Controversy Eleven-plus

poster on wall of labour party office in westminster in 2012

the eleven-plus result of major changes took place in english , welsh education in years 1944. in particular, hadow report of 1926 called division of primary , secondary education take place on cusp of adolescence @ 11 or 12. implementation of break butler act seemed offer ideal opportunity implement streaming, since children changing school anyway. testing @ eleven emerged largely historical accident, without other specific reasons testing @ age.

criticism of eleven-plus arose on number of grounds, though many related more wider education system academic selection or eleven-plus specifically. proportions of schoolchildren gaining place @ grammar school varied location , gender. 35% of pupils in south west secured grammar school places opposed 10% in nottinghamshire. because of continuance of single-sex schooling, there fewer places girls boys.

critics of eleven-plus claimed there strong class bias in exam. jwb douglas, studying question in 1957, found children on borderline of passing more grammar school places if came middle-class families. example, questions role of household servants or classical composers far easier middle-class children answer less wealthy or less educated backgrounds. in response, eleven-plus redesigned during 1960s more iq test. however, after modification, grammar schools largely attended middle-class children while secondary modern schools attended working-class children.

passing – or not passing – eleven-plus defining moment in many lives , education viewed silver bullet enhanced social mobility. richard hoggart claimed in 1961 happens in thousands of homes eleven-plus examination identified in minds of parents, not our jimmy clever lad , s going have talents trained , our jimmy going move class, s going white-collar job or that.