Controversy over A-level results

For the first time, more than 25% of exam entries were awarded A-grades, while one in 10 students scored straight As.

But the result were overshadowed by figures which showed that A-grades were increasing far faster in private schools and selective grammars than state comprehensives. Independent schools said their freedom to ignore the Government's education policies helped them produce better grades.

Nearly half of all A-level entries in private schools were awarded As this year. But in state comprehensives, fewer than one in five grades was an A.

Jonathan Shephard, general secretary of the Independent Schools Council, said one factor behind the success was the "independence" which private schools enjoy. "The ability to teach children above and beyond the national curriculum - and at times to ignore the national curriculum - is very important," Mr Shephard said. "It gives teachers at independent schools a greater degree of professional freedom and that does look to benefit the children."

Part of the success of private schools was because they attracted better qualified teachers than many state comprehensives and pupils wanted to work hard, he said.

Figures from exam boards showed that in 2002, 41.3% of A-level exam entries at independent schools were awarded an A. This rose to 47.8% of exam entries this summer. But in state comprehensives, only 19.4% of A-level entries were given A grades this year, up from 16.5% in 2002.

Dr Mike Cresswell, head of England's largest exam board AQA, said the the gap had widened between state and independent schools in the proportion of As awarded. If exams were becoming "easier", there would be improvements across all schools, he said.

"Whatever the usual grumpy old persons want to say about how it used to be much harder in their day, what we want to say is congratulations to the students," he said.

But schools minister Jim Knight defended the state system. He said: "The number of A-grades achieved by pupils in state schools has risen between 1997 and 2006 and the independent sector's share of the total number of A-grades has actually fallen over the same period. What this research actually demonstrates is that selection helps the few, but that sustained investment in mainstream education is the way to increase opportunity for the many."