The 1944 Education Act reconsidered

The 1944 Education Act is a highly significant moment in educational history. It heralded numerous, far leaching reforms in the provision and governance of English schooling. There were several strands. These included clearly distinguishing between primary and secondary education with the elimination of the former all-age (5-14) elementary sector; ending fees charged for pupils attending publicly provided or grant aided secondary schools (part of a package introducing secondary education for all pupils); the introduction of more equitable funding to localities and to different school sectors. Under the Act the Board of Education was reconstituted as a new Ministry with extended power and plans were announced to extend the school leaving age from 14 to 15. The Act also enabled additional provision at nursery school and Further Education levels and brought in a new system for determining teacher salaries in the maintained sector. This paper reviews some aspects of the authorships and fine-grain construction of the 1944 Act. There is coverage of some of the tensions and debates which prefaced legislation. The paper seeks to critically evaluate some implications of the Act and to explore whether it was as progressive and benevolent as has sometimes been assumed and asserted.