At least half of the institutions in the elite Russell Group of universities have GCSE entry requirements which appear to favour private school pupils.

With independent schools allowed to take the IGCSE but state schools prevented from doing so, the entry requirements give private school pupils a potential advantage over their state sector peers.

Different grade structures are available for the qualification – the Pearson IGCSE uses the same 9-1 grade system as the reformed GCSE, but schools taking the Cambridge Assessment IGCSE can choose whether they want a numerical system or A* to G.

The 9-1 grades provide greater differentiation according to attainment but can't be precisely translated into the alphabetical system, which has just eight grades. Tes has found that one result is that many universities have relatively lower requirements for alphabetical grades.

For example, pupils in England who wish to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh need to have GCSEs or IGCSEs in biology, chemistry, English and maths at grade B or 6.

However, a student achieving a low B on the alphabetical scale might be graded as a 5 under the numerical scale.

Read more at: https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-top-unis-gcse-demands-favour-private-pupils

Norfolk private school closes in Hethersett weeks before new term

A private school has announced its closure just weeks before the new term was to begin.

The 111-pupil Hethersett Old Hall School, Norfolk, has written to parents to apologise.

In the letter, the headmaster Stephen Crump said the school was going into liquidation, but all creditors should be paid in full.

The school said it has not been able to "attract and retain enough pupils to remain financially viable".

An Independent Schools Inspectorate report in March 2019 revealed that the number of pupils had dropped to 111 compared to 160 in March 2017.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-49346555