3rd September 2012 9:00
By Blue Tutors
According to a new study published this week, London state schools are now the best in the country. This is a marked difference from data from previous years’ data which suggested that many London state schools were struggling to meet minimum standards. The analysis, carried out by the Financial Times, concludes that London state schools now boast the best GCSE results in England.
3.5 million children’s exam results for a 6 year period were examined, revealing that London students performed better in English and Maths than students from any other region. The change has been hailed a dramatic turnaround from 2004, where the London results were fourth best out of nine regions. The analysis also suggests that the gap between richer and poorer students has narrowed, a trend that has not been seen anywhere else in the country.
Commenting on the findings, London university’s Institute of Education cited recent interventions such as the Teach First programme, which puts elite graduates in challenging schools and has seen many success stories over the years. There has also been a rise in the number of families hiring private tutors over the past few years, with 1 in 3 London school pupils having had private tutor at some point in their academic career.