Girls 'play system' to top exam table

A Roman Catholic comprehensive has topped this year's Evening Standard league table of A-level results at London state schools.

Girls at Ursuline Convent in Merton notched up an average of 404 university entrance points each, equivalent to three A-grade A-levels with an extra AS-level thrown in for good measure.

But, as the rise of the nationwide pass rate to 94.3 per cent reignited debate on the "dumbing down" of A-levels, head teacher Dr Neil Calvert acknowledged his pupils were "playing the system" to gain a university place.

Critics have condemned the introduction of ASlevels, which exam boards acknowledge are "easier" than A-levels. Students who might start the sixth form studying five AS-levels are dropping weak subjects and taking only their strongest to A-level.

Academics fear this will polarise higher education, with "elite" universities demanding good A-level grades while others recruit students with AS-levels.

Dr Calvert's school, which expects 90 per cent of its girls to gain university places, encourages students to drop subjects.

"If they are not succeeding, it is far better for them to switch," he said. "This is the system now. No one can blame students for making the most of it."

He put his school's success down to "good students and teachers and tailoring our education programmes".