Internet access at British schools is so limited that an average of just six students can access interactive websites at the same time, a new survey has found.

The figure - 4.5 pupils in primaries and 14.7 in secondaries - falls even further if users access streaming video or audio. The findings in this year’s British Education Suppliers Association (Besa) survey of ICT in UK state schools are likely to embarrass ministers.

The Government has trumpeted the fact that almost every school is now connected to the Internet, but the survey reveals for the first time the lack of capacity that makes it impossible for a large number of students to surf simultaneously in the average school.

New research commissioned by the Government has confirmed that students, as well as teachers, find Net access speeds at school frustratingly slow (see story below).

Ray Barker, director of Besa, said the survey’s findings called into question the drive to deliver online resources to schools through high-speed Internet connections. The BBC’s digital curriculum proposals are based on schools having such links. Such an initiative could even widen the digital divide, Barker said, as schools without fast connections would miss out on the benefits they promise to bring. The Government wants 20 per cent of schools - mostly secondaries - to be linked in this way by 2002.

The high cost and availability of fast Internet access remains the stumbling block, which is why 70 per cent of schools are still connected with ISDN.

According to Barker, it might make more sense to wait until more schools had better Net connections and teachers were better trained before attempting to launch an educational revolution by spending millions on online resources.

However, the Department for Education and Skills (DFES) is unlikely to be swayed by the findings, as the minister responsible for ICT in schools, Baroness Ashton tells TES Online (p8) that online curriculum materials is one of her priorities.

Overall, the Besa survey, based on responses from more than 2,000 schools across the UK, paints an optimistic picture of ICT provision. Schools have an average of 26 computers with Net access, up from 12 in 1999.

There are now almost one million PCs in schools, although up to 25 per cent are so old that they are “ineffective”. Just under 10 per cent of schools said they do not need any new desktop computers, though almost one-quarter still have “extensive” infrastructure requirements.

The survey found a trend back to computer labs - 56 per cent of schools have the majority of machines there, with the classroom preferred by 46 per cent.

Barker said this trend raised several questions - most significantly whether it will dash the Government’s wish for schools to integrate ICT into the entire curriculum, rather than teach it in isolation.

Baroness Ashton’s desire to improve technical support for teachers is well founded: the survey indicated that just 13 per cent have a dedicated full-time technician. With 88 per cent of schools expected to have some form of network by 2002, Barker said the need for technical support will only become more acute.

School spending on training is eclipsed by the cost of Internet access, which accounts for 7.5 per cent of the average pound;12,000 spend. Twenty per cent goes on software and content, but hardware continues to take the lion’s share at 54 per cent. An estimated pound;350 million is spent on ICT by British schools each year.

The number of teachers confident in using ICT in the classroom is up 13 per cent to 60 per cent. However, the responses reveal that more than half - 52 per cent - are yet to participate in the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) training programme.

That finding contradicts NOF’s September claim that over 355,000 teachers had signed up, with only 95,000 left to commit themselves before the March deadline.

Read the full survey at www.besanet.org.uk

* Interactive whiteboards are making their mark, with almost 20 per cent of responding schools owning at least one * There are more than 100,000 schools with laptops - an 81 per cent rise since last year. However, 85 per cent of schools have some or an extensive need for more units * Less than 20 per cent of schools pay for online content, those that do spend between pound;340 and pound;650 a year * Home Internet access for teachers is on the rise: 255,000 now have the facility, while a further 45,000 have a computer not on the Net * The number of schools using the Besa website has rocketed from 25 to 75 per cent, indicating a need for advice and information