Written question asked by Lord Lucas (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Baroness Morgan of Drefelin (Labour) on Thursday, 12 February 2009.

Schools: Performance Tables

Question: To ask Her Majesty's Government why IGCSE examination results are not included in calculations of value added between key stage 4 and key stage 5 for the 2008 school performance tables.

Answer: International GCSEs (iGCSEs) are designed primarily as qualifications for overseas candidates and have been taken up by some schools in the independent sector. iGCSEs are currently not accredited by Ofqual or approved for funding in respect of pupils in maintained schools in this country, and unlike ordinary GCSEs, are not aligned to the National Curriculum programmes of study. Since they have not been accredited, there is no regulatory mechanism to ensure comparability between GCSEs and iGCSEs. iGCSE results are therefore not collected by the department or included in the achievement and attainment tables.

Secondary information