Comprehensive System 1965

Question 1

1

Answer 1

Research in the 1950s & 1960s suggested that the talent, ability & potential of many children in the secondary modern schools were being wasted. It was felt that this wasted talent could be better developed in comprehensive schools, which accept pupils of all abilities.

The comprehensive system was introduced in many areas from 1965 onwards with the aim of overcoming the class divide of the tripartite system & make education more meritocratic.

Question 2

A03

Answer 2

However, it was left to the local education authority to decide whether to ‘go comprehensive’ & not all did so, so the grammar-secondary modern divide still exists in many areas such as Wirral.

Functionalists see the comprehensive system as more meritocratic because it gives pupils a longer period in which to develop & show their abilities, unlike the tripartite system. However, Marxists argue that comprehensives are not meritocratic as they reproduce class inequality through setting/streaming & labelling