ISC Daily News Summary

ISC success stories

All national newspapers

A round-up of ISC schools whose exceptional pupils are featured in today's A-level newspaper coverage:

• A pupil at Abingdon School achieved seven As.
  Seven straight As for star pupil (Daily Telegraph)
• Pupils at City of London School and Sutton High School gained six As.
  A-level success stories (Times)
• A Polam Hall School A-level student who was kidnapped as a baby is featured in most newspapers.
  How a mother's sacrifice turned ordeal of kidnap into exam triumph for daughter (Times)
  Kidnap girl celebrates exam success (Independent)
  'I owe my fantastic A-level results to being kidnapped when I was just two days old' (Daily Mail)
• Marlbrough College pupil Princess Eugenie secured two As and a B.
  Eugenie praised for A-level results (Independent)
  Royal achievement (Times)
  Princess Eugenie achieves 'fantastic A-level results' (Daily Telegraph)
• A Badminton School pupil, who is currently working in Beijing, gained six As. The school scored a 100% pass rate.
• A Wimbledon hopeful who took her A-levels at Central Newcastle High School has won a tennis scholarship in the United States.
  Another level (Daily Star)
• Pupils from Withington Girls' School are pictured in a number of newspapers.
  A-levels: Experts help to plan the next move (Daily Telegraph)
  Jumping for joy after making the grade (Guardian)
• Pupils from Eltham College were pictured on the front page of yesterday's Evening Standard.
  A-level pass rate rockets to highest level ever as test chiefs herald the 'unfailable' exam (Evening Standard)

If you know of any great human interest stories, such as those above, relating to next week's GCSE results, please inform the ISC Press Office by e-mailing press@isc.co.uk as soon as possible

Clearing / university entrance

Daily Telegraph, Times, Independent, Financial Times

The Daily Telegraph reports that leading universities are being forced to set their own entrance tests following a rise in the number of pupils applying with straight As. The article states that ‘those at fee-paying schools were about three times more likely to gain straight As'. Secretary of HMC, Geoff Lucas, is quoted in the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian on the ongoing A* debate. Headmaster of Brighton College, Richard Cairns, is quoted in the Times. Principal of the Cheltenham Ladies' College and President of the Girls' Schools Association (GSA), Vicky Tuck, offers pupils clearing advice in an online Times column.

Entrance tests forces on top universities (Daily Telegraph not online)
70,000 are likely to miss out on university place (Daily Telegraph)
There are options other than college (Daily Telegraph not online)
University challenge makes four subjects the target of more pupils (Times)
Expert clearing panel: Your questions answered (Times online)
Desperate scramble for university places (Independent)
Official UCAS Clearing listings (Independent)
Student numbers grow 9% despite higher fees (Financial Times not online)

North / south divide

All national newspapers

This year's results reveal that there is a ‘glaring North-South divide in the performance of teenagers' at A-level. According to newspaper reports, nearly 50% more candidates achieved A-grade passes in the South-east than in the North-east. The number of A-grade passes has also increased three times as fast in London and the South-east than in the North-east. The Times reports that ‘the same gulf in achievement between the North and South persists even in independent schools, though to a lesser degree.' Head of Teesside High School, Thomas Packer, Head of Durham High School for Girls, Anne Templeman, and Head of City of London School, David Levin, are quoted in the Financial Times.

Pupils in South more likely to get higher grades (Daily Telegraph)
Celebration for A-level students - especially if they live in the South (Independent)
Parents are blamed for North-South divide (Times)
Record year for A grades that highlights north-south divide (Guardian)
A-Level results highlight regional divide (Financial Times)
The A-levels that nobody will fail (Daily Mail)
A-level results show big divide (BBC News Online)

Gulf widens between private and state schools

Daily Telegraph

Figures from the joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) indicate that improvements in this year's A-level results are driven almost entirely by the success of the independent sector and grammar schools.

Gulf widens between private and state schools (Daily Telegraph)

Subject trends

Independent, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, BBC News Online

Coverage of this year's trends in A-level subjects, including the news that many pupils appear to be opting for traditional subjects such as maths, science and modern languages.

Pupils discover the joys of maths and languages (Independent)
Pupils reject ‘soft' subjects in switch back to tradition (Daily Telegraph not online)
Diplomas to give students more skills, says adviser (Daily Telegraph)
The maths on sciences does not add up (Financial Times not online)
Revival hopes for 'stem' subjects (BBC News Online)

Comment, letters and analysis

A-levels must be honed, not dumped (Daily Telegraph not online)
A-levels are hard - in the wrong places (Independent)
Distorted figures on ‘easy' A-levels (Independent letters)
UK schools need Swedish lessons (Financial Times not online)
Congratulations. But if you didn't share in those record exam results, take heart from Parky and Delia (Daily Mail)

League tables

The Daily Telegraph and the Times have today published A-level league tables. ISC will be releasing full results from its schools to the media on Saturday 23 August. There is an interesting comment piece in the Brighton Argus by the Headmistress of Roedean School, Frances King, stating why she is happy to supply her exam results to ISC.

Grammar school leads table for the third year in a row (Daily Telegraph)
Daily Telegraph league table
Boys' top table place ‘without hothousing' (Times)
Times league table
Traditional values pay off for school with best results (Independent)
Why my school's in the league tables (Brighton Argus)

Times

The property section in today's Times includes an article on how rising fees at independent schools are driving housing demand near high-ranking comprehensives.

Catchment if you can (Times)

BBC News Online

The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has ended its contract with exams administrator ETS Europe after this summer's marking controversy.

Sats marking contract is scrapped (BBC News Online)

Daily Mail

Statistics from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) show that one in eight pupils speaks English as a second language.

1 in 8 pupils use English as their second language (Daily Mail)

Independent

Research published by the Department of Health (DoH) indicates that one in four secondary age schoolchildren has admitted trying drugs and 10 per cent said they had taken a drug in the previous month.

Drug nation (Independent)

Daily Mail

The Daily Mail reviews newly-released film, ‘Wild Child'. Despite only giving it two stars, the reviewer writes ‘It's a rarity to find a film which recognises that many public schools still carry on the best traditions of education, despite the efforts to hinder them by this government and the social engineers hell-bent on sabotaging them.'

Public school gets a makeover (Daily Mail)

Independent, Daily Mail, BBC News online

Classic murder-solving board game Cluedo has been given a 21st century  facelift.

Colonel no longer cuts the mustard in Cluedo makeover (Independent)
Board game Cluedo gets a modern makeover (Daily Mail)
Cluedo stars killed in makeover (BBC News Online)