ABSTRACT
Between 1945-7 the principle of secondary education for all was realised within the framework proposed by official pre-war reports. In terms of these reports, who should go where sometimes seemed rather more important than the principal purpose of providing universal, free secondary schooling. They made specific recommendations that about 15 to 20 per cent of the secondary school population would benefit from academically selective education. The great majority of secondary school students were expected to attend either secondary modern schools or technical schools. All age elementary schools were progressively dismantled and replaced by local systems based of primary schools, whose pupils were usually selected either to enter grammar schools, secondary modern schools or, usually later, technical schools. In some areas, particularly where the local stock of school buildings made the provision of larger establishments infeasible, middle schools bridged the gap between primary and secondary stages. In some LEAs, such as Alec Clegg’s West Riding, they were also intended to mitigate the consequences of early selection. In different authorities, age of entry varied between ages 8-10 and transfer to ‘high school’ between ages 1214. Some patterns prolonged primary school practice and regulations, others embodied a secondary ethos. In 1985 those deemed primary schools formed less than 2 per cent of all primary schools in the UK, while the 2 per cent of students attending those deemed secondary schools grew to 7 per cent by 1986 (Statham et al., 1989). In this chapter we focus on secondary school admissions and explore how the principle of ‘secondary school for all’ developed within a framework of academic selection, focusing particularly on the effects of the 11+, early leaving and staying on.
