This is the reason for Tollbar choosing IB

June 4th, 2008

Article from the Daily Telegraph 4 June 2008

University Introduces Tests for all Applicants

Students applying to a leading university will have to sit an entrance exam because A-levels are too easy.

Imperial College London will require all sixth-formers to take an aptitude test to select the best candidates from the record number of pupils leaving school and college with straight A’s.

Sir Richard Sykes, the university’s rector, said year-on-year grade inflation had “destroyed” its ability to discriminate between bright and average applicants.

It is thought to be the first university entrance test to be introduced since Oxford and Cambridge scrapped exams for applicants in the mid-90’s.

Sir Richard insisted that other universities were considering copying the move.

His comments come as thousands of sixth-formers prepare to sit A-levels this summer. Last year, more than a quarter of papers were graded A. The number of A’s has doubled since 1990.

Speaking at the Independent Schools Council annual conference in London, Sir Richard said the qualification had become “almost worthless”.

He said it was “frightening” that four in 10 of his students came from private schools even though they educate just seven per cent of pupils.

“We can’t rely on A-levels any more,” he said.

“Everybody who applies has got three A’s or four A’s – they are not very useful.”

Imperial, which specialises in engineering, medicine and natural sciences, was fifth in the world in a recent league table behind Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge and Yale. All students applying to start one of its 235 courses in September 2010 will sit the exams, which are not subject-specific. They will test areas such as creativity and problem solving.

Students applying for medicine will, in line with other universities, continue to take a separate entrance test.

Sir Richard said: “We are doing this not because we don’t believe in A-level, but we cannot use A-levels any more as a discriminatory factor.”

He warned that bright children stood a better chance of getting into top universities if they were educated privately. He called for the Government to fund pupils to attend fee-paying schools because children “are not getting the education they deserve”.

In recent years, Oxford and Cambridge have re-imposed entrance tests for individual courses, but have no plans for university-wide exams.

Last night, the Government insisted that changes to the A-level from September will address concerns. Students will gain an A* grade for top marks and longer questions will make exams more taxing. A watchdog, called Ofqual, has also been created.

Lord Adonis, the schools minister, said: “The rise in the number of pupils achieving higher grades is due to increased success of schools and should be celebrated."

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