Three-tier education

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. A similar system was trialled in Scotland.

Terminology

In a three-tier local education authority children begin their compulsory education in a first school or lower school, which caters for children up to the age of 8 or 9. Children then transfer to a middle school, which caters for children from age 9 to age 13 or 14. Following this, children transfer for the remainder of their compulsory education to an upper school or high school, sometimes on into the sixth form.

History

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. It was not until 1963 that a local authority first proposed to introduce a middle-school system, that being the West Riding of Yorkshire, with schools spanning ages 5–9, 9–13 and 13–18; one source suggests that the system was "introduced" in that year. Local education authorities were permitted to introduce middle schools by the Education Act 1964, subsequently, the notion of three-tier education was mooted by the Plowden Report of 1967 which 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. The Plowden Report recommended that middle schools span ages 8 to 12.

The first middle school in England was introduced in 1968, in the Hemsworth division of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The first authority-wide systems of middle schools were introduced in 1970, in Stoke-on-Trent and Southampton. Numbers rapidly grew, with over a thousand opening in the decade from the first introduction. 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), and the introduction of comprehensive education, with the schools themselves bypassing the traditional Eleven-plus exam which determined which secondary school pupils would attend.

The number of middle schools peaked in 1982, when over 1400 middle schools were open; by 2017, only 121 remained, and by 2019 the National Middle Schools' Forum recorded 107 in its directory, in 14 local authority areas.

However, most have since reverted to align their schools to the National Curriculum.

Some LEAs reverted to the traditional age ranges as long ago as the late 1970s. One of the first areas to revert to the traditional age ranges was Halesowen in the West Midlands, which abandoned 5-9 first, 9-13 middle and 13-16/18 secondary schools in 1982 after just 10 years in use.

No local authorities now maintain an exclusively three-tier structure. A number of authorities have a mix of standard two-tier and three-tier provision with middle schools. Central Bedfordshire, Worcestershire and the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (Berkshire). Leicestershire operates a three-tier system in some areas, with children moving from primary school into secondary school after year six, and then to upper school after year nine.

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. The London Borough of Harrow, the city of Oxford and the counties of Dorset, Norfolk, Suffolk and Worcestershire(look up Bromsgrove and Redditch) largely used the system until the 2000s and their middle schools were either closed or converted to primary schools catering to children up to age 11.

A three-tier system also exists in Gibraltar.

Presently, the 13+ intake mostly exists in the independent sector, although some have followed their respective LEAs and adopted the 11+ intake.

The main routes through education are shown in the diagram below, with three-tier routes being shown in blue and mauve:

First schools

A first school or lower school was the first part of the 'three tier' school system, the others being middle school and upper school in rural areas of England and Wales. Virtually all have now either been merged into primary schools or converted to infant schools or junior schools.

History

Main article: History of education in England

First schools were officially introduced into the first areas to use them in September 1968.

In practice, this model is used:

• 5-9 first schools, followed by 9-13 middle schools, as implemented by the West Riding of Yorkshire in the mid-1960s. These are sometimes known as lower schools.

Other options were implemented in different authorities, including using the term primary school in place of first school.

Some English local education authorities have introduced first schools since the 1960s.

Halesowen axed them in July 1982 and Aldridge Brownhills in July 1986.

The National Curriculum, introduced after the Education Reform Act 1988, the new curriculum's splits in Key Stages at age 11 encouraged the majority of remaining local education authorities to return to a two-tier system of primary and secondary schools. The majority of first and middle schools have been reorganised to infant and junior schools since. Exceptions include Dudley in September 1990.

In areas where the three-tier model has been replaced, first schools have been converted to infant or primary schools in many cases, or closed in others. No authority has introduced three-tier education in any area since 1995, although some new first schools have opened in areas which already have three-tier systems in place.

Some first schools still exist in various areas, mostly rural areas including parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Dorset.

See also

• Education in England
• List of middle schools in England

External links

• Northumberland Education Action Group - campaign to retain three-tier education in Northumberland