Hadow (1926)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Membership, Analysis, Preface, Introduction
Chapter 1 Development of post-primary education in England and Wales 1800-1918
Chapter 2 The facts of the present situation
Chapter 3 The lines of advance
Chapter 4 Curricula for Modern Schools and Senior Classes
Chapter 5 The place of 'bias' in the curriculum of Modern Schools and Senior Classes
Chapter 6 The staffing and equipment of Modern Schools and Senior Classes
Chapter 7 The admission of children to Modern Schools and Senior Schools
Chapter 8 The lengthening of school life
Chapter 9 The question of a leaving examination
Chapter 10 Administrative problems
Chapter 11 Conclusions and recommendations; Notes of reservation
Chapter 12 Suggestions on the curriculum in Modern Schools and Senior Classes
Appendix I List of witnesses
Appendix II Notes on nomenclature
Appendix III Statistics relating to Chapter 2(ii)
Appendix IV Post-primary education abroad
Appendix V List of publications
Index

London: HM Stationery Office

Chapter 7 The admission of children to Modern Schools and Senior Schools
[pages 132 - 139]

143. As we have explained in Chapter 3, there was on the whole general agreement among our witnesses that primary education should end and post-primary education begin about the age of 11+, and that pupils from Elementary Schools should normally be transferred at about that age to a different school or, failing that, to a type of education different from that given to pupils under the age of 11+. We have described the educational and administrative considerations which may be urged in favour of transferring children to a different type of education at the age of 11+. (1) At the same time, our witnesses agreed that it was highly important that provision should be made in exceptional cases for the transfer of children at a later age from one type of post-primary school to another, provided that their school course in the new institution would last sufficiently long to allow of their deriving benefit from the transfer.

We have collected a large body of information bearing on the existing practice of various Local Education Authorities in regard to the admission of pupils to selective Central Schools and Classes, and we accordingly give a general description of these arrangements, making certain suggestions as to how in our view the existing procedure might be improved or rendered more effective.

144. It is now the usual practice for Local Education Authorities to hold examinations for elementary school children at or about the age of 11, in order to select boys and girls suitable for free places in Secondary Schools, and frequently also for admission to selective Central Schools, where such exist. As a rule, the normal age of entry for these examinations is 11+ but many, if indeed not most Authorities allow the brighter children to sit for them at the age of 10, if they so desire. In this way, it is possible for a child to have two chances, though the number of children who actually avail themselves of the opportunity of sitting at the age of 10 is generally small. Some Authorities, in order to afford all children two chances of sitting for the examination, place the upper age limit at 12 (i.e. up to the last day before the thirteenth birthday).

There are various administrative and educational reasons against so high an age, and indeed this practice is in fact becoming less common. One serious disadvantage arising from such an arrangement is that most children, though two chances are offered, are apt to defer sitting for the examination till the last opportunity. Furthermore, there is a noticeable tendency for an undue proportion of the older children to be successful in the examination, unless rather drastic arrangements are made for conceding age allowances to younger candidates.

145. The Free Place Examination is conducted in writing, and the obligatory papers are confined to English and arithmetic, though in some areas a general paper is also set, which however under the Board's Rules (2) has hitherto been permissible only for candidates under 12 years of age, if its character be such that it can properly be regarded as an additional English paper.

A considerable number of Authorities also held an oral examination as an adjunct to the written test, and a few Authorities, in addition to the oral examination, have recourse to an oral reading test. In some cases reference is made to the elementary school records. Some Authorities arrange an oral examination for all candidates, though in practice this is necessarily confined to small areas; others, including some large Authorities, hold an oral examination for borderline and doubtful candidates only. During the last few years several Authorities have been conducting experiments in the application of psychological tests of intelligence, which are usually set in the form of a separate written paper of group tests, for all candidates at the second stage of the Free Place Examination as described below. A few Authorities also employ individual tests of intelligence, as part of their oral examination, more particularly for doubtful and borderline candidates.

146. In many areas, particularly those of large Authorities where there are great numbers of children to be examined, a preliminary 'weeding-out' examination in English and arithmetic is conducted in the local elementary schools, and the children selected by means of this test are then required or permitted to sit for a more elaborate examination in English and arithmetic, which is generally held at a few convenient centres throughout the area. Some Authorities at the special request of the parent or head teacher allow a child to be presented for the Free Place Examination proper even though he may have failed to pass the preliminary qualifying test in his local elementary school.

