SOME of Britain’s most academically successful schools will sink to the bottom of this year’s official league tables because they have abandoned “too easy” GCSEs.

The schools, including Harrow, Rugby and Manchester grammar, now put their pupils through the international GCSE (IGCSE), which is considered more academically stretching, in subjects such as maths, science and English.

Many experts believe that rather than damage the reputation of the schools, the move will call into question the credibility of the league table system by placing some of the country’s best-performing schools near the bottom.

The government will this year for the first time publish a national ranking based on the proportion of 16-year-olds gaining five GCSEs at grade C or above that include maths and English.

IGCSEs are not counted as part of the official results because they are not approved by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), the government’s exam regulator.

Many independent schools are dropping the state-approved GCSEs in favour of the international versions because the latter are viewed as more challenging and as a better preparation for A-levels.

The exams have mainly been developed for schools overseas and are closer to the former O-levels, scrapped in 1987, rather than to ordinary GCSEs.

Schools offering the IGCSE in maths and English will see steep drops in the number of their pupils getting ordinary GCSEs in these core subjects, pushing them down the rankings.

The Department for Education and Skills has no intention of overhauling the league tables to take IGCSEs into account. Concerns over the academic usefulness of the rankings will be compounded by the high marks given to GNVQs — vocational qualifications.

Many state schools have boosted their rankings by encouraging pupils to take GNVQs — vocational qualifications which are rated by the government as equivalent to good GCSE passes.

Ministers have refused to allow IGCSEs to be included in results because the exams do not have official approval. State schools, even the highest achieving, cannot switch to the IGCSE because the government will fund only officially approved courses.

The IGCSE is growing in popularity among private schools. Cambridge International Examinations, one of two boards that sets the IGCSE, said that 100 schools offered at least one exam this year.

Independent school heads believe that the decision not to include the IGCSE will make a nonsense of the national school league table.

Tim Hands, headmaster of Portsmouth grammar and chairman of the universities committee of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC), said: “It is extraordinary that schools like mine will be listed as getting 0% for maths GCSE, yet (the IGCSE) is an exam that is highly rated by universities.”

The highest take-up of IGCSEs is in maths. It is preferred to the state GCSE because it includes calculus and does not include course work.

Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire, one of the first schools to adopt the maths IGCSE, has already dropped more than 100 places in the GCSE league table. John Richardson, the headmaster, said: “We knew that would happen, but we considered that providing a more appropriate exam in maths was more important than the league tables.”

At Manchester grammar school Chris Ray, the headmaster, is expecting to move from the top of the GCSE table to near the bottom. All his pupils take the maths IGCSE.

The defection from the state system is not confined to GCSEs. Winchester College, which heads the A-level league table, is to replace A-level English with the international equivalent. About 100 schools are in talks to adopt international A-levels.

More than 80 state and independent schools offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) which is recognised by the QCA. Now some of the leading state schools want the freedom to offer IGCSEs.

David Benjamin, head of maths at Norton Knatchbull Grammar school in Ashford, Kent, said: “Half my pupils go on to do maths A-level and the IGCSE would be much better for them.”

• The Edexcel exam board has this year awarded C grades in one of its GCSE maths papers to pupils who scored only 16%. Pupils taking the subject with the AQA board can gain an A grade with just 48%.
  
  

ALTERNATIVES

• International GCSEs: Designed for the overseas market but adopted by about 100 independent schools in England. Available in all subjects, they are modelled on the former O-levels with intensive exams at the end of two years.
  
  
• International A-levels: Candidates are examined on the entire course at the end of two years, as was the case with most old-style A-levels. Winchester college offers the English International A-level.
  
  
• International Baccalaureate: Offered by 85 state and independent schools. Pupils study six subjects including English, maths, a language, a science, geography or history and a creative subject such as art or drama. They must also complete a 4,000-word essay, study the theory of knowledge and undertake community work.
  
  
• Cambridge Pre-U: Cambridge International Examinations is discussing with independent schools the design of a new exam targeted at independent schools and modelled on International A-levels.

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