The History of British Education Policy, 1800-1979

About the lecture

In this lecture, we explore the development of British education policy from 1800 to 1979, focusing in particular on: (i) 1800-80, in which education was provided by a “patchwork” of private, charitable and religious institutions and many children did not attend school; (ii) the introduction and expansion of state compulsory education from 1880 to 1945; (iii) the period of the tripartite system, 1945-65, wherein students were allocated into different types of school based on examinations; (iv) 1965-79, in which students all attended the same comprehensive schools, and were allocated places by geographical catchment area.

About the lecturer

Matthew Cole is Teaching Fellow in the Department of History at the University of Birmingham. He is a historian of modern Britain with a particular interest in twentieth century constitutional and party politics, and local history.