§ 27. Mr. Greenwayasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what evidence he has of the incidence of streamed classes in primary and secondary schools.
§ Dr. BoysonA survey of junior schools conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research in 1980 found that only 1 per cent. of the 694 schools which responded used streaming as the main basis of class organisation, although a much larger proportion took an assessment of ability into account in assigning some children to classes or teaching groups, or in arranging teaching groups for certain subjects, especially mathematics. No exactly comparable information is available for secondary schools, but Her Majesty's inspectors national secondary survey, conducted between 1975 and 1978, found that streaming was used as the sole basis for the organisation of teaching groups in the third year in 10 per cent. of the schools in the sample.