Britain’s educational system will soon be based firmly on the comprehensive school, and in this new edition of an already successful Pelican the Director of the Exeter University Institute of Education gives a clear and critical picture of the comprehensive as it operates in England and Wales today. Professor Pedley first describes just what the 11 + is and does. Then, after dispelling the bogey that comprehensive schools need at least two thousand pupils in order to function, he goes on to demonstrate, by statistics, that those in existence, are already rivalling the tripartite system in academic achievements. Finally, and most important, he argues that a good comprehensive school can both focus and mirror a community as can no other school.