Britain: An official handbook > 1956

SOCIAL WELFARE
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those providing courses of five or six years, known as senior secondary schools. In
each type of school the courses are intended to provide a general education, but
they are differentiated in character to suit the varying needs and abilities of the
pupils, and include literary, commercial, boys’ technical, domestic and rural courses.
While some schools are purely junior secondary and some purely senior secondary,
there are also a number of schools of the ‘ comprehensive ’ type in which all kinds of
courses, both junior secondary and senior secondary, are provided. Many schools
also provide modified courses for pupils of limited ability for whom the normal
courses are too exacting.
Promotion from the primary to the secondary school takes place usually between
the ages of 11J and 12J. The fitness of pupils to profit from the various types of
secondary course is assessed on the basis of teachers’ estimates of attainment,
intelligence tests, and attainment tests, with due regard to the wishes of the parents.
There is provision for an appeal to the Secretary of State for Scotland in the event
of a dispute between the education authority and the parent and also for the
reconsideration of original allocations where transfer to another course sub¬
sequently appears to be necessary.
Independent Schools
The largest and most important of the independent schools are known in
England as ‘public’ schools, although not all schools classed as public schools are
independent (those which are not are mostly direct-grant schools) and public
schools form only a minority of all independent schools.
The public school is a characteristic English institution which has made a notable
contribution to English education. Many public schools date from the sixteenth
century, some are older (e.g., Winchester, 1382, and Eton, 1440), and many have
some income from endowments. All are controlled by their own Boards of
Governors. Public schools have emphasized the importance of character-building,
and in these schools were developed the prefect system, whereby day-to-day
discipline is largely controlled by the pupils themselves, and the house system,
whereby a school is divided into groups of about 50, each under the care of a house¬
master. The public school is also characterized by a high staffing ratio and a high
proportion of pupils doing advanced work. A public school is often, although not
necessarily, a boarding school. The usual age of entry to the independent public
schools for boys is 13 and the leaving age about 18. There are some girls’ public
schools modelled to a certain extent on the public schools for boys.
There are also preparatory schools, most of them boarding schools, for boys aged
from about 8 to 13 years of age (and some similar schools for girls) who are intend¬
ing to enter public schools, and a wide range of other day and boarding schools
covering every age group and grade of education and every variety of educational
method. Some of these schools are owned and managed, often under a trust deed,
by independent non-profit-making bodies. Others are privately owned by pro¬
prietors for whom the running of the school provides a living.
Secondary School Examinations
In 1951 the General Certificate of Education superseded the former School
Certificate and Higher Certificate examinations in the secondary schools (State-
aided and independent alike) of England and Wales. This examination, which may
also be taken by candidates not attending school, is conducted at three levels
(ordinary, advanced and scholarship). Most candidates are at least 16 years old on
1st September of the year of their examination, but a child can sit at an earlier age