Why Are Students from Elite Girls' Schools Struggling with A-Levels?

Hughes
The debut of revamped A-level examinations this year has led to an unexpected outcome in the UK: poor performance by some of the most prestigious (and expensive) girls’ schools. To what can this phenomenon be attributed? Here’s a closer look at the data, as reported by The Times.

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Falling Out of the 90 Percent Club

Historically, the very best schools in the UK have belonged to “the 90 percent club,” meaning more than 90 percent of their A-level scores were A*, A or B. With the introduction of linear non-modular courses at A-level for 13 subjects, a whopping 23 percent of independent schools fell out of the 90 percent club. Even more alarmingly? Twelve of the 15 schools that failed to maintain their 90 percent club status have all-girl sixth forms.

While most of the schools fell short of the standard by very little, “the initial evidence suggests the government has achieved its first aim of making the top grades harder to get, while the switch from a modular to a linear approach appears to confirm previously established gender differences,” says The Times.

In addition to a gender gap, the results also revealed a geographic divide, with the vast majority of independent and state schools alike located in London or the southeast.

At the same time, the number of state schools entering the 90 percent club is increasing, although still significantly less than their private counterparts.

A Changing Dynamic?

According to experts, the shift may be related to a number of factors, including the fact that since girls performed significantly better on the modular tests, a reversal was a natural outcome.

But some suggest that the test results may reveal a larger issue. One professor told the Sunday Times, “'A striking feature of the top 250 schools in both the independent and state sectors in recent years has been the dominance of girls-only schools. We may be seeing the first signs of a decline in independent schools. They do not seem to be coping as well with the new A-level exams, especially the girls, who tend to cope less well with end-of-course exams than do boys. State schools are improving, fees are rising, and the top universities are under pressure to favor state-school pupils.”

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