UK NEWS

A GRADE 'NOT ENOUGH FOR TOP PLACES'

Tuesday January 22,2008

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Straight A grades will no longer guarantee a place at one of Britain's best universities for sixth-formers starting A-levels this year, a major report has warned.

And students who choose to take the Government's new diplomas could be rejected by nearly four out of 10 top institutions. Teenagers will have to score a clutch of the new A* grades at A-level to be sure of a place at Oxford or Cambridge, the 1994 Group of leading universities said.

The findings emerged in a major report that was co-funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Admissions tutors and senior university managers expressed a range of concerns over the impact of the Government's plans to reform education for 14-19-year-olds.

The new A* grade for A-levels - for students who score at least 90% in their exams - will help universities identify the very best candidates, the report said.

Oxford and Cambridge - which are not in the 1994 Group - will take "a large majority of those with three A*s and many with two A*s".

The report said "almost all" students applying to institutions outside Oxbridge who score two A*s and one A "are likely to enter their first-choice university".

But the study added: "Other students who have either straight As or an A* and a mix of As and Bs will be in competition with each other for a majority of the remaining places."

The study warned that private school pupils were likely to dominate the top universities by scoring more A*s than teenagers in state schools.

"It remains to be seen how large a proportion of candidates achieving A* grades are from independent schools," it said. "If, as seems likely, this is a large proportion, a question will arise as to whether the introduction of the A* award has had the effect of assisting research-intensive universities in widening access for undergraduate applications from a range of backgrounds."