A LEADING Merseyside school is set to take its rightful place at the top of official school charts after it was confirmed international GCSEs will be included in annual league tables.
David Cook, headmaster of Merchant Taylors’ Boys School, in Crosby, urged state schools to take up the new Government’s invitation to offer the more “rigorous” version of the traditional GCSEs.
The qualifications, known as iGCSEs, are often likened to old O-levels because they have more essay-based questions and extra topics.
The new coalition Government has now given the green light for state schools to offer the qualifications, which are popular with independent schools as a way of stretching and stimulating brighter students.
It will mean schools like Merchant Taylors’ will no longer artificially appear at the foot of official tables because iGCSEs will be recognised alongside their traditional equivalents.
Mr Cook, whose school offers iGCSE at maths, said his school was previously “unfairly demoted” despite perfect pass rates. He told the Daily Post: “In the independent sector, we have enjoyed this freedom of choice for some years now and I am delighted that the Department of Education had the wisdom to allow state-maintained schools to do the same.”
The maths iGCSE covers more areas than the normal GCSE, with students able to master set theory and elementary calculus.
Boys at Merchant Taylors’ have responded so well 56 pupils sat the qualification a year earlier, all gaining A*s or As.
It meant they could do an AS-level maths course a year early and further maths at A-level, which the school believes will “give them a head start for university”.
Mr Cook added: “By choosing qualifications to benefit our pupils rather than tailoring our educational provision to meet league tables, we were unfairly demoted.
“I am glad this will no longer be the case and these qualifications, recognised by the country’s top universities including Oxford and Cambridge, will now be recognised.”
Confirming state schools can deliver the iGCSEs from September, the government said it was important headteachers were “free to teach” what it called “a wide range of these respected and valued qualifications, putting them on a level playing field with independent schools who have offered them for some time”.
