Class distinction

Jan 20 2011 Buckinghamshire Examiner

WE would like to congratulate all the pupils who excelled in their exams in 2010. Nearly 70 per cent of children

achieved five or more A* to C grades, including English and mathematics, in their GCSEs - an increase of 1.5 per cent when compared with last year and 13.5 per cent higher than the national average.

A special mention should also go to Amersham's Dr Challoner's Grammar School, which was crowned the best grammar school in the country and will send 19 of its pupils to Oxbridge universities this autumn.

However, the high achievements of the region's selective schools does again bring into sharp focus the growing chasm between them and their non-selective counterparts.

With results as much as 55 per cent weaker at non-selective schools in the Chilterns, questions have to be asked about where our resources are best allocated.

As the debate rages on, let us not let it distract us from the real story here - our children reaching their full potential, whatever school they attend.