In the first four years (the compulsory years) of secondary education (students aged 12 to 16), classes are usually organised by age. They are generally mixed ability. In recent years, these so-called 'age and stage' restrictions (classes organised by mixed ability and by year group) have been relaxed to allow schools to plan alternative age groupings to address issues such as class/section viability and increased pace and demand of learning. Since this relaxation, it has, theoretically, been possible for schools to have mixed classes in lower secondary education. However, this is not very common. 2 13
In 2005, the ‘age and stage’ regulations were replaced by guidance giving local authorities and schools greater responsibility to decide when a student is ready to take an examination. 37
Schools and subject departments within schools vary considerably as to whether teachers teach the same classes for more than one year. In small subject departments it is inevitable that this will happen. In larger departments, the matter is one for the school or the department itself to decide. Some schools, however, deliberately plan for teachers with administrative responsibility for a particular group of children to remain with that group for several years, or that the same member of the guidance team retains a connection with a class of students for more than one year.2
Promotion from year to year in lower secondary education is normally automatic by age. Students move on to the next stage irrespective of their performance in any single year. 2
Class sizes in secondary schools are controlled by Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) agreements. The maximum class size in Secondary 1 (S1, 12-to 13-year-olds) and Secondary 2 (S2, 13-to 14-year-olds) is 33. In the final two years of compulsory secondary education, this decreases to 30. The size of classes in certain subjects defined as ‘practical’ such as science, home economics and art is restricted to 20. 2
In this phase, students are normally taught by specialist subject teachers. Most secondary school teachers blend whole-class, direct teaching with group teaching approaches, and pay particular attention to slow learners. To support teaching and their students’ learning, teachers in many subjects have at their disposal a range of technological aids such as overhead projectors, personal computers, and televisions, as well as an extensive school library, which in some cases is staffed by a professional librarian. 2