Afternoon:
15°c
Almost half of London pupils fail to reach basic GCSE standards, league tables reveal
Tim Ross and Peter Dominiczak13 Jan 2010
More than 30,000 London teenagers failed to achieve the basic benchmark for success at school in their GCSE exams this summer, league tables reveal today.
Despite government claims that the capital's state schools are now the best in England, nearly half of its pupils — some 34,000 — did not achieve the minimum of five C-grades including English and maths.
Official figures showed 19 state comprehensives — including five of the Government's flagship academies — are failing to provide an acceptable standard of education.
Evening Standard league tables ranking exam results for 600 state and private schools showed:
33,900 London pupils (46 per cent) failed to achieve five good grades in their GCSEs last summer, in crucial subjects including English and maths. This is seen as the basic benchmark for further study and employment.
More than 16,200 pupils attend the 19 London state schools failing to meet the most basic target for exam results.
But this is fewer than last year, when more than 40,000 pupils were attending 43 substandard schools.
London's results improved faster than any other region of England over the past decade with the capital's pupils now scoring better grades than anywhere else.
Schools minister Vernon Coaker praised the improvements, particularly in London, where 54 per cent of pupils achieved five good GCSEs.
“I am determined that each and every child gets a world-class education regardless of their background, and for that we need excellent schools,” he said.
“We now have the highest number of top-performing schools and the fewest low-performing schools ever.”
When Mr Brown became Prime Minister in 2007, he promised to eradicate failure in state education.
He ordered a crackdown on schools where fewer than 30 per cent of pupils achieved five A*-C grades in subjects including English and maths.
To outrage from teachers' unions, these schools were threatened with being closed down or taken over and turned into academies.
Today's results across England showed a similar improvement to the picture in London and ministers said they were on course for there to be no failing schools by next year.
However, the apparently impressive progress was tarnished by a fresh row over dumbing down as dozens of top private schools abandoned conventional GCSEs in favour of harder courses.
Harrow, Westminster and St Paul's schools all registered scores of 0 per cent in the tables for the number of pupils passing five GCSEs including English and maths.
This was because they chose courses such as the International GCSE, which has been likened to traditional O-levels.
But ministers refuse to include International GCSEs in official tables.
Dr Martin Stephen, high master of St Paul's boys' school in west London, said the tables were “clearly a lie”.
St Paul's is one of the top schools in the country at GCSE according to figures published last summer. Dr Stephen said: “How can we be the highest performing school in the country by every measure except by the government one?”
Shadow schools minister Nick Gibb said the gap in educational standards between the best and worst schools had widened under Labour.
Module learning erodes education, says leading head
The head of London's leading secondary school today warned that modular GCSE and A-level exams are undermining academic rigour.
The Latymer School in Enfield is ranked first across the city for GCSE results today, with a perfect 100 per cent of pupils achieving at least five A*-C grades in subjects including maths and English.
But headteacher Mark Garbett rounded on the Government for presiding over a culture of “grade inflation” in which it has become far easier to achieve the highest results.
He attacked the move to divide A-levels and now GCSEs into “bits”, with pupils encouraged to complete units part-way through their courses.
“With modularization you end up with somebody who learns something for an exam,” Mr Garbett said.
“They are not going to have the breadth of knowledge at the end of year 11 that they do now.”
Ofsted rates Latymer “outstanding”. Mr Garbett said that pupils were not “hot-housed” to pass exams but encouraged to “have a life”.
Tim Ross
Reader views (2)
THIS IS A LIE. I go to the Latymer School, and we are not encouraged to "have a life", but instead are indirectly forced to revise in holidays and attend schools even when transport is unavailable, such as in "snow" days.
- Anonymous, London, 13/01/2010 19:10
Report abuse
Oh whoopee do. I shall go out tonight to celebrate these tremendous achievements by our wonderful students, as instructed by Ed Balls, and not decry the failings of our wonderful eduction system, which is doing a marvelous job of closing everything down at the first drop of a snow flake.
- Alan, carlisle uk, 13/01/2010 15:38
Report abuse
