A-level choices: sharp contrast between private and state schools

 Traditional A-level subjects favoured by elite universities, such as Oxford, are more likely to be studied by private school pupils than their peers at comprehensives data out today has shown. Photograph: Lonely Planet Images / Alamy/Alamy

Teenagers at comprehensives are studying "low quality" subjects that will prevent them gaining a place at top universities – unlike their peers at private and grammar schools, according to an MP.

Elizabeth Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, obtained data through parliamentary questions on the A-level subjects pupils take at private and comprehensive schools in England.

She found students at private schools were twice more likely than their peers in comprehensives to take maths, physics and chemistry A-level and three times more likely to take foreign languages.

Students at comprehensives were seven times more likely than their peers in private schools to take media studies.Twice the number of pupils at private schools take three A-levels that are looked upon particularly favourably by the most academically selective universities.

In February, the Guardian revealed that the Russell Group, a lobbying group for Oxford, Cambridge and 18 other leading universities issued guidance which acknowledged officially for the first time that they favour students who study traditional subjects at A-level.

The guide, revealed an overwhelming preference for science and maths subjects – even for seemingly unrelated degrees.
By not studying at least two of the following subjects – maths, English, geography, history, any of the three pure sciences or a classical or modern foreign language – "many degrees at competitive universities will not be open to you," the guide, produced in collaboration with the Institute of Career Guidance, stated.

The London School of Economics has had for many years a list of "non-preferred" subjects to help applicants make the right choices. The list includes law, art and design, communication studies and accounting.

Truss said students at comprehensives were being "mis-sold low quality subjects that are not accepted at top universities to boost school and local authorities' results" - schools publicise the proportion of top grades their students achieve, but sometimes not the subjects that these are in. Truss said it was time the qualifications regulator – Ofqual – "put an end to the myth that mathematics and media studies are 'equivalent'".

"Students' chances of studying at top universities and entering professions based on science and languages are being cut off before they have even filled in the application forms," she said.

In March, Truss recommended an A-level Baccalaureate of rigorous A-levels, comprising at least an AS-level mathematics and an AS-level language or humanity. She said this would appear in school league tables and provide a "gold standard", which would "give students a clear steer on the value of subjects".

The table below shows the Russell group "facilitating" (preferred) subjects and the list of "non-preferred" subjects as published by LSE for your guidance. We have also gathered the data, as sourced by Elizabeth Truss during parliamentary questions, and have included a table below showing percentage of students by subject studied and institution - more subjects are featured in our spreadsheet.

We have also included data on percentage of students taking "facilitating" subjects and mathematics by local authority. Those in red have selective state schools (State schools consist of a mixture of comprehensive schools, selective schools, modern schools, sixth form colleges and other FE Colleges – varies by local authority). What can you do with this data?

Guide

Russell Group “facilitating” subjects

Click heading to sort - Download this data

Entered for at least three Russell Group "facilitating" A-levels (%)Entered for at least one Modern Foreign Language Ratio Independent to Comprehensive Ratio Independent to Sixth Form Ration Independent to other FE

Click heading to sort - Download this data

Entered for at least three Russell Group “facilitating” A-levels (%)

• DATA: download the full spreadsheet

Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian

• Search the world's government data with our gateway

• Search the world's global development data with our gateway

• Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group
• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk

• Get the A-Z of data
• More at the Datastore directory
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook