September 2018
Featured in this insight: Education, Children & young people
Children prefer being in banded classes according to survey: Research by YouGov has found that children prefer being taught in classes with children of a similar ability, rather than mixed-ability lessons.
When asked about how they preferred to be taught, The poll of 586 UK school children aged between 6 and 15 revealed 39 % liked ‘being in a class where 'everyone is about as good as me’ while 30% said they liked having a ‘mix of how good everyone is’ at a subject. Twenty-two per cent did not have a preference, while 10% answered ‘don’t know’.
When it comes to preferring mixed ability classes to ‘sets’, almost a third of girls polled (34%) said they preferred this way of teaching, compared to a quarter of boys (25%). However, the same amount (girls and boys) said they preferred banded lessons (39%). A higher proportion of boys said they ‘do not have a preference’ (26% compared to just 18% of girls).
What makes a good teacher?
The survey also revealed what children thought made a ‘good teacher’ with 27% saying ‘kindness’ was the top attribute, followed by ‘listening’ (15%) and ‘fun’ (13%). Three percent answered ‘doesn’t shout’ while for 4 percent, being strict was the mark of a good teacher.
Homework over the summer?
When it came to homework over the summer, 29% had been given tasks to complete at home, while over two thirds (69%) hadn’t had any set over the six-week break.
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