ABSTRACT
There were three particular developments in the sphere of education under the 1964-1970 Labour Governments, namely the promotion of comprehensive schools, the expansion of higher education in general, and the creation of the Open University in particular. However, the first two were policies inherited, rather than initiated, by Harold Wilson’s 1964-1970 Labour Governments, so that they were ‘building on existing developments and following trends that were already apparent . . . very much swimming with the tide’ (Ponting, 1990: 130). Another initiative, to raise the school leaving age to 16, was postponed, and was not implemented until 1973. Each of these developments will be discussed below, but first it is important to indicate why education was such an important sphere of policy for Labour Governments. Two main reasons can be identified, the first of which is economic whilst the second is social, although attempts were made to meld them together (as ‘New Labour’ and the Blair Governments sought to do thirtyfive years or so later).
