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Match of the Day: Gary Lineker versus the top public school that ‘failed’ his son
Alistair Foster, Showbusiness Correspondent23 Aug 2010
A leading public school today insisted it was delighted with its exam results after coming under fire from Gary Lineker.
The Match Of The Day host attacked his 18-year-old son George's school Charterhouse after he failed to achieve the necessary grades to secure a university place.
He criticised the £25,000-a-year school for scrapping A-levels in favour of the tougher Pre-U exams which were introduced in several schools this year following complaints that exams had become too easy.
He said: “We don't know what's going on with George at the moment. He did the Pre-U and they seem to have been marked much harder than the A-level papers. It's all a bit frustrating, as it is the first year the Pre-U exams have been used so George has been used as a guinea pig.
“At the moment his university place has been withdrawn, but we are hoping we might be able to find a way round this. We are all very disappointed.”
But the school hit back at his claims today. Headmaster the Rev John Witheridge said: “We are indeed delighted with our pupils' excellent results this year. As you would expect, we do not comment on the performance of individual pupils.”
George had planned to study business at Manchester University. He wrote on his Facebook page: “didn't get into a uni... cheers school u massive k***bers!”
George has been spotted on the London party scene in the run-up to his exams, and this year dated glamour model and former Big Brother contestant Sophie Reade. He was seen on a weeknight at clubs including Orchid and Mahiki. In April he went on a week-long holiday to Tenerife and travelled to South Africa to see his father during the World Cup.
A spokesman for Lineker, 49, was not able to comment further today.
More than 1,500 pupils in 59 schools took the new Pre-U exams for the first time this year. The course was developed by Cambridge University's examinations arm as a tougher alternative after complaints from leading schools that A-levels had become too easy.
A Distinction 2 grade in the Pre-U is worth five more Ucas points than the new A* grade at A-level, reflecting the added difficulty of the exams.
George is one of thousands of pupils to miss out on university this year. Ucas, which runs university admissions, estimates that more than 150,000 candidates will fail to get on degree courses amid intense competition for places.
Students cannot re-take Pre-U exams. Unlike modular A-levels, all exams take place at the end of the two-year course, providing more time for “great teaching and deep thought”, according to Cambridge International Examinations.
Reader views (16)
You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear
- beth, Vienna, 24/08/2010 11:12
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"George has been spotted on the London party scene in the run-up to his exams, and this year dated glamour model and former Big Brother contestant Sophie Reade. He was seen on a weeknight at clubs including Orchid and Mahiki. In April he went on a week-long holiday to Tenerife and travelled to South Africa to see his father during the World Cup."Says it all really, And daddy wonders why his little darling failed?
- Celery, London, 24/08/2010 06:49
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If the photographs of him hitting the town are anything to go by, I suspect his poor exam showing owes more to his extra curricula activities than to the school.
- Franklin, Thornton Heath, 23/08/2010 22:54
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Part of the equation, Gary, is your son. The fact that the new exams were harder is for a reason - the A-levels were not hard enough, and Gary - wait for it - STUDENTS HAVE TO COMPETE FOR PLACES!!!!! The uni places are not a right, no matter how much you pay for the education your son should have been using to get the prerequisites for further education.
- Rogan, Irving, 23/08/2010 19:42
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Whilst I agree the kids been foolish by not giving his exams full priority, preferring instead to go out out with mates, the whole idea of this pre-U business is quite baffling.
I dont see how the school justifies forcing their students to do a brand new set of untested exams, with no contingency plan for if they fail to do well. Surely if the students didnt wish to partake in these exams they should not have been forced to. There is simply too much risked involved. I know for a fact this is not an isolated case, and that it is not just the Lineker boy who has not achieved what he needed for a university place ( I have relatives who've had to the exams who seriously struggled with them and who put in hours of commitment into their studies)
Theres more to this than meets the eye
- Alex, Guildford, Surrey, 23/08/2010 18:53
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Gary should maybe take a look closer to home, maybe the kid is not bright enough, he's got a private education which is a dam sight more than a lot of kids get, its hardly the schools fault if he couldn't make the most ofit
- George, London, 23/08/2010 18:14
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Maybe Garry should just accept his son is no brightspark.
- Dave, london, 23/08/2010 18:02
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There is a difference between intelligence and an education Mike, you can buy the latter. That said this seems to be a story about application and accountability, he didn't work hard and he blames the school rather than himself.
- Gary, London, 23/08/2010 17:41
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Lets face it, the guy doesn't look too bright!!
- Black Knight, London, 23/08/2010 17:21
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Obviously an idiot, just like his Dad, but it does make you (Golden) wonder.
- Steve, london, 23/08/2010 17:04
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£25000 where does sitting chatting about football with the same jokers,pays enough to pay the fee? i know your right,BBC the organisation who sends the detector vans round working class areas (where they do not get that in wages a year) to make sure the people pay the tax. that pays you and your cronies far too much for what the show is worth
- john green, Nottingham, 23/08/2010 17:03
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Actually Frank - you can buy education. That is why people insist on sending their kids to private schools... because they are scared that their kids aren't bright enough to hack it in a normal school.
Most of them get away with it - the kids go on to a nice job in the City and can convince themselves of their own innate ability.
Some though, even with all that money thrown at them still flunk it.
- Mike, London, 23/08/2010 16:44
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If he put the work in he'd have passed.
- Janet, London, UK, 23/08/2010 16:35
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could just be that he boy george flunked on his work life balance. I'm sure Charterhouse gave him a good education - which by the way is more than just passing exams.
- party hard, dunce ville, 23/08/2010 15:28
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perhaps he is like his dad half sharp
- anon leicestershire, leicestershire, 23/08/2010 14:58
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You cannot buy intelligence Lineker.
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 23/08/2010 13:49
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