The Education Act 1918 ( 8 & 9 Geo. 5. c. 39), often known as the Fisher Act, is an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...

. It was drawn up by

H. A. L. Fisher Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher H.A.L. Fisher: ''A History of Europe, Volume II: From the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century to 1935'', Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1984, p. i. (21 March 1865 – 18 April 1940) was an English historian, educator, a ...

Herbert Lewis Herbert Lewis may refer to: * Herbert Lewis (politician) (1858–1933), Welsh politician * Herbert L. Lewis (1898-1971), American journalist and newspaper editor * Herbert Clyde Lewis (1909–1950), American novelist * Herbert S. Lewis (born 1934), ...

, Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education, also played a key role in drawing up the Act. The Act applied only to England and Wales; a separate "Education (Scotland) Act 1918" applied for Scotland. This raised the school leaving age to fourteen and planned to expand government provided education up to eighteen years of age. Other features of the 1918 Education Act included the provision of ancillary services ( medical inspection,

nursery schools A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin c ...

, centres for pupils with special needs, etc.). Industrialists, landowners, and the Church of England resisted the Act, which raised the school leaving age from 12 to 14, made it much harder to employ children under 12, and put in place scholarships to fee-paying grammar schools.Jago, pp152-3 The Act promised compulsory part-time education from 14 to 18, but this was never implemented because of the

Geddes Axe The Geddes Axe was the drive for public economy and retrenchment in UK government expenditure recommended in the 1920s by a Committee on National Expenditure chaired by Sir Eric Geddes and with Lord Inchcape, Lord Faringdon, Sir Joseph Maclay a ...

(spending cuts) of 1921. Teachers’ pay was also cut at that time and again in the May Committee cuts of 1931.Barber 1994, p.2 By the 1920s, the education of young children was of growing interest and concern to

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

s, as well as to

educationalist Education sciences, also known as education studies or education theory, and traditionally called ''pedagogy'', seek to describe, understand, and prescribe education including education policy. Subfields include comparative education, educationa ...

s. As a result of this rising level of public debate, the Government of the day referred a number of topics for enquiry to the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education,Brehony, K. J. (1994). "The 'School Masters Parliament: the origins and formation of the Consultative Committee of the Board of Education 1868–1916." History of Education 23(2): 171–193. then chaired by Sir

William Henry Hadow Sir William Henry Hadow (27 December 1859 – 8 April 1937) was a leading educational reformer in Great Britain, a musicologist and a composer. Life Born at Ebrington in Gloucestershire and baptised there on 29 January 1860 by his father, ...

. Altogether the

Hadow Committee Hadow is a Scottish surname. A number of notable people have this name: *Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Lovell Hadow (1877–1968) who was commanding the Royal Newfoundland Regiment on the day of its destruction on the first day of the Battle of the So ...

published three very important reports – 1926, 1931 and 1933. These reports led to major changes in the structure of primary (known as "elementary" at the time) education. In particular, they resulted in separate and distinctive educational practice for children aged 5–7 (infants) and those aged 7–11 (juniors). The reports recommended child-centred approaches and class sizes of no more than thirty. These recommendations marked a triumph of 'progressive' educational thought and practice over the more 'traditional' ideas and proved to be popular with many policy makers and teachers alike.

References

External links

*
Digital Reproduction of the Original Act on the Parliamentary Archives catalogue
{{UK legislation United Kingdom Education Acts 1918 in education 1918 in British law United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1918 Public education in the United Kingdom

References

Further reading

External links