Independent School Academic Success

UK independent schools achieve the very highest academic standards. Of the 500 schools listed by The Times as achieving the highest GCSE results in 1999, about 380 were independent schools. About 80% of pupils at independent schools (including special schools) gain five or more GCSE passes at grades A*-C (compared with a national average of 43%). Eighty per cent of independent school A-level candidates gain three or more passes, compared with a national average of 61%. Nine out of ten post-A-level leavers from independent schools go on to higher education. At the primary level, most prep schools taking part in national curriculum testing report attainment levels well above the national average.

It is sometimes claimed that this academic success is due to selective admissions policies. Some independent schools do admit only children of the highest academic ability; many, however, admit a much wider range of ability.

Evidence from the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE Statistical Bulletin no 4/95) suggests that pupils at all levels of ability do better in independent schools. Comparing A-level results from schools of all kinds, it concluded that, at every level of ability, "there was a clear tendency for candidates in independent schools to achieve higher A/AS level scores than those in maintained schools."

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