Ninety of these pupils are in the 16 - 18 age group, the Sixth Form. The school is in a mixed socio-economic area and the amount of support pupils receive at home varies greatly.
Pupils can move between groups if appropriate.
Pupils are usually taught as a class, but opportunities are given throughout the year for investigational and practical style tasks. All schemes of work follow the National Curriculum and at the end compulsory schooling, Year 11 pupils sit an external examination. These two groups are at either end of the ability range. Although both groups spent one and a half hours on the task, for the less able group this meant 2 lessons, whereas for the most able group the task was undertaken for one lesson and continued for one homework. For clarity in this case study, the two classes are denoted by Class MH for the most able and Class HB for the less able group.