Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system.
Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system.
In a three-tier local education authority children begin their compulsory education in a first school [1] or lower school, [2] which caters for children up to the age of 8 or 9. [3] Children then transfer to a middle school, which caters for children from age 9 to age 13 or 14. [3] Following this, children transfer for the remainder of their compulsory education to an upper school [4] or high school, sometimes on into the sixth form. [5]
References to middle schools in publications of the UK Government date back to 1856, and the educational reports of William Henry Hadow mention the concept. [6] It was not until 1963 that a local authority, the West Riding of Yorkshire, first proposed to introduce a middle-school system, with schools spanning ages 5–9, 9–13 and 13–18; [7] one source suggests that the system was "introduced" in that year. [3] Local education authorities were permitted to introduce middle schools by the Education Act 1964, [8] subsequently, the notion of three-tier education was mooted by the Plowden Report of 1967—this proposed the introduction of first schools and middle schools, which would replace the existing system of infant and junior schools, as well as the first part of secondary schooling. [9] The Plowden Report recommended that middle schools span ages 8 to 12. [7] [6]
The first middle school in England was introduced in 1968, in the Hemsworth division of the West Riding of Yorkshire. [7] The first authority-wide systems of middle schools were introduced in 1970, in Stoke-on-Trent and Southampton. [10] Numbers rapidly grew, with over a thousand opening in the decade from the first introduction. [7] Sources suggest reasons for the introduction of the three-tier system in local authority areas included capacity problems, as a result of both the raising of the school leaving age to 16 from 15 (which took place in 1972), [8] and the introduction of comprehensive education, with the schools themselves bypassing the traditional Eleven-plus exam which determined which secondary school pupils would attend. [3]
The number of middle schools peaked in 1982, when over 1400 middle schools were open; [7] by 2017, only 121 remained, [2] and by 2019 the National Middle Schools' Forum recorded 107 in its directory, in 14 local authority areas. [11] In 2006, it was reported that Central Bedfordshire, Northumberland and the Isle of Wight were the only LEAs still exclusively using the three-tier system. [12]
Multiple reasons have been suggested by sources for this reversion to a two-tier system, including: a lack of clear identity, with the Department for Education and Science labelling them as either primary or secondary; [7] a lack of teachers trained to teach in middle schools; [13] and increased autonomy being given to schools, with upper and lower schools choosing to expand their age ranges. [2] The introduction of the National Curriculum has also been cited, as the middle school system led to children changing schools partway through one of its Key Stages; the National Curriculum was cited by David Ward, then the councillor in Bradford responsible for education, as a reason for abolishing the system there, [14] and local authority officials in Wiltshire, when closing the remaining middle schools in 2002, argued specifically that the mid-Key-Stage school change caused children to be disadvantaged. [15] In addition, in Northumberland it was reported that closing its middle schools could allow the buildings to be sold to raise money for repairs to the remainder of the council's school estate. [14]
The Inter-LEA Middle Schools Forum was founded in 1991, later changing its name to the National Middle Schools' Forum; [10] it describes itself as "the voice of the middle school community". [16]
In 2016, Nigel Huddleston raised the topic of three-tier education in Parliament; the schools minister, Nick Gibb, noted that the Government had no plans to abolish the three-tier system in the areas that retained it. [17]
In Scotland, middle schools were operated in Grangemouth from 1974 to 1988, the system having been proposed in 1968. [18]
In the private sector, some prep schools take pupils up to age 13. [19] In addition, some private secondary schools admit pupils at 13, including some of those using the Common Entrance exam [20] and some public schools. [21]
Gibraltar's education system has a system of first, middle and secondary schools. [22] [23]
A middle school is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school.
Education in England is overseen by the Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level. State-funded schools may be selective grammar schools or non-selective comprehensive schools. All state schools are subject to assessment and inspection by the government department Ofsted. England also has private schools and home education; legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any suitable means.
The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970s in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the Education Act 1947.
Education in Scotland is provided in state schools, private schools and by individuals through homeschooling. Mandatory education in Scotland begins for children in Primary 1 (P1) at primary school and ends in Fourth Year (S4) at secondary school. Overall accountability and control of education in Scotland rests with the Scottish Government, and is overseen by its executive agency, Education Scotland. Children in Scotland sit mandatory National Standardised Assessments in Primary 1 (P1), Primary 4 (P4), Primary 7 (P7) at the end of primary school, and Third Year (S3) in secondary school, which assist in monitoring children's progress and providing diagnostic data information to support teachers' professional judgement.
This article provides an overview of education in Wales from early childhood to university and adult skills. Largely state funded and free-at-the-point-of-use at a primary and secondary level, education is compulsory for children in Wales aged five to sixteen years old. It differs to some extent in structure and content to other parts of the United Kingdom, in the later case particularly in relation to the teaching of the Welsh language.
A state school or public school is a primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. Such schools are funded in whole or in part by taxation.
A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. They may be part of a local education authority or be a self governing academy or part of a multi-academy trust.
Upper schools in the UK are usually schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school.
Education on the Isle of Wight is provided by local education authority-maintained schools on the Isle of Wight, and independent schools. As a rural community, many of these schools are small, with average numbers of pupils lower than in many urban areas. It was decided on 19 March 2008, in a Whole Council Meeting, that the three-tier system would change into a two tier system. A report into the report on the re-organisation with proposals as to which schools would close was published in May 2008. There is also a college on the Isle of Wight and other less formal educational venues.
The Plowden Report is the unofficial name for the 1967 report of the Central Advisory Council For Education (England) into Primary education in England. The report, entitled Children and their Primary Schools, reviewed primary education in a wholesale fashion. The collation of the report took around 3 years. The Council was chaired by Bridget, Lady Plowden after whom the report is named.
The raising of school leaving age is the term used by the United Kingdom government for changes of the age at which a child is allowed to leave compulsory education in England and Wales as specified under an Education Act.
Ashton Middle School was a middle school in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England, under the Central Bedfordshire Local Education Authority.
Bedford Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Kingsbrook area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.
Education in Gibraltar generally follows the English system operating within a three tier system. Schools in Gibraltar follow the Key Stage system which teaches the National Curriculum.
The history of education in England is documented from Saxon settlement of England, and the setting up of the first cathedral schools in 597 and 604.
Alban Church of England Academy was a mixed middle school located in Great Barford, Bedfordshire, England.
The NCEA Duke's Secondary School is an 11–19 academy in Ashington, Northumberland, England. It is part of the Northumberland Church of England Trust occupying the Josephine Butler Campus of its predecessor, The Northumberland Church of England Academy, which was an all-through school spread out across six campuses in southeastern Northumberland.
English state-funded schools, commonly known as state schools, provide education to pupils between the ages of 3 and 18 without charge. Approximately 93% of English schoolchildren attend such 24,000 schools. Since 2008 about 75% have attained "academy status", which essentially gives them a higher budget per pupil from the Department for Education.
A comprehensive school, or simply a comprehensive, typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11-16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. In England and Wales comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965. They may be part of a local education authority or be a self governing academy or part of a multi-academy trust.