Already a subscriber? Log in
‘At my school, the girls think it’s cool to do well at school and in general they know how to work independently of the teacher. If, however, your 14- or 15-year-old is surrounded by children who don’t see the value of learning and don‘t care about grades, the impact both on their approach to learning and the value they place on university may be severely undermined.’
The head of Newcastle Royal Grammar, Dr Bernard Trafford, agrees that motivation tends to be higher in the private sector.
‘Despite all the initiatives aimed at widening participation in higher education, the best universities want the best and most motivated candidates to fill their courses and that tends to mean they are still attracted by the best grades,’ he says.
‘With the top grades still far more skewed towards the independent sector, a disproportionate number of university places will continue to be awarded to applicants from private schools, whatever the government says.
‘We in the independent sector are blessed with highly motivated parents and I believe that our style of learning will often bring out the best in their children. In that respect, paying for independent education has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.’
Despite more than a decade of political initiatives aimed at widening access to university and a wealth of books, articles and papers on the pros and cons of so-called ‘social engineering’, Dr Elliot Major is frustrated at how little appears to have changed in British education.
‘As far as we’re concerned, the figures for independent versus state schools university entrance are just as stark as they were a decade ago. The fact is that as long as independent schools account for half of all Oxbridge places, yet represent just 7 per cent of the country’s overall pupil numbers, it can hardly be argued that we have a level playing-field.’
What concerns him more, however, is the emergence of a two-tier university system which favours only a small number of both independent and state schools.
‘Now that more young people are going to university, we are seeing a socially stratified pattern where students from socially or economically advantaged backgrounds at private, grammar or the very best comprehensive schools are opting for and gaining access to the prestige universities and those from poorer backgrounds are tending to go to the ex-polytechnics and newer universities.’
It is estimated that 45 per cent of Oxbridge undergraduates arrive from schools in the independent sector.
The new A-star grade being introduced at A-level as a way of differentiating between top-level candidates doesn’t receive support from the Sutton Trust — ‘once again, this is likely to favour the independent sector’, says Dr Elliot Major — but among private school heads, there is cautious optimism.
Says Dr Trafford, ‘Without this new grade, universities will be forced to adopt yet more aptitude tests to choose between A-grade students, and none of us wants to see that happen.’
What Dr Trafford is referring to is a new raft of tests and requests for additional information that top universities have now put in place in order to differentiate between the rapidly increasing number of straight-A students.
‘This cohort of school-leavers already undergoes more testing than my generation ever believed possible and I sometimes feel very sorry for them,’ he says.
To help their students differentiate themselves from straight-A students taking A-levels, many independent schools and some of the best state schools are adopting the International Baccalaureate to run alongside, or instead of, A-levels. The qualification, which can be worth more than six A grades at A-level, is revered by most universities for its emphasis on developing independent learning through extended projects. It also requires pupils to study a wide range of subjects: six are chosen, including a compulsory mix of languages, mathematics and humanities. The programme also includes a compulsory module of community service work.
Another development is the Cambridge Pre-U. This qualification, at the highest level of achievement, is worth over four A-grade A-levels and includes a significant extended project element of independent study. This qualification is in its infancy, but again universities have already said that the independent study element is a very welcome innovation.
The benefits of cramming
Cramming your brain with a million facts and statistics before regurgitating it onto an exam paper a few days later may not sound like the best way of revising for GCSE maths or A-level physics, but for many students with retentive memories but short attention spans, a last-minute blitz may indeed do the trick.
This spring, thousands of anxious students will once again sign up for school and college ‘crammer’ courses ahead of the all-important exams that will decide whether or not they make it to one of the top universities.
Even more teenagers, who have already taken exams but are disappointed by their GCSE or A-level grades, will swarm into crammers this September.
Fees across the so-called ‘re-sit and re-take’ sector vary, but the £300 being charged this year by Dulwich College for a five-day A-level maths revision course is typical, as is the £3,600 charged by Oxford Tutorial College for a single A-level re-take in January.
The beauty of cramming, says the Council for Independent Further Education — which warns parents to be wary of unregulated crammer courses — is that it ‘gets the best out of students in their final years of pre-university education’.
Colleges can be attended for a week, a month, a year or even two years, and they offer not only small class sizes but high levels of flexibility in terms of exam board and subject combination.
When it comes to converting a B to an A, or writing that vital UCAS ‘personal statement’, a short, sharp cram may be a very good bet.
Trending
Also in Society
Latest
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in