LETTER: Dual entry for universities

From Mr Neil King

Sir: A-level grade predictions are currently made up to a year before students take the examinations, and require that teachers choose from seven possible grades. Anyone who works with sixth-formers knows how volatile the performances of this age group can be.

It is a remarkable tribute to the judgement of teachers: not, as Tony Higgins of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) reportedly says (in your article of 17 November), that 65 per cent of predictions are wrong, but that 35 per cent are spot on.

Yours faithfully,

Neil King

Director of Sixth Form

Hymers College

Hull

17 November