UK News 18-08-2000 A-Level Results Stir-Up Elitism Debate who: Gifted student Laura Spence what: Gains 5 A grades at A-level where: WHITLEY BAY when: Yesterday snippet: "Laura Spence, the high-flying state school pupil whose rejection by an Oxford college sparked a national debate on university admissions, was last night celebrating receiving five straight A grades in her A-levels," says The Scotsman. "Laura, who has an unconditional offer of a place at Harvard to read biochemistry," reports The Independent, "scored A grades in geography, biology, chemistry, English and general studies". "I`m glad she gained straight A grades," says her head teacher Paul Kelley, from Monkseaton Community High, North Tyneside, in The Mirror. "It is a vindication of what was said about elitism. The key is to end the bias." But Magdalen college president Anthony Smith said yesterday that the students who had beaten Laura to the prized place had done equally well. "She`s done very well and we congratulate her," said Mr Smith. "But the students that have been selected have reached their conditional offers and got results just as good." Meanwhile, John Clare, Education Editor of The Telegraph this morning, reports that the Government has demanded action to stamp out signs of a "macho anti-school culture" following yesterday`s report that boys have been out-performed by girls in A-level results for the first time ever. "Dr Mary James, of Cambridge University, said part of the blame lay with `laddish` magazines, such as Loaded and FHM," writes Clare. Dr James believes the magazines teach boys "to think they would be regarded as `geeks` if they were studious and hard working". Elsewhere, The Mirror reports the story of "whizzkid Adam Spencer" from Arlesey, near Bedford, who has achieved a B at match A-level at the age of ten. "We realised from the very early days that he was very bright. He learnt his alphabet at the age of eighteen months," says Adam`s proud dad, Paul. "But it was when he started to do maths that he really began to get ahead." [... more]

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