Apparently the U.K. government now wants to rank secondary schools according to the number of students they send to Oxford and Cambridge. (Read here: http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6109263) This is a ridiculous measure that will not provide any useful indicators of schools' performance. First of all, the ranks won't take into consideration how many students are "accepted" to Oxbridge, just how many ultimately enroll, which means students' preferences are going to be more emphasized than the preparation they received in school. And anyways, why the focus on Oxbridge? There are other great schools in the U.K. that can demonstrate strong preparation by a school equally well. Some people don't apply to Oxbridge because they prefer larger city settings, even if they have all the conditions to get in. And other British students prefer going abroad and studying at top-notch universities such as the Ivy League. The ranks won't take any of these factors into consideration. Oh, and I haven't mentioned the obvious socioeconomic implications of the potential stats. I really hope the government backs down from this one.
