ABSTRACT
As we saw in Chapter 1, streaming was, at one time, the norm in those UK primary schools that were large enough to implement it. During the 1960s schools began to change their practices and most classes became mixed-ability. Where ability grouping was adopted it was generally within the class, at the discretion of the class teacher. As part of the effort to raise standards during the 1990s, the DfEE indicated that primary schools should consider setting. Inspections of individual schools and the Chief Inspector's annual reports began to refer to grouping practices and Ofsted commissioned research into the prevalence and implementation of setting. As a result of this, as we saw in Chapter 2, setting increased — particularly in mathematics and English and for pupils preparing for national testing in year 6. Despite this, most schools have retained mixed-ability classes with ability grouping only occurring within the class.
