Private schools boycott exam league tables - the 'cancer of education'

More than 60 private schools are to boycott exam league tables this year in an unprecedented rebellion.

Eton, Winchester, Marlborough, Radley, St Paul's and Manchester Grammar are among schools protesting that the rankings damage education and lead to ' teaching to the test'.

One in eight fee-paying schools has refused to submit A-level results to the Independent Schools Council for publication in league tables, which many parents use to compare the achievement of prospective schools.

Many independent schools are also expected to refuse to release their GCSE results.

The boycott means results from 61 schools will not be included in newspapers' annual guides to schools' achievement.

Dr Martin Stephen, high master at St Paul's, in London, has described league tables as a ' cancer on the face of education'.

He believes they lead to schools focusing unduly on subjects more likely to bring success in tables rather than choosing courses genuinely in pupils' interests.

'League tables are the worst thing to have happened to education,' he said.