In areas in which the expedient of holding a first or qualifying examination is adopted in order to reduce the number of entrants for the Free Place Examination proper, this first examination should be, and as a rule is, so arranged as to give every industrious child of average capacity a fair chance of passing. If however the individual Authority has decided to ascertain generally what children in the area are such as would benefit by a secondary education, a qualifying standard is fixed in advance, which of course, if it is to be a true qualifying standard, should have no relation to the number of free places available. For either purpose, but particularly for the latter, it is evident that the examination should be simple and straightforward, and consequently such as to spread the candidates throughout the whole range of marks. It cannot be said that Authorities which have recourse to a preliminary examination have been wholly successful in achieving this result. The special difficulties attaching to the standardisation of the marking, particularly in English, in the examination of very large numbers of children have prevented the majority of Authorities, even had they so desired, from attempting to set up a definite qualifying examination in the true sense of that rather ambiguous expression. The fact is that the expression 'qualifying examination' is used to describe either an examination designed to admit to higher education all children qualified to profit by it, or an examination intended to select only those candidates for whom the resources of the Authority enable it to make provision. It may be pointed out that an examination designed to secure a true qualifying standard must necessarily be costly where large numbers of candidates are presented, and those most familiar with the working of such an examination would probably agree that at best an appreciable measure of error still remains. Most authorities accordingly content themselves with providing a rough and ready preliminary test, which is often conducted almost independently by the teachers of the local Elementary Schools, and by passing forward a liberal number of candidates to the Free Place Examination proper they endeavour to ensure that no candidate with any chance of success is overlooked.

147. The Second Examination or Free Place Examination proper was originally intended to be a qualifying and not a competitive examination. (3) Under present conditions, however, it is necessarily competitive, except in those few cases where there exist sufficient free places for all candidates who have attained a reasonable minimum standard. It may perhaps be doubted, whether, in cases where it is claimed that such a procedure is followed, the minimum standard is not, in practice, set rather high. In general, the degree of competition varies according to the number of free places to be awarded, and while it is still desirable that the papers set in this second examination should be generally simple in character, they naturally include as a rule more difficult questions designed to discriminate the more gifted children from the general body of candidates. In some areas, for example in that of one large County Authority, the Free Place Examination proper approximates to a qualifying examination, as every pupil who obtains marks over 60 per cent is awarded a Free Place. These Examinations for Free Places in Secondary Schools are also used for selecting candidates for admission to Selective Central Schools in the following way. The successful candidates in order of merit are given the choice of entry to particular Secondary Schools, or if they so desire, to specific Central Schools. Candidates high up on the list usually, though not always, choose free places in 'Secondary' Schools, and in consequence the bulk of the entrants to selective Central Schools are drawn from candidates lower on the list. Recourse is frequently had to special arrangements in areas where the same examination is used to select pupils both for Secondary and Central Schools.

148. In the areas of many Authorities the Free Place Examination proper is, as indeed is clearly desirable, conducted by Examination Committees containing representatives of Secondary, Central and ordinary Public Elementary Schools. Their actual functions, however, in regard to setting and marking the papers, vary greatly from area to area. In a few cases an outside Examining body or individual wholly unconnected with the local schools is responsible, in part at least, for the conduct of the examination.

Some Authorities content themselves with holding a preliminary examination only, leaving the final selection wholly to the head masters or mistresses of the Secondary and Central Schools. There is however every gradation in the actual practice of Authorities between such an arrangement, and a procedure which leaves scarcely any responsibility to the staffs of Secondary and Central Schools except in so far as they are represented on the Examining Board.

149. The character of the oral examinations, which in some areas are held subsequently to the written examination, either by the Examining Committee or by the head master of the Secondary or Central School, vary from the impressions gained after a few minutes' interview with the candidate to a test carefully standardised so far as its character permits. The general impression of competent observers appear to be that, at any rate as at present conducted, these oral tests probably involve a not less margin of error than the written tests. There is, nevertheless, equally a consensus of opinion that oral examinations are of value in the process of selection among borderline candidates, and perhaps also here and there in reassessing the capabilities of the candidate whose head teacher considers that he has not done himself justice in the written work, especially in cases of indisposition or undue nervousness. The oral examination also serves to disclose instances of physical defect, and cases where it is improbable that a child will remain for a reasonable time at the Secondary School or Central School. In one large county area where a specially elaborate oral examination is in use, supplemented by a conference with class teachers and an examination of the candidates' note-books, the placing of the successful candidates is sometimes readjusted to a considerable extent.

150. It is not an uncommon practice to make a percentage allowance for each month below the maximum age of entry. Otherwise, it is found that the candidates whose birthdays fall within a month or two of the maximum age secure an advantage over those born later. One large Urban Authority has come to the conclusion that the intellectual development of children in the course of a single year is so great as to render papers appropriate for older children unsuitable for the younger to a degree which cannot be corrected by an allowance of marks for age, and has accordingly surmounted the difficulty by holding two separate examinations each year.

151. In some areas individual psychological tests of intelligence have been employed in association with the oral examination, and are held to be of special value in arriving at a comparatively accurate estimate of the candidate's capacity in cases where there is suspicion of cramming. On the other hand, there is some evidence of a tendency to prepare beforehand for individual intelligence tests, especially now that they are being more extensively applied.

