England, History of Education 1829 to 1944 - International Institute

Military and Naval Schools
Chapman claims that the first written reference to a military school was in 1662 from the officers of the East India Company in Madras. The Royal Military Academy in Woolwich, Kent began in 1741 for both officer cadets and raw recruits for lower ranks of artillery and engineers. Schools for serving soldiers’ children (boys only at first; girls from at least 1840), soldiers’ orphans, and for backward soldiers were set up in various places. By 1858 there were over 11,000 students in army schools, and an organized Corps of Army Schoolmasters and Mistresses.

Some seacoast towns had schools of navigation and navy school masters were aboard during the late 17th century as well, but were of poor quality. The Naval Academy was founded at Portsmouth in 1720, and after re-organization ended up at Greenwich as the Royal Naval College.

19th Century Pestalozzi Schools
Schools based on the ideas of the Swiss educational reformer Johann Pestalozzi were formed in England in the 19th century. Students learned from direct experience instead of by rote, this being the foundation of modern primary education.

1829 Catholic Schools + 1832 Reform Act
Between the reformation and 1829 Catholics who could afford to do so sent their children to Catholic schools on the continent or hired private tutors and, as they were not permitted to attend British universities, older students also studied abroad. The 1829 Catholic Emancipation Act removed discrimination against Roman Catholic schools and teachers, and they were able to build their own schools and appoint Catholic teachers. Now all denominational schools received government financial aid.

1833 Factory and Colliery Schools
Robert Owen and David Dale had established schools for factory children early in the 19th century. Children aged 9-13 and in employment were now required to receive a basic education for 2 hours six days a week. As a result a number of Factory Schools were established, however only about 40% of children in the manufacturing areas were receiving such education 10 years later.

1844 Workhouse District Schools
In 1723 workhouses were allowed to engage a schoolmaster with the educational emphasis on practical skills so that the children could obtain an apprenticeship and ‘get off the parish’.

The Commissioners of the New Poor Law of 1834 were allowed to appoint a teacher for workhouse children, and it was thought better to hold classes outside the workhouse itself. Thus many unions built District Schools to serve those from several workhouses.

1857 Reformatory Schools
The Industrial Schools Act allowed Justices of the Peace to send wayward or homeless children to Industrial (or Reformatory) Schools to learn a trade. They were the main corrective establishments until Borstal Schools were introduced in 1908 as part of the prison system. In 1933 industrial schools were renamed Approved Schools.

Just to confuse us, the term industrial school was used later in the 19th century for entirely different state-aided schools in which girls were trained for domestic service, and boys learned a craft.

19th Century - Preparatory Schools
The Prep School developed in the second half of the 19th century to prepare pupils aged 5-8 for admission to a Public School (q.v.) which themselves enjoyed a revival at this time.

1862 Standards Introduced
The revised code specified six standards of achievement, with a seventh added in 1882. The subjects in which each child was tested annually comprised reading, writing, arithmetic (see Chart below), with plain sewing for girls. By 1879 grammar, geography and history had been added as specific examination subjects. Government grants were now based on attendance and how many children passed the different standards.

Chart: School Standards 1879

•The author had a teacher with the same attitude in a girls grammar school in 1954—which explains a lot!

1870 Board Schools (Free)
Despite all the activity from charitable and religious bodies combined with legislation the provision of schooling could not keep up with the population growth in the urban centres. It was also inferior to that of France, Germany and the Netherlands (Friar). In 1840 it was reported that only one-third of working class children were able to read ‘fairly’ and that no more than 50% regularly attended school. In 1843 it was estimated that only two-thirds of adult males and less than half adult females had a basic literacy.

Forster’s Education Act of 1870, (followed by a similar one in Scotland in 1872), made secular elementary education freely available to all. The country was divided into about 2,500 districts each administered by a School Board and secular Board Schools established where there were no other schools. In larger cities huge Victorian Gothic board schools were erected, many of these three-or four-storey buildings being still in service.

However, practice did not always follow legislation rapidly. Hey notes most aptly, “This threat stimulated the Anglican squires of many a village to improve educational opportunities of the poor by building or rebuilding a National School before the local board could take responsibility.” By 1876 (Sandon’s Act) legislation was in place to enshrine the principle that all children should receive at least an elementary education.

1880-1891 Mandatory and Free Education
In 1880 Mundella’s Education Act made education (but not attendance at school) compulsory from ages 5-10, and elementary education became free in 1891. Ladbrooke discusses attendance problems and the influence of charges for schooling on the poor.

1902 Council Schools
The voluntary schools had gradually declined in number during the late 19th century owing to competition from the Board schools. In 1902 the educational system was completely re-organized. Balfour’s Education Act transferred provision of elementary, secondary and technical education from the old School Boards to 330 Local Education Authorities (LEAs) under a central Board of Education. The change was not welcomed by many, as is shown in the chart below.

Chart: Kent Newspaper Article Oct 1902

The board schools were now called Council Schools and this system remained in place until the 1960s with improvements, such as provision of school meals from 1906 and a school medical service from 1907.

1918 Education Act
It was not until 1918 that government grants enabled all elementary schools under their control to eliminate fees. Richardson says Junior Schools (ages 7-11) were established in 1918 but were not common until 1926.

1944 State Secondary School Fees Abolished
Further changes were made after WWII with Butler’s 1944 Education Act, which replaced the Board with a Ministry of Education. Elementary education was divided into infant (5-7) and junior (7-11) schools. Secondary schooling was divided into grammar, technical and modern schools with pupils being graded with the famous (or infamous) 11+ examination. There was a second chance to upgrade your placement at age 13 for the so-called ‘late-bloomers’, and the school-leaving age was raised to 15, although grammar school pupils stayed until 16 and could proceed to 6th form studies for a further two years. It took until the mid-1960s to completely phase out the old all-age (5-15) schools, and by 1965 there was a reversal to comprehensive secondary schools in some counties.

Chart 5: School-Leaving Age

Williams, (quoted by Cannon), summarizes the development of education of children by describing the four idealogies which have, and still do, play a part in the provision of schooling:


 * Élite education, demanded by the landed gentry, emphasized culture, athletics, character-building and service.
 * The middle classes largely supported education that prepared pupils for their future occupations, particularly when patronage was replaced by examination in the civil service and professions.
 * Working class children were thought to need a utilitarian, restricted curriculum giving them the practical skills necessary for manual labour.
 * The democratic ideal that all pupils are entitled to develop their potential in whatever school they attend.

The change in attitude towards children between 1800 and 1914 was caused by developing social, political and economic structures. Earlier on children were deemed to be mini-adults expected, at least in working class households, to contribute economically to the household. They were not thought of as vulnerable or ignorant. By the early 20th century this attitude had changed to where they were considered innocent and in need of protection and education (Hendrick).

A note of caution regarding terminology. The terms elementary and secondary education have not been consistently applied throughout English history. We now think of grammar schools as providing only secondary education, but in former times they had elementary pupils as well. Middle class private schools and some charity schools provided both elementary and secondary education. Each school should be examined in historical context.

When considering the spelling of names and accuracy of original documents family historians would be well advised to remember the force of the 1870 and 1880 Education Acts. Ninety percent of those born after 1874 received an elementary education, however 90% of those born prior to 1855 did not.

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