The cut in school banding will not lead to wider disparity in abilities in secondary schools and mediocrity in elite schools, the education chief insisted yesterday.

The five-band system was reduced to three this year on the recommendation of the Education Commission, following criticism that the system was too elitist. Some educators fear it will lead to a wider mix of student abilities in schools. But Director of Education Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the results of secondary school allocation showed standards in 70 per cent of schools were largely the same as that achieved last year.