Several Swiss cantons group middle school students by level in certain subjects. This is the principle of level groups which prevails in the canton of Neuchâtel and other territories of French-speaking Switzerland such as Valais or Jura.
“It all started with the international Pisa survey of 2009. The results were not good,” says Jérôme Amez-Droz, secretary general of the training department, the equivalent of a local ministry of education.