Engraved in St Andrews history: Bjorn Schreiner 45 Points

Engraved in St Andrews history: Bjorn Schreiner 45 Points We are immensely proud of Bjorn's incredible accomplishment. It's the first of its kind within St Andrews 25-year history and a record that now belongs to Bjorn. He has conquered the challenges created by his ADHD and dyslexia and achieved the goals he sets for himself. Bjorn's determination to “be the best he can be” is an inspiration to us all.

We are immensely proud of Bjorn's incredible perfect 45 point IB score. It's the first of its kind within St Andrews 25-year history and a record that now belongs to Bjorn. He has overcome the challenges created by his ADHD and dyslexia and continually achieves the goals he sets for himself.  Bjorn's determination to “be the best he can be” is an inspiration to us all.

Bjorn successfully achieved an incredible 45 points. The first-ever perfect IB score achieved by a St Andrews student. Less than 1% of the students who take on the IB challenge manage to get all the 45 points, with even fewer students achieving Level 7 in all six subjects and A in both Theory of Knowledge and their Extended Essay.

Bjorn joined us in Year 7 in 2014 and has undoubtedly left a positive mark on our school community. Throughout High School, Bjorn was a key player for the STA Flames Basketball team. He represented the team at the highest level over many years and also helped coach younger students.

Learning with ADHD and dyslexia

When Bjorn first started at St Andrews he found it challenging to get the results he desired. Bjorn described his learning challenges as a ‘major hurdle’ to overcome. But after seven years of High School with guidance from his parents, teachers and the Learning Support team, Bjorn proudly found ways to conquer the challenges created by his ADHD and dyslexia and achieve the goals he set for himself. 

Through the Learning Support programme, Bjorn gained new perspectives and developed ways to learn better. Treated like an adult and working closely with adults, Bjorn quickly matured and realised that determination and grit would get positive results, no matter what difficulties were in the way. 

How would you react to getting the perfect IB score? 

See Bjorn's live reaction in the below video

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Bjorns Top Tips

• ‘Create yourself a healthy routine before your day that works for you. Be strict, and then you can relax after it’s complete.’ 

• ‘Be proud of Learning Support. Everyone needs a little help from time to time.’

• ‘Stay active and get some physical activity into your daily routine. Exercise helped me stay focused and was a part of the day I looked forward to’

• ‘Get feedback from your Teachers. Stay after class and ask your teacher simple questions, like “What do I need to improve?”’ 

• “Put the work in, and you’ll get results.”

A fascination for science and maths and plans for university

A passion for science started in his early days at STA. It all began with Science Club ECA and was an opportunity that Bjorn took full advantage of, having never learnt science before. He took this enthusiasm for science into his academics and aspects of his own life. 

In the latter stages of High school, Bjorn’s love for the natural sciences hit an all-time high with help from Mr Jon’s captivating approach to teaching. Alongside this, a passion for maths ignited by Mr Rick, the ‘maths wiz’ and one of Bjorn’s favourite teachers, set Bjorn up with the perfect combination of subjects to pursue a degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. 

Bjorn had additional personal motivation to pursue a Chemistry Degree, linked to recent innovation in chemistry and maths, which helped him personally flourish. The medicine Concerta was approved and prescribed to combat the challenges created by ADHD. Bjorn began taking Concerta, and it had positive effects on him academically and socially. These were personal life-changing effects for Bjorn, with Chemistry and Maths at the heart of the solution. This innovation was further inspiration for Bjorn to choose Chemistry as a degree. 

Bjorn received fantastic university offers to study courses in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at St Andrews and Bath Universities in the UK and Eindhoven, Groningen and Maastricht Universities in the Netherlands. 

He has chosen to attend Eindhoven University of Technology to study Chemical Engineering and Chemistry. 

Creating something that has a positive impact on the lives of others through Chemistry is now a goal of Bjorns. After completing his degree, he plans to specialise in a topic through a masters degree in Chemical Engineering.

What an exciting future this young individual has in front of him! Bjorn’s determination to “be the best he can be” is an inspiration to us all.