There are more young people over sixteen receiving full-time education in Britain than ever before, entirely due to birth rates. The expansion of education for the 16 to 19 age group has been accompanied by an increase in the number of kinds of institutions catering to their educational needs. In the early 1960's, most of these students were in elite public schools and private schools. Ten years later, less than half the seventeen year olds in full-time education attended such schools, and the rest went to vocational and technical schools, colleges of further education, and comprehensive (junior and senior high) schools of several kinds. The emergence of the different forms of school, and arguments for and against them, are examined using research results. Particular attention is given to the opinions of students and teachers. (MSE)