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Education – A Brief Outline 1811-1929

The Blue Books     Llanelli Schools by John Innes    Other Schools in Llanelli

Board School a school established by a School Board (usually in areas were there was inadequate provision by the British Society or the National Society) following the Education Act of 1870.

British School a school originally established by The British & Foreign Society (often by Nonconformist donations) to teach non-sectarian education.

Church School another name for National schools.

National School a school originally established by the National Society to teach an Anglican education.

Non Provided School defined in the Education Act 1902 as Church schools not funded by the rates.

Provided School defined in the Education Act 1902 as Board schools that were funded by the rates.

1811 The National Society was established in 1811 to set up schools in which the children of the poor would be taught the Anglican religion.

1814 The British and Foreign Society was established to promote non-sectarian education. At this time there was no state funding for education and schools were dependent on voluntary contributions.

1816 The first State survey of elementary schools was made in by a select committee of the House of Commons from information supplied by parish clergy.

1817 Early, primary education, was provided by local men, women or clergymen. Dame schools or Common Day schools provided education for those who could afford the fees and Charity schools provided education for those who could not.

1833 In August, Parliament decided to contribute towards the cost of building schools for poor children. This money was added to donations and subscriptions that had been given by benefactors and was shared between the National Society and the British Society.

1839 From 1839 government funding was made conditional upon inspection and was distributed to voluntary bodies, such as the National Society or the British and Foreign School Society, for buildings or improvements.

1846 Parliamentary funding was extended to workhouse schools in 1846, when Poor Law Schools were either attached to workhouses or as separate schools, provided and maintained by the guardians of the poor.

1847 A commission was set up to look into the state of Welsh education. When the commission of three Anglican Englishmen, and their eight assistants, reported back, their report became known as the “Treachery of the Blue Books”.

1851 An enquiry into education in England and Wales was conducted as part of the Ecclesiastical census.

1862 By a revised Code of Regulations, from 1862 head teachers of all schools receiving grants were required to make a daily entry in a School Log Book.

1864 The endowed secondary schools and proprietary schools were examined by the Schools Inquiry Commission, which sat from 1864 to 1868 when it was found that provision of secondary schools was woefully inadequate, the distribution was uneven and the endowments misused. It also revealed that there were only 13 secondary schools for girls in the country. The Commissioners recommended the establishment of a national system of secondary education based on existing endowed schools. The resulting Endowed Schools Act 1869 created the Endowed Schools Commission to draw up new schemes of government for these schools.

1869 Increasing dissatisfaction with the state of elementary education, complicated by religious controversy, led to a parliamentary investigation into conditions in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham in 1869. The following year the Elementary Education Bill was introduced.

1870 Before this time, the education authority was, either the school managers, the parish council or any other local body with educational responsibilities. Education for children before 1870 was catered for by independent, voluntary schools, which were partly funded and inspected by the government.

By 1870 the British Society (Nonconformist) had about 300 schools in Wales, but the National Society (Anglican) had over 1,000. The Liberal Government tried to create a comprehensive network of elementary schools in Wales, attempting to persuade the Nonconformists and the Anglicans to compromise over religion.

The Education Act of 1870 stipulated that every child in England and Wales should have the opportunity of receiving elementary education up to the age of 13. Although the Act was designed to improve educational standards, improve teaching methods and alter the role of the teacher in society, conflict continued.

Government grants continued for British and National Schools but where existing facilities were inadequate, the Act required locally elected school boards to provide elementary schools which would be funded by the rates. These were known as Board schools and provision was made for the British Schools to be incorporated into the School Board system. The National (Anglican) and Roman Catholic schools preferred to stay outside and they did not receive any financial help from the rates.

1876 The Elementary Education Act 1876 increased government grants to the voluntary schools and where there were no school Boards, the election of school attendance committees was permitted. Where the school districts were outside the jurisdiction of the school Board and were not in a borough, the school attendance committees, were appointed by guardians of the poor law unions.

1880 The Elementary Education Act of 1880 made school attendance to the age of 10 compulsory. Children could leave school at 10 but if their attendance was poor they could be made to stay on.

1886-1888 The state of elementary education was considered by a Royal Commission on the Working of the Elementary Education Acts. Its members disagreed over the conclusions and produced majority and minority final reports. They highlighted the problem of catering for children over 13 years of age, asking the questions: (i) Should higher grade elementary schools continue to be encouraged? Or (ii) Should better secondary schools, based on endowed grammar schools, be developed?

1889 The Welsh Intermediate Education Act of 1889 established county joint education committees and the members of these committees were to be councillors. The joint committees were obliged to draw up plans for county schools, which later became grammar schools. These county schools were to be financed by: The Rates; A Treasury grant; Fees from pupils and the re-organisation of old endowments. This was the first time that public money had been specifically spent on Welsh intermediate education and it provided rates supported education earlier than in England.

1891 On 1 September elementary education was free of charge.

1893 The School leaving age was raised to 11.

1899 The School leaving age was raised to 12.

1900 Higher Elementary Schools, which were recognised after April 1900, provided a graduated course in elementary science for children between 10 and 15 years of age.

1902 School Boards were abolished and Local Education Authorities (LEAs) were created by the Education Act 1902. The old Board schools became Council schools and they became responsible for the maintenance but not the provision, of voluntary or non-provided schools as distinct from council or provided schools. The Conservative government were keen to secure the future of the Church schools which had not received any funding from the rates unlike the Board schools which had received funding from 1870.

1904 Following legislation in 1904 inspection of the educational and industrial work was transferred from the LEAs to the Board of Education.

1907 The Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907 introduced the free place scholarship system to give promising children from elementary schools the opportunity of admission to secondary schools. All grant-aided secondary schools had to admit free place scholars (not less than 25% of the previous year’s total intake) who had spent at least two years at public elementary school. The school received £5 per head for each scholar.

1918 Under the provisions of the Education Act 1918, the school leaving age was raised to 14 and secondary education became compulsory. Most Higher Elementary Schools sought recognition as central or secondary schools.

1929 Under the Local Government Act 1929 educational provision for poor law children became the responsibility of the local authorities. In many areas these children already attended public elementary schools; existing poor law schools were formally converted into public elementary schools.