The Newsom Report of 1963 is a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

government report, entitled ''Half our Future''. It argued that the future of the country depended on better education for “pupils of average and less-than-average ability”. The report was produced by the Central Advisory Council for Education (England) and takes its name from the council's chairman John Newsom, Joint Managing Director, Longmans Green and Co Ltd. and formerly the County Education Officer of Hertfordshire.

Background

The 1944

Butler Education Act The Education Act 1944 (7 and 8 Geo 6 c. 31) made major changes in the provision and governance of secondary schools in England and Wales. It is also known as the "Butler Act" after the President of the Board of Education, R. A. Butler. Historians ...

and the similar

Education (Northern Ireland) Act 1947 Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. V ...

radically overhauled education in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. For the first time, free secondary education became a universally provided right. This was a part of the major shake-up of government welfare in the wake of the 1942

Beveridge report The Beveridge Report, officially entitled ''Social Insurance and Allied Services'' ( Cmd. 6404), is a government report, published in November 1942, influential in the founding of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It was drafted by the Libe ...

. There followed three categories of state-run secondary schools. :

Grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

s were intended to teach a highly academic curriculum, teaching students to deal with abstract concepts. There was a strong focus on intellectual subjects, such as literature, classics and complex mathematics. Around 25% of children were selected to attend these schools by the

11-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a Test (assessment), standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools ...

exam. 75% of all children attended the following types of school. : Secondary technical schools were designed to train children adept in mechanical and scientific subjects. The focus of the schools was on providing scientists, engineers and technicians. :

Secondary modern school A secondary modern school is a type of secondary school that existed throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 1944 until the 1970s under the Tripartite System. Schools of this type continue in Northern Ireland, where they are usually ...

s (secondary intermediate schools in Northern Ireland) trained pupils in practical skills, aimed at equipping them for less skilled jobs and home management.

Terms of reference

::''To consider the education between the ages of 13 and 16 of pupils of average or less than average ability who are or will be following full-time courses either at schools or in establishments of further education. The term education shall be understood to include extra-curricular activities.''

Findings

The report found that the young people whose education it had considered should receive a greater share of the national resources devoted to education. The report uncovered serious examples of neglect. For example it found that some secondary moderns in slum areas of London had fifteen-year-olds sitting on primary school furniture and had teachers changing as often as once a term. The report was however overshadowed by the

Robbins Report The Robbins Report (the report of the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lord Robbins) was commissioned by the British government and published in 1963. The committee met from 1961 to 1963. After the report's publication, its conclusions wer ...

on higher education which was published one week later and given more time for public debate.

References

Reports of the United Kingdom government Education in the United Kingdom {{UK-edu-stub

Background

Terms of reference

Findings

See also

References