SO FAR, SO GOOD - LEVELS OF ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT IN CATHOLIC-SCHOOLS

Recent evidence from Diocesan and Office for Standards in Education in spections under the Education Act 1992 seems to suggest that while pup ils in Catholic schools iii England and Wales obtain-high levels of ac ademic success at Key Stage Two and Key Stage Four compared with those attending other schools in the maintained sector, their achievements in Advanced level examinations are lower than one would expect. The ar ticle points to evidence of a similar long-standing pattern of perform ance of pupils in Catholic schools and speculates on some possible cau ses of the phenomenon.