State school pupils could be 'shut out' of top universities as private schools avoid new GCSEs, warns headteacher
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy State school pupils could be shut out of top universities next year as they struggle with new, harder GCSEs which private schools are avoiding, a headteacher has claimed. Richard Cairns, headmaster of independent school Brighton College, said this could see state pupils ending up with worse exam results, which would “shut them out from top universities through no fault of their own”. “There are legitimate concerns that the new GCSE is now harder than the International GCSEs sat by many private schools… state school pupils may find themselves shut out from top universities through no fault of their own,” he told The Sunday Times. Shaun Fenton, headmaster of Reigate Grammar School, a private school, who has chosen for his pupils to sit a combination of IGCSEs and the new GCSEs, told The Independent he had “sympathy” with his state school colleagues who had no choice in the matter.
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