Patricia Broadfoot is Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Education at the University of Gloucestershire, UK, and former Pro Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Education at the University of Bristol, UK. She has been awarded a CBE. Marilyn Osborn is Professor in Education at the University of Bristol, UK, where she is Director of Hong Kong EdD. Claire Planel teaches at the University of Bristol, UK.

• Why compare? - the fashion for international comparisons; the QUEST project - its rationale and approach; primary schooling in England and France; pupils as learners in England and France; pupils as citizens in England and France; classroom processes and pupil outcomes in English and French primary schools; ntional differences in performance in language; national differences and strategies in mathematics; whast makes a difference - social disadvantage, gender and national context?; overview - why quest?

"Interesting reading. Educationalists will enjoy analysing the results, reading the many tables and charts, and answering the tests which appear in the Appendices." -School Librarian Journal, Spring 2001