ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the impact of the comprehensive school upon the university from the comparative as well as the British standpoint. The students and the schools they attended were placed in three categories—established, transitional and crypto grammar—depending on the length of time since the school had its first 'comprehensive' intake of students. The comprehensive school in Britain has come some way in its evolution. The school-related findings of this survey fall into two areas: the academic background and history of comprehensive school entrants on the one hand, and the influence of various structures in the comprehensive school—the open sixth form for instance—on the other hand. By the early 1960s, the results of the school-university relationship were the subject of growing disquiet on the part of university administrators, teachers in schools and higher education, and educationists. Their main concern lay, however, with only one element of this highly complex process—specialization.
