In 2018 the UK government launched a £50 million scheme to fund the expansion of existing grammar schools provided that they increase efforts to attract more pupils from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. This initiative assumed that grammar school attendance boosts the educational attainment and the higher education progression rates of…

This paper focuses on school choice and diversity in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) in historical context. Drawing on primary and secondary documentary sources it assesses continuity, change and divergence, before addressing existing diversity and school choice, and academic outcomes. The 1944 Education Act and associated…

Before the second World War, education in England and Wales was compulsory for all children until the age of 12. Most pupils attended elementary schools between the ages of 5 and 14, and few took their formal education any further. Independent schools were available for the children of the rich, even, with a few exceptions, those foundations which…