ABSTRACT
This chapter examined the case study of the British comprehensive experience, which is defined as the movement towards and the effects of the introduction of unified schooling for children of all abilities. Faced with external constraints to develop more talent and yet hold on to the conventional forms that for middle class parents promised the security of conventional character moulding for their children, the comprehensives were clearly constrained in their choice of means as well as choice of goals. The nature of the teachers in authority positions within the schools and the size of the organizations themselves all made the adoption of a grammar school organizational structure highly likely. It is now clear that the comprehensive experience suggests that an output of pupils who have undergone in their schools a radical educational experience close to that advocated by the new radicalism is unlikely to be a socialist output.
