CHAPTER 19 - Secondary Education For All 1945–1965

Abstract

This chapter discusses the condition of secondary education in England and Whales in 1945–1965. The situation in secondary education improved considerably. When the publication Secondary Education For All: a new drive, was issued in 1958 it was revealed that within a decade the number of children at school aged 15 and over had risen from 187,000 to 290,600 and there were indications that the increase would continue. This progress was not solely confined to grammar schools, where the sixth forms had almost doubled between 1948 and 1958, but was true of modern schools, where the numbers of pupils aged 15+ had increased to 38,000. In 1959, the report of the Crowther Committee was published, entitled 15 to 18, which considered the education of young people in that age group. The desirability was emphasized of raising the school leaving age, and recommendations were made regarding courses in modern schools, and the work of sixth forms in grammar schools.