Best Schools - Pre-Us, the alternative to A levels created and used by many English private schools, are to be scra

Cambridge International has announced it intends to withdraw the Cambridge Pre-U entirely by 2024, citing a lack of enthusiasm for the qualification internationally

The last Pre-U qualifications will be taken in 2023, with resits in June 2024, Cambridge Assessment International Education said. The small number of pupils taking the qualification had made it unsustainable, the exam board added.

This was despite the number having risen steadily in recent years, from 5,038 in 2014-15 to 7,850 this year.

Pre-Us were created in 2008 to offer a more rigorous end-of-sixth-form exam that prepared pupils better for a degree. As well as containing more demanding content than A levels, Pre-Us include an opportunity for pupils to undertake an independent research project.

Since 2008, however, the content of A levels has been updated and they are considered more demanding than before. Like Pre-Us, A levels are now “linear”, with exams taken at the end of two years and coursework largely scrapped. The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), which gives pupils the chance to write a mini-dissertation on a topic of their choice, has also been introduced and is popular. While Pre-Us are still considered rigorous, the rate of pupils achieving top grades has become a concern.

Pupils are about three times more likely to achieve the top grade in a Pre-U than an A or A* at A level.

Children in care given boarding school places are three times as likely to go to university

Children in care who are given boarding school places are three times more likely to go to university, the first major study has shown.

Sending vulnerable youngsters to boarding schools also makes them six times more likely to achieve at least two A-levels, according to a new report by the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation.

The charity works with local authorities to place disadvantaged children in some of the country's most prestigious institutions including Eton College, Harrow School, Radley College and Wellington College.