Industry News
Subjects taken in state schools 'less demanding'
Posted on 22nd February 2008
A new report from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has admitted that some of the GCSE and A-level subjects that are being increasingly taken up in the state school sector are less rigorous than the traditional courses favoured by independent schools.
It found that the A-level exam scripts for subjects such as media studies and sociology were "less impressive" than those for history or English literature.
Chemistry was also revealed to be the "hardest" of all the sciences, although the QCA did say that all the exams were "broadly comparable".
Recently Oxford and Cambridge have come under fire for not accepting enough state school applicants, but a spokesperson for Oxford hinted that the subjects taken by pupils in the state sector are not always up to scratch, saying: "Is it that there are state school students with three As at A-level who aren't applying to us, or is it that they aren't doing the A-levels we require for our courses?"
The Telegraph reported earlier this month that teenagers at private schools are more inclined to study "tough" subjects, with independent school pupils four times more likely to take three sciences at GCSE than their contemporaries in the state school sector.