The teenagers who had been fully included in mainstream classes showed gains of more than 2 years in spoken language skills and 3 years in reading and writing ability on standardised measures. These measurements of ‘years’ for typically developing children would equate to 4 and 6 year gains for children with Down syndrome, as they usually progress at about 5 months per year in these measures. In addition, there were gains in maths skills, general knowledge and social independence. There were no differences in personal independence or social contacts out of school between the teenagers educated in special and mainstream classes, and a tendency for the mainstream students to have better behaviour. This study is described in full in “A comparison of mainstream and special education for teenagers with Down syndrome: implications for parents and teachers”, by Sue Buckley, Gillian Bird, Ben Sacks and Tamsin Archer, published in Down Syndrome News and Update .