Private schools 'will struggle to remain top of exam tables'

Independent schools will struggle to keep their places at the top of exam league tables, a leading academic forecast yesterday.

So many state-school pupils were achieving three grade A passes at A-level that private-school results no longer stood out so much, said professor Alan Smithers, professor of education at Liverpool University. The results meant growing numbers of state schools – grammar and comprehensive – were being ranked higher in the table, he added.

Professor Smithers was speaking at a conference for private school headteachers organised by Brighton College. As reported in The Independent yesterday, the conference was told by David Bell, the chief inspector of schools in England, that some independent schools were among "the worst in the country".

The professor warned that the "ceiling of achievement" of an A grade at A-level was posing a dilemma for universities, who were often faced with 40 candidates predicted to gain similar qualifications chasing just 10 places. "What is emerging is that institutes of higher education are having to choose from a greater number of pupils with the same demonstrated ability," he added.

Professor Smithers said a new points-score system for students taking A-levels devised by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service also militated against private schools. As from last September, pupils taking new vocational exams qualified for a "double award" – worth 240 points if they got a double A grade rather than the maximum of 120 for an A grade in an academic A-level.

"You could get double the points from studying leisure and tourism as a vocational qualification than you get for an A grade in English, maths or history," he said.

He cautioned against independent schools opting out of A-levels and choosing an English baccalaureate system. He said it was an "excellent qualification for all-rounders" in that they would study six subjects, but doubted whether it would suit pupils with proven ability in a particular subject who knew what they wanted to do on leaving school or higher education.

Mr Bell, the head of Ofsted, the Government's education standards watchdog, criticised the system of registration for independent schools, claiming it put too many pupils at risk of a poor education.

"While the independent sector contains very many schools that are very good, it also includes a number of schools that are among the worst in the country," he said. "Until now, private schools have been able to apply for a provisional licence without inspection."

Last year, Ofsted inspected 364 schools that did not belong to the Independent Schools Council – a body that requires schools to meet certain academic standards for membership. Two out of five failed to meet basic criteria, such as checking whether staff had a criminal record.

* Independent school headteachers are poised to drop their boycott of Bristol University, imposed after they claimed it was discriminating against their pupils.

Graham Able, chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference, which represents schools such as Eton and Harrow, said at the conference yesterday he had been "reassured'' over the university's admission procedure.