Private schools playing the system

Zoe Williams could have strengthened her argument about the quality of students entering Oxbridge by mentioning the increased use by private schools of Pre-U examinations instead of the newly-reformed and more rigorous A-Levels (The US admissions scandal: have any mediocre students ever ended up at Oxbridge? 13/03/19) Sadly, the number of "cavalier and uninspiring students" may have been increased because of these lightly-regulated examinations, marked and set mostly by independent school teachers, allowed to include coursework as part of their final assessment, and with a much higher proportion than A-levels of A*/A grades, which Oxbridge require. Goodness knows how many state school pupils with real ability and potential have been denied a place by students following the Toby Young/Boris Johnson routes!

The fact, as John Harris says, that "Etonians and the alumni of other "top" private schools are still at the core of British right-wing politics" is proof of the "breezy confidence" which an education in the independent sector guarantees (Britain`s Brexit crisis is rooted in the power of our public schools, 18/03/19). It is strange, then, that the schools themselves do not possess the confidence to use the same public examinations, newly reformed and now more rigorous than previously, as state schools do. The preference to enter their year 11 pupils for Cambridge Assessment`s IGCSE and year 13s for the same awarding body`s Pre-U examinations, which use coursework as part of their final assessment, is increasing. The head of Eton admitted to the education select committee late in 2017 that seven of his staff were involved in the marking or setting of Pre-U exams!

 One would have thought, with all the advantages like "tiny class sizes" private schools possess, and without the problems caused by government underfunding which hinder the education of thousands of state school pupils aiming for university places, private schools would have relished the possibility of their A-level results being far superior to those of the rest. Instead they increasingly opt for what are widely regarded as easier options. The answer has to be something Harris ignored, immediate legislation making the highly regulated A-levels and BTECs the only entry qualifications for British universities.

According to Michael Pyke, "the 7% who attend private schools account for around 30% of A-level grades" (Letters, 21/03/19). Does he mean actual A-levels, the highly-regulated examinations described by Ofqual as "national qualifications based on content set by the government", or does he include in his calculations the ones set by Cambridge Assessment? These Pre-U examinations, mostly marked and set by teachers in the independent sector, including some from Eton, are more lightly regulated, allow pupils` coursework to be included in the final assessment, and unsurprisingly have a higher proportion of A*/A grades.

  I can`t be the only Guardian reader who would like to know the answer!