Private schools ditching GCSEs for their tougher rival

PRIVATE schools have shunned the new GCSEs with alternative qualifications now making up almost half of their exam entries, it was revealed today.

A record 49 per cent of test papers sat by teenagers at independent schools this summer were for an International GCSE, up from 47.3 per cent last year. This is almost double the proportion of IGCSE entries in 2012, when they made up 24.9 per cent of Year 11 exams.

The data comes from the Independent Schools Council, which today publishes GCSE results collected from 507 member institutions. It shows that the majority of privately educated pupils (87.2 per cent) took at least one IGCSE this summer. IGCSEs, which are set by UK exam boards, were originally intended for use abroad and are based on the old O-level.

Private schools in Britain have long favoured IGCSEs because the qualification is seen as more rigorous. The report is a blow to ministers, who toughened up mainstream GCSEs amid claims that the curriculum had been dumbed down.

ISC chairman Barnaby Lenon said: ‘What I’ve been saying to my schools is do not turn a blind eye to the reformed GCSE ... but don’t feel you have to make the change until you’ve seen how the administration of the first tranche works out.’