IGCSE examinations will be offered to state school pupils

IGCSE examinations will be offered to state school pupils

By removing the red tape, state school pupils will be given the same opportunity to leave school with the same set of qualifications as their peers from the top private schools, allowing them to better compete for university places and for the best jobs. From September 2010 state heads will be able to offer the IGCSE syllabus in dozens of subjects including English, maths and science. Nick Gibb, the Schools Minister said: “For too long, children in state – maintained schools have been unfairly denied the right to study for qualifications like the IGCSE, which has only served to widen the already vast divide between state and independent schools. The IGCSE would put state school pupils on a level playing field with their private school peers, giving them the same equal chances as it should have been all along.
Source: Retrieved June 8th, 2010
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/education/article7145731.ece

My reaction:
I am glad to hear that the differences between private and state schools in matters of the examinations will disappear, by doing so every pupil will have an equal chance in having a to get into a good university, college or get a good job. The International General
Certificate of Secondary Education is also considered to exceed the regular GCSE because it is an international validated certificate, to my opinion this will also be of value to private schools because the normal GCSE is not recognised internationally and if I would be a pupil at a private school I would much rather have a qualification that is recognised internationally than one that is not.