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1699
Foundation of the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge (SPCK); its chief purpose is to provide education for the poor -
1811
National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor founded; it provides education in the Anglican faith -
1814
British and Foreign School Society founded to cater for children from dissenting backgrounds -
1833
First government grant to voluntary societies of £20,000 -
1857
Annual grant to the societies increased to £500,000, and to £800,000 by the early 1860s -
1858-61
Parliamentary commission on education -
1869
National Education League founded to campaign for free, compulsory and non-religious education for all -
1870 - Education Act
Establishes system of new 'board schools' alongside schools of the two voluntary societies -
1880 - Education Act
Makes school compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 and 10 -
1893
-Elementary Education (School Attendance) Act Raises age of compulsory attendance to 11; a further act of 1899 raises it to 12
-Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act
Begins specialist education for blind and deaf children -
1899 - Elementary Education (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act
Provides further extension of special education in state sector -
1902 - Education Act
Reorganises administration of elementary schools and encourages local councils to make provision for secondary education -
1906 - Education (Provision of Meals) Act
Provides free meals for needy school children -
1907 - Education (Administrative Provisions) Act
All school children to receive medical inspection -
1910
Total elementary school population reaches 5 million -
1918 - Education Act
Raises school leaving age to 14, and abolishes elementary school fees -
1938
Spens report on the future of secondary education -
1944 - Education Act
Raises school leaving age to 15 (with future provision for it to be raised to 16), and provides free secondary education for all pupils -
1988 - Education Reform Act
Enables schools to opt out of local control -
Education Act 2002
The act significantly amended legislation relating to academies, publicly-funded schools operating outside of local government control and with a significant degree of autonomy areas such as wages and digressing from the national curriculum. Academies were originally set up under the Learning and Skills Act 2000 under the name "city academies", and were renamed to "academies" by this act. -
Education Act 1996
introduced the Tripartite System of secondary education and made secondary education free for all pupils. The tripartite system consisted of three different types of secondary school: grammar schools, secondary technical schools and secondary modern schools.