Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Pengiran Anak Isteri Sarah Salleh last night graced the International School Brunei (ISB) Board of Directors Achievement Awards Ceremony at the ISB Theatre.
Accompanying them were their children Pengiran Muda ‘Abdul Muntaqim, Anak Muneerah Madhul Bolkiah, Pengiran Muda Muhammad Aiman and Pengiran Anak Faathimah Az-Zahraa’ Raihaanul Bolkiah.
On arrival, the royal entourage was welcomed by ISB board chairman Dato Seri Paduka Ahmad Awang Isa, ISB executive principal Dominic Morley and members of the ISB board of directors.
The annual ceremony recognises International Baccalaureate (IB) students for outstanding results in the May 2025 session.
Pengiran Muda ‘Abdul Muntaqim, the Crown Prince's eldest child, was one of the recipients of the ISB Board of Directors Bronze Excellence and Achievement Award.
The Board of Directors Achievement Awards began in 2018, marking the eighth year the awards have been presented to ISB’s top IB achievers, together with financial bursaries to contribute to the cost of their tertiary education.
The IB Diploma Programme is the world’s leading post-16, gold-standard, academically challenging course.
Globally, 202,103 students were assessed for the IB Diploma in May 2025, with an average point score of 30.58. At ISB, the average point score was 33.5, well above the global average. In the cohort of 71 students from the ISB Year 13 Class of 2025, 27 ISB graduates were awarded for their performance, marking an outstanding year of IB Diploma results.
For reaching the top echelon of IB results, ISB graduates receive Excellence Awards in Bronze, Silver or Gold categories for scoring between 37 and 45 points. For achieving substantial performance improvement throughout their IB studies, graduates are awarded a special Achievement Award.
This year, Ayden Chung and Precious Tan received the ISB Board of Directors Silver Excellence Award for achieving 42 and 40 points respectively.
Twelve students received the ISB Board of Directors Bronze Excellence Award for achieving between 37 and 39 points. They were Pengiran Muda ‘Abdul Muntaqim, Ahmad Shufiady, Aradhana Reghu, Bazil Albadii, Choi Soyun, Ilyana Jasrin, Lani Danielowski, Muhammad Sulaiman, Radhi Eddie Suhardi, Shurabil Seruddin, Faith Huong and Zara Jeffri.
Achievement Awards were presented to 26 students for performing at least five points higher than their individually set IB baseline. The recipients were Pengiran Muda ‘Abdul Muntaqim, Ahmad Shufiady, Anastase Guillou, Andrea Sastranegara, Aradhana Reghu, Ayden Chung, Bazil Albadii, Celesty Teh, Celine Wong, Choi Soyun, Eira Oakley, Emilia Lim, Faith Huong, Fatin Shahwardy, Hakim Hairul, Hana Ashalla Bagdad, How Jia Shinn, Ilyana Jasrin, Joudi Ahmed, Lani Danielowski, Muhammad Sulaiman, Natassha Kang, Precious Tan, Quynh Anh Nguyen, Shurabil Seruddin and Zara Jeffri.
In his speech, ISB board chairman Dato Seri Paduka Ahmad said, “As the first school in Brunei and Borneo to offer the highly regarded IB Diploma Programme, ISB has been providing excellent IB education for over two decades. We have seen firsthand how the IB’s rigorous and holistic programme develops resilient, creative and confident learners, equipping them not only with academic and conceptual knowledge, but also with the essential skills to succeed in higher education and beyond.”
He added, “The board of directors introduced these awards in 2018 to honour our top performers – recognising not only those who achieve academic distinction, but also those who demonstrate substantial academic improvement and progress.”
Meanwhile, ISB Executive Principal Dominic Morley said, “I am proud that, as a truly inclusive school, where everyone excels, at ISB we consistently provide all our students with an excellent education. As these results also show, we also achieve exceptionally high academic performance.”
Guest speaker and ISB alumnus Fauzi Said, a graduate of the Class of 2009, is now a Senior Analyst for Carbon Management at Wood Mackenzie in Singapore.
In a video message, he shared his experience with the IB Diploma Programme, highlighting three key takeaways: “One, embrace the power of balance; two, always be curious and explore further; and three, always see good in the people around you.”
Silver Excellence Award recipient and Ministry of Education (MoE) scholar Ayden Chung gave the closing remarks, expressing gratitude to ISB, its Board of Directors, the MoE, teachers and his parents.
The results achieved by the Year 13 cohort of 2025 underline ISB’s track record of academic excellence and reinforce the school’s position as a premier choice for IB education in Brunei Darussalam.
Also in attendance from the MoE were acting director of the Department of Scholarship Management Rosimah Sumaimah Matassim and acting head of Centre for the Development of Gifted and Talented Education (EDGE) Nor Amy Hamimah Matamit.
Members of the ISB Board of Directors were also present including deputy board chairman Nicholas King, Rashid Abdul Razak, Roy David Kurian, Sharon Tan and Jorge Francisco Vega with ISB general manager Vienna Law. – Borneo Bulletin/ANN
