§ 28. Mr. Norman Fowlerasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will make a statement on the progress of his plans to introduce comprehensive education.
§ Mr. ArmstrongFollowing the issue of Circular 4/74, officials of my Department wrote to all local education authorities asking for information about the successive measures that will be taken to complete the process of reorganising secondary education. This information has been asked for by the end of the year at the latest.
§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will issue guidance to local education authorities as to how, after the proposed extension of comprehensive education to the 16 to 18 age group, a pupil's ability to benefit from a course starting at 16 years should be assessed, in view of a Government statement that this is to be the only criterion for admission.
§ Mr. ArmstrongNo. A pupil's ability to benefit from a course, at 16 or any other stage of secondary education, is best assessed by his teachers, who are also in a position to help him make a sound choice from the alternatives on offer.
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§ Mr. Wakehamasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science whether he will take steps to assess the relative merits of selective and comprehensive schooling in terms of the academic achievement and social adjustment of pupils.
§ Mr. ArmstrongMany factors other than the type of school attended influence the performance of pupils. My right hon. Friend is not convinced that it is possible to isolate the effects of one factor sufficiently reliably to draw valid conclusions.