In 1997, a white paper on education expressed a preference for the organisation of pupils according to attainment in both primary and secondary schools. Since then, successive governments of both persuasions have reiterated this position. We should therefore not be surprised by new Education Secretary Nicky Morgan’s recent endorsement of ability grouping.
Teachers may be forgiven for thinking that such cross-party commitment to ability grouping is supported by research findings. In fact, there is no evidence that pupils grouped, set or streamed according to ability achieve better results than those in mixed-ability settings. Because of this, the question of whether and how to group students is often cast and answered ideologically rather than empirically.
The debate divides into those who believe academic achievement will be increased if there is streaming, and those who fear the social consequences for those who find themselves in groups for the `less able’.