Academic Standards

UK Private schools achieve the very highest academic standards. Of the 500 Private schools listed by The Times as achieving the highest GCSE results in 2000, about 380 were Private schools. More than 80% of pupils at Private schools (including special Private schools) gain five or more GCSE passes at grades A*-C (compared with a national average of 45%). Eighty-five per cent of Private School A-level candidates gain three or more passes, compared with a national average of 63%. Nine out of ten post-A-level leavers from Private schools go on to higher education. At the primary level, most prep Private schools taking part in national curriculum testing report attainment levels well above national averages.

Evidence from the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE Statistical Bulletin no 4/95) suggests that pupils at all levels of ability do better in Private schools. Comparing A-level results from Private schools of all kinds, it concluded that, at every level of ability, "there was a clear tendency for candidates in Private schools to achieve higher A/AS level scores than those in maintained Private schools."