ABSTRACT
Until 1944, the vast majority of children attended a single school, the elementary school, until the age of fourteen. Here they received ‘elementary’ or basic instruction in literacy and numeracy, as well as practical skills considered suited to their future role as workers in industry or as domestic servants. Elementary schools were state schools, and were free. Most children who attended them received no more education after the age of fourteen. A minority of children attended private elementary schools. These, along with some children at state elementary schools, transferred at eleven to continue their education at secondary schools. The secondary schools were parallel to the elementary system and were fee-paying. These were called grammar schools. A proportion of places at grammar schools, about one third, were free to those who passed a competitive examination known as the Special Places Exam. This facility did allow some working-class children access to secondary education, but since any child could sit the examination, a large proportion of the places went to children from relatively well-off homes, middle-class children. The schooling system that existed served to divide children on social class lines.
