According to Rudolf Eliott Lockhart of the Independent Schools Council, twice the proportion of entries from pupils at the organisation's schools gained an "A" grade or better at A-level in 2010 compared with pupils at English state schools.
Olympic medallist Tom Daley has gained an A grade in his Spanish A-level.
For whatever reasons, inflation of A level grades continues to occur, with 25.3% of all scripts in 2007 gaining an A grade [ 6].
Some 37% of youngsters who gain three "A" grades or higher at A-level, the university-entrance exams sat mostly at the age of 18, attend independent schools, says Geoff Parks of the University of Cambridge.
Some 46.6% of entrants gain A-B grades in the A2 and AS examinations, compared with the national average of 36.2%.
Park Hill was saved because its innovative design gained a Grade II* listing in 1997.
In history I learnt our teacher's board work by rote and, after a three hour examination, gained a grade B. I learnt nothing more than factual recall.
While disadvantaged pupils showed an improvement in the proportion gaining a grade 5 – previously a C – in the compulsory subjects of English and maths, others made more rapid progress, causing the gap to widen.
One of his two A-Levels was in French, in which he gained a grade C. The other was a B in History, but together they were sufficient to gain a place at Cambridge University, from where he graduated with a 2 2 in archaeology and anthropology.
At the age of 10, he went to secondary school, gaining A grades in A-level maths and computer science at 13.
