Tripartite system
by Sam Cook a former student
Three types of schools were established by 1944 Education Act – grammar schools; technical schools and secondary modern schools.
The basis of having three types of schools came from the idea a child’s ability was fixed by the age of 11 and was unlikely to develop and so an 11 + intelligence test was designed to select which school children would attend. The test was generally sat in sometime in the final year of a child’s primary education (now known as year 6).
Depending on 11+ test result a child would be sent to one of the three schools above in preparation for the type of occupation best suited for them as adults. This process was fraught with several problems discussed in more detail on this page.
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