Amazing, read the article - it was published by the Engineering Council, not the Sun. From the link, go to index.asp, then down the page to 'Measuring the Mathematics Problem - the full report'. It is a scientific study....my personal experience tends to suggest it is about right..

You have been there recently, I was there a while ago. If I have my way, my kids will sit International GCSEs...Mr Clare had something to say about them only recently:

<<According to the Department for Education's latest performance tables, 58 per cent of my pupils passed at least five GCSEs at grades A* to C. In fact, 87 per cent did. The reason for the discrepancy - highly damaging to my school - is that 40 pupils took International GCSEs, which foreign universities prefer because they're more academically rigorous than the domestic variety. Yet the department refuses to recognise them. Given the bizarre qualifications it does recognise, can you explain why?

I think you have answered the question. International GCSEs are more academically rigorous because they eschew coursework and rely on externally marked exams. If schools were not penalised for using them, more would offer them. Academically selective universities would then favour applicants who had taken them, which would effectively (and deservedly) sabotage the domestic GCSE.>>