My school had streams for several subjects which is perhaps unfashionably pragmatic, but at least it allows the top, bottom and inner quartiles to go at their own paces with more tailored tuition.
The lower streams also took the lower exam tiers. Which limited their maximum grades, but a C (or whatever the number grade is these days) from a decent showing in Foundation Maths is better than an fail from a disastrous attempt at the Higher tier.
It won't help when children are multiple entire years behind their peers, though. Short of actually repeating years with extra tuition and major parental involvement until they can catch up, I don't know what you're supposed to do at that point. Obviously just chucking them into the next year and marking it down as a "pass" might make look good for the paperwork, but it's just compounding the misery for the poor kid who might as well be being taught quantum chemistry in Ancient Sumerian for all the good it will do them.
The lower streams also took the lower exam tiers. Which limited their maximum grades, but a C (or whatever the number grade is these days) from a decent showing in Foundation Maths is better than an fail from a disastrous attempt at the Higher tier.
It won't help when children are multiple entire years behind their peers, though. Short of actually repeating years with extra tuition and major parental involvement until they can catch up, I don't know what you're supposed to do at that point. Obviously just chucking them into the next year and marking it down as a "pass" might make look good for the paperwork, but it's just compounding the misery for the poor kid who might as well be being taught quantum chemistry in Ancient Sumerian for all the good it will do them.