2- Education and Widening Opportunities

Question 1

Education Before 1918

Answer 1

• for majority formal school had no role in life
• schools run by Churches, charities and private individual foundation
• 1902- oppportunity for wokring class - governemnt fundeed grammar schools - offer places to non fee students
• 1918- secondary schools were still remained for upper and middle class

Question 2

Widening opportunites 1918-45
Fisher Education Act 1918

Answer 2

• raised school leaving age to 14
• **removed fees for elementary education **
• nurseries and continuation schools for those above 14
• more children staying in school for longer
• 1938- 75% of children were in school ages 11-14
  *** transfered funding from LEA’s to central government **
• = result in improvement in teachers pensions and wages
• = increased motivation and improve school standard
  *The Act also punished those who employed school children and provided free, compulsory health
  checks for secondary pupils
  BUT
• few nursery & contribution schools were actually provided due to the Geddes Axe cuts in 1922, = cut education spending by 1/3

Question 3

Widening opportunites 1918-45
Butler Act 1944

Answer 3

• raised school leaving age to 15
• proposed tripartite system
• provides free secondary education to all
• 11 plus exam to decide what schools suited child best

Question 4

Widening opportunities 1918-45
Hadow Report 1926

Answer 4

• proposed that elementary schools replaced with primary schools for ages 5- 11 = need new school for above ages
• reccomended that school leaving age increase to 15
• reccommend that secondary schools divided into modern and grammar

THEREFORE
* achievements in principles = recognised entire population
* influenced Butlers education Act
BUT
* nothing done until 1944 , 45% of secondary schools were free
* reflected the class system and disparities nationwide

Question 6

widdening opportunities 1918-45
University Education

Answer 6

• Greater numbet of working class and middle class - creation of non- oxbridge universities - Machester, Sheffield, Leeds
• Greater avaliability of grants proivded by government schemes
• EG - Teacher training scheme - fund education for a commitment to teach after

Question 7

Limits to Widening opportunites 1918-45

Answer 7

• Post 14 education remain limited for working class
• ages 15-18 are at 6% (compared to 75% when complusory (age14))
• working class could not afford to keep children in school and poverty level needed children in work
• quality of education remains poor for working class areas
• class size of 50-60 children - could only learn by rote
• local authorities couldnot proivde secondayr and technicals nation wide due to lack of resources
• grants for univeristy were extremely competitive due to demand
• less than 25% of women attended university
• cambridge did not grant women full degrees and limited oppportunities

Question 8

Widening education Post War
Tripartite System

Answer 8

Propsoed in Butler Act
* introduce entry exam - 11 PLus to detertmine which school child will go to
1. Grammar
2. secondary technical (skilled based proffesion)- few established
3. secondary modern (general education)- majority

LABOUR LEFT CRITICISM
* saw system as socially dividing - fail 11 plus you are inflexible with education . system not accurate
* secondary modern was not seen as adequate education:
* disadvantage to leave with qualification - O Levels and high teacher turnover = students had little continuity
* called for COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS

Question 9

Widening Education Post War
Comprehensive Schools

Answer 9

1965- Wilson government issued the Crossland Circular - call for comprehensive education
* strip schools of funding if they didnt comply to become comprehensive
* offer work experience to students rather than lessons in final year to prepare them for work
* offered a CSE certification qaulification as number of students doing o levels remained low
* popular with teacher unions and middle class
* by 1979- 90% of students in comprehensive schools

AGAINST
* wilson stated that comprehensive schools would be “grammar schools for all” BUT schools quality resembelled secondary modern
* removed working class opprotunity to socially advance if able to access grammar schools via 11 plus
* created inequality - not all students had to go to comprehsensive
* grammar schools turned into private schools
* middle class parents sent children to private instead of comprehensive

Question 10

widening education post war
universities

Answer 10

• 1960s- 20 academic universtiies opened
• introduction of polytecnics opened
• expanasion of avaliable spaces
• increased avaliable grants
• Government funding for universities had increased from £1 million in 1919 to over £80 million in 1962
• In 1962 local authorities were compelled to give an allowance or ‘grant’ to enable students to concentrate on their studies
• EG: open university - gain degrees to all ages - symbolic of expansion
  BUT
• elite unviersities were domination by private and public school students
• made worse by reucation of grammar schools