Pupil perceptions

Moderate Learning Difficulties and the Future of Inclusion, Braham Norwich and Narcie Kelly, page 163.

Mainstream pupils, few of whom had special school experiences, had mostly positive views about special schools. Mainly negative views were held by about one in five, with slightly more, about a quarter, holding mixed views This was different for special school pupils, where the majority had had mainstream school experiences. For them, only about one in six had mainly positive views of mainstream schools, whereas about half had mixed views, with about a third having mainly negative views. This difference could be due to special school pupils’ ‘bad’ experiences in the mainstream, and mainstream pupils’ lack of experience of special schools.