Only 38% of pupils at private schools pass EBacc

Peter's picture
by Peter
 8
The performance tables for KS4 do not mention private schools - they list "England - schools" and "England - state funded schools only". But by taking the difference we can work out that 60813 pupils at private schools achieved 23176 EBaccs, a pass rate of 38%.

To be fair, when students started their courses two years ago no one knew that this qualification would exist. Against this, the EBacc was thought to favour private schools which, typically, select pupils by academic ability.

I must admit I expected this figure to be higher.
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Comments

Charlie Ben-Nathan's picture
Fri, 27/01/2012 - 12:54

Are iGCSE results now included in this government data?


Janet Downs's picture
Fri, 27/01/2012 - 17:45

It would appear that iGCSEs are now included in league tables.

http://www.cie.org.uk/news/announcements/detail?announcement_id=35776

Only those from CIE, though, Edexcel are awaiting accreditation. Just found out, don't mean to ask questions I know the answer to.

It seems Edexcel offer International GCSEs (as they call them in full) in all the EBacc areas as well as many others. So, many independents will be entering pupils in EBacc areas, though with results that are still not recognised in the tables.

Henry Stewart's picture
Fri, 27/01/2012 - 21:08

Peter, The government has published school-by-school data, including then private ones. You can get at them from here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/jan/26/secondary-school-lea...

Using this school-by-school data gets exactly the same result as you: 38% got the ebacc. So you got the calculation spot on. Though quite a few have 0% so there may be something about which qualifications count.

Nigel Ford's picture
Sat, 28/01/2012 - 13:10

I don't think you can read too much into this as Charlie has pointed out.

There was an article in the Telegraph which screamed that thousands of bright children were being failed by the state because nearly 70% who had scored above average KS2 at primary school failed to secure " 5 good GCSEs in 5 traditional subjects."

To illustrate the absurdity of this statement, I should point out that there is a disparity between the boys and girls grammar school at Dartford where 87% of boys have the ebacc but only 53% of girls, but it doesn't mean that the girls' grammar is inferior to the boys.

The ebacc was introduced retrospectively and thousands of bright children were taking subjects outside the narrow traditional ebacc definition. There will be many who have Eng/Maths, foreign language and science at GCSE but chose a different humanity other than Geography or History - and why not?

The real conclusion should be that it was a mistake of Gove to allow the ebacc to be so restrictive and that it should be used as a criterion to measure pupil performance, particularly when it is done retrospectively.

Janet Downs's picture
Sat, 28/01/2012 - 13:52

I despair at the standards of reporting on educational matters in the media about English state education. No education editor worth his/her salt should just churn DfE press releases uncritically. And it's not just the tabloids - the Telegraph regularly plucks quotes (the more negative the better) from the latest ministerial blurb just, it seems, to fill a few column inches.

The writer of the Telegraph article cited by Nigel hasn't even been able to work out that pupils taking GCSE in 2011 would have started their courses in September 2009 before the Coalition came to power. Unless they were gifted with second-sight they would have been unaware that Gove was going to introduce a new measure of performance, the EBac, and impose it retrospectively. Schools can hardly be blamed for not entering pupils for EBac subjects. But the Telegraph reporter says this is proof that state schools are shunning "traditional" subjects.

A government report was critical of the EBac and its introduction (see link below). Any journalist who claims to be knowledgeable about education should at least be aware of the report's conclusions.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/leaguetables/9041349/GCSE-league-ta...

http://www.localschoolsnetwork.org.uk/2011/11/dfe-ignores-report-which-f...

Nigel Ford's picture
Sat, 28/01/2012 - 14:02

You hit the nail on the head when you accuse the DT of regurgitating DfE press propaganda without giving them a more balanced critique. This gives the green light for posters to voice their anti comprehensive prejudices without any forethought.

I should just qualify one remark I said earlier that nearly 70% were failed by the state, in fact the (bogus) figure given by the DT was 62%.

Tim Bidie's picture
Sun, 29/01/2012 - 17:58

These numbers come as a surprise, says: 'grabber who is head of the skool captane of everything and winer of the mrs joyful prize for rafia work.'

'Coo ur gosh i expect this is a bit of a shock especially for the gurls. As you kno it hav long been an open secret in 3b that i never intend to get maried. This hav been becos if you get maried it hav to be to a GURL chiz and hitherto my conviction hav been that GURLS are uterly wet and weedstruck.'

Private education clearly has other qualities:

'Acktually fotherington-tomas is worse than me he is goalie and spend his time skipping about he sa Hullo clouds hullo sky hullo sun etc when huge centre forward bearing down on him and SHOT whistles past his nose.'

'He is my grate friend so i hav let him off litely. He is much worse than this aktually as his mummy call him ‘darling’ and kiss his ickle-pritty face. The old gurl must be blind. Or bats. Or both.'

'His piece “Fairy Bells” on the skool piano will never be forgoten by those who hav heard it.'

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