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AFEC schools offer opportunities for student-athletes

Students looking ahead to elite athletic careers have new options available to extend their studies in the Diploma Programme (DP) within Athlete Friendly Education Centers (AFEC).

High Angle View Of Various Sport Equipments On Green Grass

Select IB World Schools can offer student-athletes the unique option to spread out their Diploma Programme (DP) education to accommodate their competitive training schedule by becoming certified as Athlete Friendly Education Centres (AFEC) by the World Academy of Sport. We asked two students who choose to extend their DP education at AFEC schools to share why they chose this path, what it helped them accomplish and advice for other students pursuing athletic careers.

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Xiu Yi is currently the Singapore women’s national 10m Air Rifle champion and has her sights set on competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As a current student at Singapore Sports School, Xiu Yi extended her DP studies to four years, allowing her to train twice as much as an average student-athlete. She shares what the flexible schedule allowed her to accomplish and her advice for students balancing their elite training with education.

Island School graduate Mark Swainston shares his experiences successfully completing a three-year DP extension to pursue professional football. In addition to his football career, being a successful student was important to Mark, who earned a high enough score to attend his top university choice. He also shares how attending an AFEC school allowed him to work closely with professional players and coaches to pursue his career aspirations.

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To hear more from Diploma Programme (DP) graduates check out these IB programme stories. If you are an IB grad and want to share your story, write to us at alumni.relations@ibo.org. We appreciate your support in sharing IB stories and invite you to connect with us on LinkedIn, Twitter and now Instagram!

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