Poor performance of Muslim schools in A Levels

By Elham Asaad Buaras

441 students sat their post 16 A/AS-level and equivalent examinations last year in 10 Muslim schools across 8 different Local Education Authorities (LEA).
The number of Muslim institutions providing AS and A-level exams has dropped by one from 2006. However, five additional schools have taken the exams in partnership with local colleges, taking the total number of Muslim schools providing some sort of A/As level provision to 15.
Lancashire based Jamea Al Kauther, Jamiatul-Ilm Wal-Huda UK School in Blackburn, Bolton based Al Jamiah Al Islamiyyah and Tauheedul-Islam Girls� High School, all sat the exam in partnership with Preston College. Dr S J Haneef of Al Jamiah Al Islamiyyah told The Muslim News, �Our boys did not do as well as we would have hoped. We made the arrangement with Preston College, hopefully in the next 2 or 3 years we will arrange for the exams to be sat at the school.� In Birmingham, Birchfield Independent Girls School worked with Sutton Coldfield College.

The Muslim News 2007 A-level table has two performance indicators - the average point score per student (APSPS) and the average point score per exam(APSPE).
The APSPS is calculated as the sum of the points awarded to each student, divided by the total number of students at the end of study towards General and Vocational A/AS exams. The APSPE entry is calculated as the sum of the points awarded to each student, divided by the total number of qualification entries.
Unfortunately, not a single Muslim school featured has matched the APSPS average of 731.1 points, unlike in primary and GCSE they surpassed the National Average.. The closest to the national average is Tayyibah Girls� School in Hackney with APSPS 575.5 points. The North London based school surpassed Hackney�s average in the APSPS entry. School Head Teacher, Nahida Qureshi, told The Muslim News, �The continuous good result is down to the hard work of teachers and students alike.�

The poor showing of many schools is reflected in the performance of their Local Education Authority�s averages in APSPS and APSPE. Only Bury, Nottingham City and Leicestershire surpassed or matched the national APSPS average.
If you know of a Muslim school/college not featured in our A/AS Level Table, please call The Muslim News (during office hours) on 020 8863 8586; alternatively, email schools@muslimnews.co.uk.
In the last two issue of The Muslim News we published exclusively league tables of primary and secondary schools. (www.muslimnews.com)