'The middle school cometh' ... and goeth: Alec Clegg and the rise and fall of the English middle school

This article identifies Alec Clegg as the leading figure behind the English middle-school movement from the late 1960s. It is argued that the rise of middle schools was sustained by Clegg's astute understanding, which he transmitted to other local education authorities, that the political imperative of comprehensive reorganisation need not necessarily be at odds with the educational interests of 'middle years' children. The article supports the view of Gosden and Sharp in The Development of an Education Service in the West Riding, 1889-1974 that the middle-school model 'was probably the West Riding's single greatest contribution to national education in the post-war period'.