EXAMINATION RESULTS OF PUPILS OFFERED ASSISTED PLACES - COMPARING GCEADVANCED LEVEL RESULTS IN INDEPENDENT AND STATE SCHOOLS

This paper reports the findings of a study comparing the public examin ation results at GCE advanced (A) and advanced supplementary (AS) leve ls of pupils with assisted places (APs) in the independent sector and pupils in the sector of similar ability. The examination entries and r esults of pupils with APs were compared with those of pupils who had g ained an AP at the same school but had not attended that school; they had instead, taken their A levels in the state sector. After controlli ng for ability it was found that the AP pupils achieved a significantl y higher total point scare in their AIAS levels than the pupils in the state sector and that the average point score per examination entry w as higher for AP than state pupils. The results suggest that there is an advantage in taking up an AP but the possibility cannot be ruled ou t that the advantage for AP pupils arises from factors other than thei r education in the independent sector (e.g. family background and pare ntal involvement).