Private school admissions tests overhauled

The 100-year-old Common Entrance exam is to be replaced after claims that it encourages “teaching to the test” and destroys children’s capacity for independent thought.

The traditional tests have all candidates take tests in English, Maths and Science, with individual schools being able to request exams in other subjects.

A coalition of top independent schools – including Wellington College, Charterhouse and Marlborough – are ditching the exam in favour of new-style courses that are intended to provide a more broad assessment of pupils’ abilities.
 
A committee formed from a group of senior and prep schools plan to create a “prep school baccalaureate”, which would assess pupils’ standards in a wide range of subjects, without being limited to test results.

Paul Brewster as Headmaster of The Beacon, a boys’ prep school in Buckinghamshire, said existing exams encouraged “cramming” at the expense of a proper understanding of subjects.

Anthony Seldon, Master of Wellington College in Berkshire, argues that Common Entrance badly needs changing:
“The core weakness of Common Entrance is that it relies upon passive learning and high quality teaching by often extraordinarily capable teachers at prep schools. The results at CE reflect the quality of the teaching as much as the ability of the candidate, which is not right.”

The courses for the “prep school baccalaureate” are to be adopted from September 2012.