Are comprehensives really 'failing' their ablest pupils?

[Tinkers]

A range of evidence, such as statistics for entry to sciences, engineering, law, medicine and other professions, and statistics for social mobility, suggest that the comprehensive system is failing pupils on an overwhelming but largely unrecognised scale.

but the comps must be doing something right if when they get to uni they get better outcomes than their privatly educated equivalent peers

I suspect the reason some comp kids do better than indie ones at Uni with the same grades, is that perhaps they didn't actually reach the grades they perhaps would and should have achieved?

I also think a little of this boils down to the individual child. Some schools suit some students better than others and their results will reflect that. Sometimes we get so hung up on getting children into the 'best' school, we lose sight of whether it is actually the 'right' school.

Our local comprehensive has a reputation for bringing up the lower achievers and pushing the higher ones. The average ones in the middle tend to left to muddle on though.

[Rob Clark]

Our local comprehensive has a reputation for bringing up the lower achievers and pushing the higher ones. The average ones in the middle tend to left to muddle on though.

Presumably this is a legacy of league tables? ie schools get rated more by these two categories, ie the top and bottom, than by the middle grades so that is where they focus their attention…

From my own small but select sample I reckon that a child at a less high performing school has to work harder on their own initiative, and this is a quality which will stand them in good stead at university. Lots of generalisations in that statement I know, but an element of truth too I believe.

[mystery]

How does any sort of school give an unfair advantage?

[silverysea]

Tinkers that's an interesting possibility that basically suggests to me that the higher ability students are coming up trumps even without all the coaching pushing and cosseting that some school environments might provide. Some might be getting it from home.

Also the tougher " DIY or don't bother it's your own responsibility" atmosphere at a mixed state school is sifting out the self-starters prior to uni. My DD1 is at a comp and while far from delighted I do see her developing great resources with people skills and making the most of the best departments. I can make up some of the shortfall academically.

Yes she is being failed by not being stretched or inspired by some poor teachers and poor management in year 7 - 8. She could have done better in some subjects for sure. But I think she will achieve her goals by the end of school.

For the general population and good use of my taxes, improvement is needed. For my own children, I will keep on trying to help - at an intensity incomprehensible to my parents generation! dcs do face a tough world, some of my help may be outdated or not quite right-and sending them to a selective school that suits them as individuals seems like a good choice.

[pheasantchick]

Also, there is a huge variation in comps. All the comps in leafy Harpenden do far better then the comps less then 10 miles away in Luton.

[Daogroupie]

That is because most of the middle class students in Harpenden go to them rather than to the indys around which are all stuffed with students from Barnet, Hatfield and Luton! It certainly does prepare the able students for Uni, they need a strong work ethic to work hard in a mixed ability class. DG