Thousands of the brightest children in the country are being let down by their state schools, according to research conducted for a Government adviser. The study found that children in the top 5% nationally for academic ability do far better in schools where they are grouped together. But in schools without many of these top pupils, bright children achieve much lower exam grades, according to the study for the Specialist Schools Trust. Prof David Jesson, of York University, tracked the progress of 28,000 children in England with the highest marks in national English and maths tests that they took at 11 in 1999. About 12,000 pupils went on to study at the same 400 selective grammar schools or top-rated comprehensives. But the other 16,000 were spread across 2,400 comprehensives, many of which were in urban areas and had poorer academic records. When these 28,000 pupils took their GCSEs last year, Prof Jesson found their results declined depending on how many bright pupils were in their year group. Where 20 of these bright pupils were in the same year group at the same school, they scored an average of nearly seven A* or A-grades each at GCSE. But in schools where just one of these 28,000 top pupils was taking exams, the pupil scored fewer than four GCSEs at the highest grades. The study was commissioned by Sir Cyril Taylor, the chairman of the Specialist Schools Trust and an adviser to Education Secretary Ruth Kelly. He said: "If you have only one or two children of high ability, then they get lost in the system and don't get the support they need. "A lot of these kids are not delivering their potential." The study found that pupils in top state comprehensives tended to get slightly better grades than their counterparts in grammar schools. Sir Cyril said top pupils could be identified from their primary school tests and then given extra attention at secondary school to make sure they fulfilled their potential. | 
Northumberland
