Twins in school - together or apart?

Parental choice

Some teaching staff thought that separation was beneficial for individual development while others felt that twins should be kept together as a natural unit.

Mrs Preedy told BBC News Online: "Decisions are frequently based on assumptions.

"Sometimes opinions were just what a member of staff had heard somewhere or read in a newspaper."

Schools which separated twins said they did so because of requests from parents, to develop the children's independence or to tackle dominance or restriction of one twin by the other.

Those which kept children together said this was to allow them to support each other, because of the wishes of parents, or simply because there were no apparent problems or reasons for separation.

Schools with classes grouped alphabetically or by birth date often automatically placed twins together without considering the effects.