ABSTRACT
Prior to the 1944 Education Act, 90 percent of young people left school at 14 following attendance at all-age elementary schools. Despite the fact that this system had achieved much, it remained that, by the end of the Second World War, the desire to see increased access to education had given way to disillusionment. Whilst this Act emerged out of agreement between state, church and education, the new system introduced the 11-plus as the mechanism for determining who was to attend which school following primary education. In the main, however, it was weak and reluctant central direction which gave rise to tripartism and small attempts at comprehensivisation. In the election manifesto New Labour signalled the importance they placed on education: Education will be our number one priority; and increases the share of national income spent on education as decreases it on the bills of economic and social failure.
