Private schools in England accused of ‘gaming the system’ on lockdown exam results

Children sit an exam. Private schools saw a more dramatic fall in A*/A grades than other types of schools following the reintroduction of public examinations. Photograph: Lbeddoe/Alamy

Dramatic drops in top GCSE and A-level results in England’s private schools this summer have led to accusations that they “gamed” the system last year, when teachers awarded grades.

Official figures show the proportion of GCSEs graded 7 to 9 in private schools fell from 61.2% last year to 53% this year, when pupils had to sit exams – an 8.2 percentage point drop.