Eton tops fee-paying A-level list

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/education/6962679.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Eton College has topped a table of A-level results obtained by pupils at major independent schools.

The Independent Schools Council (ISC), which compiled the table, said that on average half the exam entries among its members achieved A grades this year.

One boy at Eton accrued 10 grade As. Nationally in all schools 25% of entries were awarded A grades.

Eton headmaster Tony Little said the A-level was increasingly unsatisfactory as a university entry qualification.

The ISC published the provisional results from 31,347 candidates in 476 schools.

Confirmed data will be included in the government's national school tables, involving independent and state schools, due to be published in January.

Changes

Reforms to A-levels are being introduced next year, with the first results due in 2010.

These are intended to stretch candidates by using more open-ended questions.

An extended essay will be required, and a new A* grade will pick out those whose results fall in the top 10%.

A rival exam, the Pre-U, is being developed by the Cambridge International Examinations board, for teaching from next year.

It will require students to have studied three subjects over two years, after which there will be final exams and an extended essay.

Unlike AS or A-levels, it would not be modular and split into two parts, nor require everyone to do certain subjects like the International Baccalaureate.

"We will continue to look at every option that is available," Mr Little said.

"We want the most stimulating and challenging courses for our boys and I'm not too fussed what the name on the tin is.

"A-levels work very well for most students."