The Spectator

School report | 6 September 2018

GCSE results, the International Baccalaureate and and Benenden girls take flight

 
 

MAKING THE GRADES

 
When he was education secretary, Michael Gove took it upon himself to reform the GCSE exam system. The A* to G grading system was replaced by a numerical one, with the aim of making it easier to differentiate between the top candidates — A* and A grades were, for example, replaced with three grades: 7, 8 and 9. These new exams were supposed to be harder than the previous ones, with former Harrow headmaster Barnaby Lenon commenting that they ‘contain questions of a level of difficulty that we have not seen since the abolition of O-levels in 1987.’ Despite all of this, GCSE results improved this year. The proportion  of students achieving the pass mark (previously a C, but now a 4) increased by 0.5 per cent, with the level of boys scoring an A rising by 0.8 per cent to 17.2 per cent. The percentage of A grades in girls stayed constant, at 23.7 per cent.
 



 
 

BAC ON TOP

 
On the topic of exams, the International Baccalaureate celebrates its 50th birthday this year — and British students are leading the way in this qualification, too. In 2018 British pupils accounted for almost 25 per cent of the world’s top scorers.
 

 
The UK also achieves a higher points average than the rest of the globe — an average of 35 out of 45, compared to a worldwide average of 30. Around 5,000 pupils in the UK study the IB, with 143 schools offering it as an alternative to A-levels. Of these, 55 per cent are state schools and 45 per cent independent.




 
 

THE SKY’S THE LIMIT

 
At the beginning of July girls at Benenden School (below right) took to the skies in a light aircraft they built themselves.

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