ISC Daily News Summary

 

ISC success stories

All national newspapers

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

• The Daily Telegraph reports that 97.51% of pupils at Magdalen College School achieved A* or A grades - setting a new record for boys' and co-educational schools. The school's Master, Dr Tim Hands, is quoted.
  Oxford boys' school claims record (Daily Telegraph)
• A set of triplets and two sets of twins at Badminton School have notched up an impressive 40 A* and A grade passes between them.
  Triplets and twins notch up 40 top grade passes (Independent)
  63 for twins and triplets (Daily Mirror not online)
• A trio of twins at Brighton College have amassed a total of 48 A* and A grades. Headmaster, Richard Cairns, is quoted.
  Top grades for trio of boy twins (BBC News Online)
  GCSE gold for trio of twins (Daily Express)
• A pupil at Leeds Girls' High School has achieved eight GCSEs with A* and A grades, despite being diagnosed with the debilitating illness Lemierre's Syndrome after her mock exams.
  ‘Brilliant' recover after illness (Independent)
• 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' star and Highgate School pupil Freddie Highmore has achieved ten A*s.
  Charlie's fact-ory (Sun)
  Choc smartie (Daily Mirror not online)
• Identical twins at Portsmouth Grammar School who overcame dyslexia have achieved 10 A*s and 8 As.
  A star kids (Daily Star)
• Pupils from the Lady Eleanor Holles School are photographed in the Daily Telegraph.

International GCSEs

Times, Financial Times, Independent, Daily Mail, BBC News Online

A number of newspapers report on the growing number of independent schools which are opting for International GCSEs (IGCSEs). At yesterday's Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) press briefing, journalists were shown a graph suggesting that independent schools' performance was dipping below that of maintained selective schools. ISC consequently issued a statement in response to this yesterday, to explain that the JCQ data does not include IGCSE results or take into consideration the fact that many independent schools are not selective. Most newspapers have taken this into consideration as part of their coverage, with Secretary of HMC, Geoff Lucas, Headmaster of Eton College, Anthony Little, and Head of City of London School, David Levin, quoted. ISC will publish its schools' GCSE results next week.

Schools opt for quality rather than quantity as grades soar (Times)
Rival exam gains favour with private schools (Financial Times)
GCSE pass rate rises to 98 per cent as pupils put quality before quantity (Independent)
The GCSE gold rush (Daily Mail)
Results show regional variations (BBC News Online)

 

Subject trends

Independent, Guardian, Financial Times, BBC News Online

The number of students opting to study modern languages at GCSE continues to slide. The Financial Times reports that the number of students sitting GCSE exams in hard science subjects has soared, with the number of candidates sitting biology, chemistry and physics leaping by about a third on last year.

Business blamed for slump in foreign language entries (Independent)
Language study falls with 6.8% drop in French awards (Guardian)
GCSEs show new wave of young scientists (Financial Times)
Languages still slipping at GCSE (BBC News Online)

 

School closure threats

Independent, Times, Daily Telegraph, Guardian

The threat of closure was lifted from scores of schools on the government's National Challenge hit list yesterday as they attained significant improvements in their GCSE results.

More schools threatened with closure (Independent)
Schools are making the grade with GCSE results to avert fear of closure ... for now (Times)
GCSE results of 'National Challenge' schools in danger of closure (Times)
Hundreds of schools 'face closure' despite improvements (Daily Telegraph)
'Failing school' tries to make the grade (Guardian)

 

Comment and analysis

TES, Times, Independent, Guardian, Economist

Master of Wellington College, Dr Anthony Seldon, highlights the hard work of pupils and teachers alike in achieving this year's exam results. Other newspapers include various analyses of yesterday's GCSE results. 

Pupils and teachers sweat blood to get top grades (TES)
Is academic excellence our only vocation? (Times)
Vocational GCSEs are selling our children short (Independent)
A result for Labour - but could do better (Guardian)
Ending the divide (Guardian)
Testing to destruction (Economist)

 

League tables

The Daily Telegraph and the Times have today published GCSE league tables. ISC will be releasing full results from its schools to the media on Saturday 30 August.

Girls start A-levels a year early at top school (Daily Telegraph)

This week's TES and TES magazine include articles on former Sylvia Young Theatre School pupil Letitia Dean, teaching assistants, how teachers cope with stress and PE teacher training. The TES website has this week been re-launched as 'TESconnect'.

Guardian, Times

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that pensioners outnumber children for the first time as more and more people live longer.

Pensioners outnumber under-16s for first time (Guardian)
Future looks grey as pensioners outnumber children for first time (Times)

Graduates in the debt trap (Independent letters)
Averaging out test and exam results (Guardian letters)

Today's Guardian includes a 'Back to school' supplement.

BBC News Online, Guardian, Times, Daily Telegraph

The mayor of an Australian Outback town has infuriated local women by calling for 'beauty-disadvantaged' females to move to his community to relieve the dire shortage of mates for resident men.

Australian plea for 'ugly' women (BBC News Online)
The ugly face of Oz (Guardian)
Wanted: 'beauty-disadvantaged' sheilas for desperate Outback men (Times)
Australian mayor calls for 'ugly' women to populate town (Daily Telegraph)