Leading article: A widening gap that is a badge of dishonour

When this year's A-level results are published today, it is a fair bet that they will be greeted with the same mixture of rejoicing and criticism as in previous years. Teachers and their pupils will be congratulated for their splendid achievement, while detractors will explain any increase in the number of A grades as proof of "grade inflation". It is not that pupils are studying harder or teachers working more effectively, they will say, but that A-levels have become easier.

This is well-trodden ground, and the truth probably lies somewhere in between. The content of the syllabus and the style of exam questions have both changed over the years, and the number of top grades has steadily increased. But this does not necessarily mean that A-levels are easier or that the grades attained by individual pupils are any less of an achievement. If there is criticism to be assigned - and employers and universities have both been scathing about how poorly equipped many of today's school-leavers are either for work or further study - then it is the system rather than hard-working teachers and pupils that should take the blame.

Which is what makes the remarks we report today from the head of Britain's biggest exam board, Mike Creswell, so pertinent. The overall rise in grade-A passes at A-level, he discloses, does not reflect higher standards across the board - although this is how it might appear from statistics compiled to give the national picture. The increased number of higher grades have been attained disproportionately by pupils at independent and selective state schools.

What is happening is not, therefore, the marked overall improvement that the New Labour government's introduction of testing and targets was supposed to foster, but the opening up of a clear gap between the independent and selective state sector and the rest. It is a gap, what is more, that is widening - and looks likely to widen further.

Ten years ago, almost 16 per cent of all A-level scripts were awarded the top grade, while almost 32 per cent of independent-school entries were judged worthy of an A. Last year, 24 per cent of all entries received an A; far from narrowing, though, the gap widened, with 47.5 per cent of independent-school pupils attaining the highest grade. State selective schools have also shown a big rise in the number of A grades.

With the new A* grade, the discrepancy between the independent and selective schools and the rest could become unbridgeable. A response to the concern of universities that it was no longer possible to separate the very best from the good, the A* is to be introduced in three years' time. The unintended consequence could be, however, that this new top grade - and with it access to the best universities - becomes the preserve of pupils from independent and state selective schools.

The discrepancy in performance between independent and state schools is greater in Britain than anywhere in the developed world. This may be explained partly by the size of our private-school sector and the strength of its tradition. But in the 21st century it is no badge of honour that wealth and educational success are still so closely entwined. That they are becoming more so is little short of a national disgrace.

As Chancellor, Gordon Brown undertook several times to bring the level of education spending per pupil in the state sector up to the level in the private sector. Although he repeated the pledge in his last Budget, however, he offered no time frame for the increase - and the latest findings suggest something more urgent and drastic will be needed if all pupils are to benefit from anything like the opportunities that the more privileged enjoy.