Private schools hit record 99% A-level pass rate

Winchester college has climbed back to the top of the annual league table of the best A-level results achieved by fee-paying schools.

Boys at the school, where boarding fees are now nearly £18,000 a year, notched up an average points score of 452 each, equivalent to nearly four As.

The college beat last year's winner - Westminster school in central London - into second place. St Paul's girls' school in London was next, while its all-boys counterpart St Paul's fell from third to fifth in the rankings behind Manchester grammar school.

Eton college plummeted to 21 from 14th last year. Its pupils include Prince Harry, who will take his A-levels next year.

The table, compiled by the Independent Schools Council, reflects the full effect of changes to the sixth form curriculum and the introduction of AS-levels two years ago. An A at A-Level is worth 120 points under the tariff used by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

A threatened mass boycott by private schools concerned at the compilation of national league tables on what they see as provisional figures, pending appeals, failed to materialise, although nearly 30 schools did not enter their results for the table because they were worried about the way exams had been marked. As usual, the figures exclude results for general studies.

Winchester college's head teacher, Nick Tate, said: "We've been near or at the top of the A-level table for some years and it's not anything new, but it is still very pleasing when it happens.

"We are where we are because of tradition, not because of innovation. We are fortunate in having relatively small A-level groups and a very able and scholarly staff that work very hard with students. We also have an acceleration programme, which means that our pupils take GCSEs early or even skip them altogether."

The school's tradition of giving its pupils extra lessons of an hour a day in history, philosophy, politics and the arts, helped to broaden the boys' horizons. These lessons, known as div, short for division, do not lead to any extra exams.

Dr Tate, who was chief executive of the government's qualifications and curriculum authority before taking up the job at Winchester, has in the past said pupils now have to take too many exams. Yesterday he reaffirmed his opposition to testing children for the sake of it.

"We want to continue to signal to boys that, important though they are, doing well at exams is not synonymous with being well-educated." He expected 30 to 40% of the sixth formers to take up places at Oxford or Cambridge.

The ISC said the independent school A-level pass rate reached 99% this year, up from 97% in 2001, compared with the all-school figure of 94.3%.

Just over four out of 10 entries scored an A, against a national average of 20.7% while two-thirds got a B or better, compared with 42.6%.

The ISC general secretary, Alistair Cooke, commented: "These results show why families are choosing ISC schools in increasing numbers. In spite of the ever increasing pressure on pupils, they and their schools have achieved higher standards than ever before.

"Fundamental questions are quite rightly being asked about the future of Britain's examination system, which has changed considerably over the last couple of generations. Yet there can be no doubt that today's A-level makes great demands of pupils, and the remarkable success of our pupils deserves the highest praise."