Written question asked by John Bercow (Conservative) on Tuesday, 24 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 26 January 2006. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Monday, 30 January 2006 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Grouping/Setting

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills in how many subjects she envisages more grouping and setting referred to on page 10 of the White Paper, ““Higher Standards, Better Schools for All””.

Answer: It is for schools to use their own professional judgment to decide which subjects to group or set pupils by ability. We will continue through the National Strategies and our Gifted and Talented programme to offer advice and guidance to schools on classroom practice so that they can make decisions about how to use pupil setting as part of their overall commitment to personalising and tailoring learning to meet the needs of all their pupils.

Secondary information