GCSE league tables: pupils shunning tough subjects
Almost eight-in-10 teenagers are being steered away from tough academic GCSEs amid fresh warnings that schools across England are "wasting talent".
Official league tables published today show that only 21.6 per cent of children in state schools are entered for separate GCSEs in five traditional subject disciplines.
It represents a slight drop on a year earlier when 21.8 per cent of 16-year-olds sat exams in English, maths, science, languages and either history or geography.
Data from the Department for Education shows a stark divide between state and independent schools.
In the fee-paying sector, more than half of children are being entered for separate GCSEs in the subjects, which are in high demand among employers and leading universities.
The new standard – referred to as the "English Baccalaureate" – is modelled on the old school leaving certificate and is intended to reverse more than a decade of downgrading of core subjects in favour of easier alternatives.
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... (Daily Telegraph - 26 January)