152. From the point of view of the selective Central School admission by means of the Free Place Examination appears on the whole to be regarded as satisfactory. Some evidence indeed was forthcoming that children placed high as a result of the examination often sank considerably on entering the Central School, while, on the other hand, some children placed low in the examination rose rapidly after spending a few months in the Central School. It is, however, a common experience in all grades of education that early promise is not always fulfilled. It is indeed often too true that these examinations as at present conducted determine a child's fate at an early age. So long however as the demands for higher education on the part of well qualified candidates exceeds the supply, some method of selection is inevitable, and it may at least be urged that existing methods supply some kind of common measure which is almost impossible to secure by various individual impressions.

153. There is much difference of opinion on the merits of accepting recommendations by head teachers of contributory schools as an alternative to, or as an integral part of, a preliminary test qualifying candidates to sit for the Free Place Examination proper. A considerable number of attempts have, however, been made to obtain from the head teachers of the elementary schools some grading of their pupils by marks or otherwise in accordance with their work at school. Such an arrangement is liable to be unsatisfactory owing to the extreme difficulty of securing effective standardisation as between school and school. The most that can be said is that in some small areas with few schools the members of the Examining Board or the Secretary of the Education Committee have become so familiar with the practice of the different teachers as to be able to achieve some satisfactory measure of standardisation. School records, where used, are probably best employed as an aid to an oral examination in borderline or exceptional cases. In very many areas, the heads of both Central and Secondary Schools are allowed to make some final choice among a limited number of candidates sent forward. The head teachers of Central Schools are usually much influenced in making the final selection by reports from the head teachers of the contributory schools.

154. In some rural counties and small urban areas a general examination has not yet been instituted, and it is the usual practice to transfer to the so-called Central or Intermediate Schools all children who have reached a particular standard in their local elementary school, generally standard V. It was stated that under such arrangements children of comparatively low capacity might be (in some instances) transferred while more gifted children were withheld.

155. It has been observed as a matter of interest that, when the examination for free places in Secondary Schools and for admission to Central Schools is wholly voluntary only about 10 per cent of those qualified by age to sit for it are actually presented for examination. Regarded purely from the standpoint of existing circumstances, and without reference to such questions as what supply of higher education should be provided and what the nature of that education should be, it seems to be true that the general compulsory examination of all children qualified by age is probably on the whole the most satisfactory arrangement, as it brings the opportunities of higher education to the notice of all parents, and not merely of those who by accident or tradition are already cognisant of them. Many parents who would hardly think of sending a child in for a scholarship examination will nevertheless make great sacrifices in order that the child may be able to accept a scholarship which has been actually offered. Moreover, a general compulsory examination makes possible the final choice of candidates from a much wider field, thereby almost inevitably securing a more equitable selection and a higher standard of capacity; at the same time the danger of the use of this examination as a criterion of the work of the school should always be borne in mind.

156. Apart from any inevitable defects in the working of an examination system used in many areas for testing large numbers of children, there was general agreement among our witnesses that it is difficult to forecast how a child at the age of 11+ is likely to develop. In consequence, there are a number of misfits even in those areas where the Free Place Examination is conducted with the greatest care. Some pupils in Central Schools, on attaining about the age of 12+ or 13+, show a real capacity for studies leading up to the First School Examination. We are strongly of opinion that every effort should be made to facilitate the transfer of such pupils to Secondary Schools. On the other hand, several witnesses pointed out that some children who obtained Free Places in Secondary Schools developed practical interests which could probably best be fostered in the less academic atmosphere of the Modern School. Such pupils should, in our opinion, be transferred where possible from Secondary Schools to Modern Schools or to Junior Technical Schools. At the present time several Authorities facilitate the transfer of individual pupils from Central Schools to Secondary Schools by providing special exhibitions to Secondary Schools for pupils between the ages of 12 and 13. Other Authorities offer special Free Places at Secondary Schools for competition to pupils of 14 years of age receiving 'advanced instruction' in Public Elementary Schools. We would suggest that Authorities should consider the whole question of extending facilities of this sort to enable exceptional pupils in Modern Schools to proceed to Grammar Schools at the age of 12 or 13 or even later.

157. Our main conclusion is accordingly as follows: While we think all children should enter some type of post-primary school at the age of 11+, it will be necessary to discover in each case the type most suitable to a child's abilities and interests, and for this purpose a written examination should be held, and also, wherever possible, an oral examination. A written psychological test might also be specially employed in dealing with borderline cases, or where a discrepancy between the result of the written examination and the teacher's estimate of proficiency has been observed. Where Local Education Authorities so determine, a preliminary examination might be held in order to discover candidates who should be encouraged to go forward to the free place examination proper.

Arrangements for organising and conducting examinations for admission to schools of different types should be left to the Local Education Authorities.

Footnotes

(1) i.e. up to the last day before the twelfth birthday.

(2) Regulations for Secondary Schools (England) 1924, Appendix A. Rule 3(b). This regulation is not included in the Board's Regulations for Secondary Schools 1926.

(3) cf. The statement by Mr M'Kenna, President of the Board of Education in the House of Commons on 15 May 1907: 'These free places ... would be for Public Elementary School children who would not be asked to compete with children outside but who would only be asked to pass a qualifying examination.' 174 Parl. Debates (15 May 1907) 1054.