'Topical' science GCSEs too easy, say private schools

Science GCSEs have been dumbed down to make them more "relevant", the head of a leading private school warned today.

Many independent schools have abandoned science GCSEs in favour of more challenging courses, said Cynthia Hall, the new headmistress of Wycombe Abbey School, which topped today's Evening Standard league table.

Mrs Hall warned that some universities may be forced to offer remedial classes in science to undergraduates who have taken the new GCSEs.

Her remarks came as official figures revealed a widening gulf between private schools and comprehensives, with fee-paying pupils scoring three times as many As as their state-educated peers.

Mrs Hall said many private schools had dropped conventional GCSEs in favour of harder International GCSE courses. State schools do not have this option.

The new courses were introduced in 2006 and cover "topical" issues such as GM crops, global warming and mobile phones.

The aim was to make science more interesting and relevant to pupils who are turned off by traditional lessons.

Mrs Hall said: "There is a national shortage of science graduates and in order to encourage youngsters to stick with science there has been a trend in the new syllabus at GCSE towards 'relevance' and the playing down of some of the harder, more factual content.

"The IGCSE offers a more rigorous education in the science area."

Mrs Hall said some universities were forced to take half their science undergraduates from private schools because physics and chemistry were suffering in state schools.

Independent schools also opted for International GCSEs in maths because of concerns over excessive coursework in the subject.

Pupils at the all-girls Wycombe Abbey School in High Wycombe scored remarkable results in this year's GCSEs, with 98 per cent of all exams graded A or A*.

This placed the school at the top of today's league tables for London and the South-East.

Mrs Hall said GCSEs were no longer the place for brilliant pupils to show their individual flair.

"We don't have the space to recognise the kind of brilliance that perhaps did not meet the mark scheme - that has disappeared," she said.

Results from the Independent Schools Council showed 59.2 per cent of GCSEs taken by privately educated pupils were awarded A or A* grades this year. The national average was 20.7 per cent.

Growing numbers of top private schools have ditched conventional GCSEs in favour of the international versions, which involve no coursework and have been likened to O-levels.

But while their results count for ISC league tables, International GCSEs are not deemed valid for the Government's tables, leaving dozens of top schools apparently scoring zero.