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Tripartite System of education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
The Tripartite System was the selective school system of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 onwards in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 1947. The tripartite system is not mentioned in either Act, this model was a consensus of both major political parties based on the 1938 Spens Report.
State-funded secondary education was to be structured as three types of school: grammar school; secondary technical school (sometimes described as technical grammar or technical high school); secondary modern school. Not all education authorities implemented the tripartite system; some maintained only two types of secondary school, the grammar and the secondary modern.
Pupils were allocated to their respective types of school according to their performance in the 11-plus or the 13-plus examination. It was the prevalent system under the Conservative governments of the 1951 to 1964 period, but was actively discouraged by the Labour government after 1965. The 1976 Education Act made provision to cease selection for secondary education with the intention of universal comprehensive education in England and Wales. However, elements of similar systems persist in several English counties such as Kent and Lincolnshire, which maintain the grammar schools alongside other less academic non-selective secondary schools. The system's merits and demerits, in particular the need and selection for grammar schools, were contentious issues at the time and remain so.
Prior to 1944 the British secondary education system was fundamentally an ad hoc creation. Access was not universally available, and varied greatly by region. Schools had been created by local government, private charity and religious foundations. Education was often a serious drain on family resources, and subsidies for school expenses were sporadic. Secondary education was mainly the preserve of the middle classes, and in 1938 only 13% of working class 13-year-olds were still in school.[citation needed]
Many of the schools created since the 1870s were grammar schools, which offered places based on an entrance test. Places were highly desired and seen as offering a great chance at success. These schools were widely admired, and were to become a model for the tier-structured education reforms of the 1940s.
There was also a strong belief in the value and accuracy of psychometric testing. Some in the educational establishment, particularly the psychologist Sir Cyril Burt, argued that testing students was a valid way of assessing their suitability for various types of education. Similar conclusions were drawn in a number of other countries, including France, Italy, Germany and Sweden, all of which operated a state-run system of selective schools.
The 1926 Hadow Report had recommended that the education system be formally split into separate stages at the age of eleven or twelve. Before this point there had been no formal demarcation between primary and secondary education as known in modern society. The creation of this break would encourage the establishment of selection at the point when pupils were changing schools. The Spens Report of 1938 recommended the tripartite system viz. grammar, technical high and 'modern' secondary schools. The 1943 Norwood Report echoed the tripartite recommendation. These reports established the basis of the post 1944 reform.
The 1944 Butler Education Act radically overhauled education in England and Wales, and the Education (Northern Ireland) Act 1947 set out a similar restructuring for Northern Ireland. For the first time, secondary education was to become a right, and was to be universally provided. It would also be free, with financial assistance for poor students. This was part of the major shake-up of government welfare in the wake of the 1942 Beveridge Report.
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Tripartite System of education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland AI simulator
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Tripartite System of education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
The Tripartite System was the selective school system of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 onwards in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 1947. The tripartite system is not mentioned in either Act, this model was a consensus of both major political parties based on the 1938 Spens Report.
State-funded secondary education was to be structured as three types of school: grammar school; secondary technical school (sometimes described as technical grammar or technical high school); secondary modern school. Not all education authorities implemented the tripartite system; some maintained only two types of secondary school, the grammar and the secondary modern.
Pupils were allocated to their respective types of school according to their performance in the 11-plus or the 13-plus examination. It was the prevalent system under the Conservative governments of the 1951 to 1964 period, but was actively discouraged by the Labour government after 1965. The 1976 Education Act made provision to cease selection for secondary education with the intention of universal comprehensive education in England and Wales. However, elements of similar systems persist in several English counties such as Kent and Lincolnshire, which maintain the grammar schools alongside other less academic non-selective secondary schools. The system's merits and demerits, in particular the need and selection for grammar schools, were contentious issues at the time and remain so.
Prior to 1944 the British secondary education system was fundamentally an ad hoc creation. Access was not universally available, and varied greatly by region. Schools had been created by local government, private charity and religious foundations. Education was often a serious drain on family resources, and subsidies for school expenses were sporadic. Secondary education was mainly the preserve of the middle classes, and in 1938 only 13% of working class 13-year-olds were still in school.[citation needed]
Many of the schools created since the 1870s were grammar schools, which offered places based on an entrance test. Places were highly desired and seen as offering a great chance at success. These schools were widely admired, and were to become a model for the tier-structured education reforms of the 1940s.
There was also a strong belief in the value and accuracy of psychometric testing. Some in the educational establishment, particularly the psychologist Sir Cyril Burt, argued that testing students was a valid way of assessing their suitability for various types of education. Similar conclusions were drawn in a number of other countries, including France, Italy, Germany and Sweden, all of which operated a state-run system of selective schools.
The 1926 Hadow Report had recommended that the education system be formally split into separate stages at the age of eleven or twelve. Before this point there had been no formal demarcation between primary and secondary education as known in modern society. The creation of this break would encourage the establishment of selection at the point when pupils were changing schools. The Spens Report of 1938 recommended the tripartite system viz. grammar, technical high and 'modern' secondary schools. The 1943 Norwood Report echoed the tripartite recommendation. These reports established the basis of the post 1944 reform.
The 1944 Butler Education Act radically overhauled education in England and Wales, and the Education (Northern Ireland) Act 1947 set out a similar restructuring for Northern Ireland. For the first time, secondary education was to become a right, and was to be universally provided. It would also be free, with financial assistance for poor students. This was part of the major shake-up of government welfare in the wake of the 1942 Beveridge Report.