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Independent school staff 'have less confidence' in qualifications

Posted on 26th February 2009

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Teachers in independent schools have less confidence in GCSEs and A-levels than their state school counterparts, it has emerged.

A poll conducted by Ipsos Mori for exams watchdog Ofqual found that just 20 per cent of private school staff disagree that they have confidence in A-levels, while at GCSE level this figure rises to 28 per cent.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that familiarity with the diplomas is lowest among independent school teachers, with just 47 per cent stating that they fully understood the new qualifications, compared to an average of 56 per cent of school staff.

These figures are based on 500 telephone interviews with teachers of AS level, A level or GCSEs from a representative sample of schools in England.

Chair of Ofqual Kathleen Tattersall commented that the watchdog is "working hard to ensure everyone can have confidence in these qualifications", acknowledging that there is "clearly work still to be done".

A number of private school headteachers expressed discontent recently when the government failed to recognised International GCSE results in the national school league tables.