Introduction

IN 1902 a comprehensive Education Act, piloted through the House of Commons in the face of bitter religious controversy, made possible the development of that public system of secondary education which a later Education Act was to make available for all. But neither the grammar schools, nor secondary education itself, originated with the Education Act in 1902, and in discussing the role which the grammar schools have played since that date, it is necessary to consider very briefly something of their position in the education system in previous years.