Industry News
Comprehensives fall 'even further behind'
Posted on 16th August 2007
The director of one of Britain's largest exam boards has said independent and selective schools were responsible for the rise in students gaining top grades.
Dr Cresswell of exam board AQA (the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance) made the claim in an interview with the Independent newspaper.
His comments sparked fears the educational divide is growing as state-funded secondary schools' results show no sign of improving.
There is concern the introduction of new grade A* next year will help widen the gap further.
However, he added the lack of an improvement in results at state schools showed exam standards had not been 'dumbed-down', as some critics have claimed.
"If it had been, you would have expected there to be improvements all round," he commented.
The national pass rate increased again with 96.9 per cent of pupils awarded grades A to E.