State school pupils more confident about exams than those in private schools, study finds

Teachers from schools including St Paul's and Eton College swapped places with state school colleagues as part of a campaign to end the "Berlin Wall" between London’s state and private schools.

Interim results of the project, funded by City Hall, found that "teacher expertise", extra curricular activities and expectations were all higher in independent schools.

But as exams approached, independent school students - particularly girls - reported feeling less confident than those in state schools.

Christ the King Sixth Form College in Lewisham led the project, which aimed to find out why independent school pupils disproportionately score top GCSE and A-level grades and are over-represented at leading universities.

Teachers from 11 schools - including Eton, St Paul's boys', North London Collegiate School and Wellington College - swapped schools, observed lessons and reported what they saw.

State schools taking part included St Columba's Catholic Boys' School in Bexley and Bonus Pastor Catholic College in Bromley.

Noreen Richardson, assistant principal at Christ the King, said: "Generally teacher expertise was seen to be higher in the independent sector. When teachers have a profound subject knowledge and can communicate it well it leads to great results for those students."

She added state school teachers were less secure in understanding what was needed to score an A* grade.

Lessons at independent schools were conducted at a much faster pace than in state schools, pupils had the confidence to challenge teachers and saw wrong answers as an opportunity for learning, she said.

But she added: "Many teachers commented positively on the fast pace in lessons. But the students in the independent school survey were asking for the pace to slow down. They wanted to see their learning embedded and revisited."

The research also found private school pupils were more confident in their abilities than state school peers, but this dropped as exams approached.

The confidence of state school students, however, was growing in the run up to exams, Mrs Richardson said.

But despite their extra confidence, just 1.5 per cent of state school students applied to Oxbridge, compared with 39 per cent of independent pupils.

Dr Overbury, principal of Christ the King, has launched The London Brokerage at londonbrokerage.co.uk to encourage state and independent schools to form partnerships. It is a joint initiative with Generating Genius, which works with disadvantaged young people to help them access elite universities.