What is streaming in the context of education?

• A. Sorting pupils into classes by ability and staying in these groups for all lessons.
• B. Sorting pupils by age into different grades.
• C. Random assignment to classes each term.
• D. Grouping students based on attendance.

Answer: (A)

Streaming means placing students into ability-based groups and keeping them in those groups for most or all lessons. This lets teachers tailor pace and tasks to each group, with higher streams tackling more challenging material quickly and lower streams receiving appropriate support. The other options don’t fit because they describe grouping by age into grades, random class allocation, or grouping by attendance, none of which are about sorting by ability and maintaining those groups across lessons.