The school leaving age: a historical study, with particular reference to legislation relating to school leaving up to 1944

Abstract

The first three chapters examine the school leaving age in elementary and secondary schools before the establishmentof a national compulsory elementary system of education between 1870 and 1880. When elementary education had become compulsory there was a minimum school leaving age of ten which was related to a minimum standard of education. The remaining chapters are mainly concerned with the legislation which raised the minimum leaving age from ten to fifteen with the provision for it to be raised to sixteen. There are, however, two chapters which survey the school leaving age in secondary schools at the end of the nineteenth century and developments in these schools up to the Second World War. Although legislation relating to the school leaving age applied almost entirely to elementary education, these two chapters provide an important link in the main theme; for the final minimum leaving age was closely related to the leaving age which had been considered desirable, though not legally enforced, in secondary education. This study, in which special consideration has been given to the legislation concerned with the raising of the school leaving age, shows how an educational question with social and economic implications was increasingly linked with political issues. The attitude of parents, employers, teachers and other pressure groups are examined. Changes in public opinion are noted. The concluding chapter attempts to review the main facets in the overall process of raising the school leaving age.