Crowther (1959)

Background notes

Volume II Surveys

The complete volume is shown in this single web page. You can scroll through it or use the following links to go to the various chapters.

Preliminary pages (page iii)
Preface, Notes on Tables

Part 1 The Social Survey
Introduction (1)
Contents, Introduction
Chapter 1 (11)
Home background and factors affecting age on leaving school
Chapter 2 (34)
Employment record of school-leavers
Chapter 3 (55)
Further education
Chapter 4 (81)
Leisure time interests and activities

Part 2 The National Service Survey
Introduction (99)
Contents, Introduction
Chapter 1 (116)
Ability, school and family, school leaving
Chapter 2 (138)
Further education and vocational training
Chapter 3 (154)
Earnings and occupations
Chapter 4 (166)
Leisure activities
Appendix (175)
Technical note on chart on p. 125

Part 3 The Technical Courses Survey
Introduction (183)
Contents, Introduction
Chapter 1 (188)
The design of the survey
Chapter 2 (194)
Notes on the tables
Chapter 3 (207)
The method of estimating and the reliability of the estimates

Index of Tables (237)

Volume I Report

Volume I (text)

The text of the 1959 Crowther Report was prepared by Derek Gillard and uploaded on 4 June 2010.


The Crowther Report (1959)
15 to 18

A report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England)

London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1959
© Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland.


[title page]

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION


15 to 18

A report of the Central Advisory Council for Education (England)


VOLUME II. SURVEYS





LONDON

HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE

1960


[page iii]

Table of Contents

Page
Prefacev
Notes on Tables in Parts One and Twox

PART ONE
THE SOCIAL SURVEY

INTRODUCTION
7
CHAPTER 1 Home Background and some Factors affecting the Age on leaving School11
CHAPTER 2 The Employment Record of School-Leavers34
CHAPTER 3 Further Education55
CHAPTER 4 Leisure Time Interests and Activities81

PART TWO
THE NATIONAL SERVICE SURVEY

INTRODUCTION
107
CHAPTER 1 Ability, School and Family, School Leaving116
CHAPTER 2 Further Education and Vocational Training138
CHAPTER 3 Earnings and Occupations154
CHAPTER 4 Leisure Activities166
APPENDIX. A Technical Note on the Chart on page 125.175

PART THREE
THE TECHNICAL COURSES SURVEY

INTRODUCTION
187
CHAPTER 1 The Design of the Survey188
CHAPTER 2 Notes on the Tables194
CHAPTER 3 The Method of Estimating and the Reliability of the Estimates207

INDEX OF TABLES
237


[page v]

Preface

An account is given in this volume of three surveys each designed to supply information for the Central Advisory Council for Education (England) on certain aspects of the terms of reference remitted to it by the Minister of Education in March, 1956 - "to consider, in relation to the changing social and industrial needs of our society, and the needs of its individual citizens, the education of boys and girls between 15 and 18, and in particular to consider the balance at various levels of general and specialised studies between these ages and to examine the inter-relationship of the various stages of education."

Volume I - the Council's report* - was submitted to the Minister of Education in July, 1959 and published in December of that year. Among its recommendations is that more information should be obtained and made available about education - "... attention will have to be paid to the inadequacy of the tools that lie to the hand of the educational planner. ... There are the most extraordinary gaps in our knowledge of what goes on in the schools and technical colleges we have today ..." (page 473). In emphasising this need for more information, as necessary for long-term educational planning (the report postulated that a 20 year plan for education was needed), the Council was in part thinking of its own difficulties in assembling the data necessary for its report. Its terms of reference required some consideration of the final school years, the work of the technical colleges (both up to 18 or 19 and as a spring-board for further courses), the teenager in employment or industrial training, in the youth service and in leisure. It was also necessary to bear in mind always that two sexes were involved and each presented its own educational and social problems. Ignorance about young people was widespread in the case of both sexes, but a distinction could be made - far less was known about girls than boys, partly because girls played such a relatively small part at these ages in part-time day release or the youth service, and because so very few of them became apprentices.

To have expected adequate information to be already at hand in all these respects would certainly have been unreasonable, yet even when the landscape was reduced to those fields of evident importance and in apparent need of the educational plough the information was sometimes lacking both to gauge the task or estimate the harvest. For instance, though an appreciable expansion in the output of

*"15 to 18" Vol. I, H.M.S.O. 1959, Price 12s. 6d.


[page vi]

students through the technical college courses was accepted as a major aim in public policy on which economic health on the long-term depended, little was known nationally in 1956 about the circumstances in which students succeeded or, more often, failed, and how many years of study success or failure had cost them. Much work had been done about individual colleges but the results were so various that it was very desirable to establish the national picture.

With the assistance where necessary of the Ministry of Education and the help of other bodies, various special surveys were arranged and the Council in its main report made use of their findings, e.g., in respect of the relation between home background and length of school life, of the progress of students through technical courses, the use of leisure, the reserves of latent ability.

Particulars of these special surveys are as follows:

Characteristics of the Surveys.

Title
Social
Survey
National Service
Survey
Technical Courses
Survey
AgencyCentral Office of Information
(Government Social Survey)
War Office,
Air Ministry
Technical Colleges
Time conductedSpring-Summer 19571956-57 (Army)
1957-58 (R.A.F.)
1956 and 1958
(National Certificate)
1958 (City and Guilds
of London Institute).
Numbers involved1,767 boys and 1,499 girls6,850 recruits (Army)
2,000 recruits (R.A.F.)
9,000 National Certificate students.
7,000 City and Guilds
of London Institute
students.
Ages of those in the Survey16-2018-2516-26 plus.
Type of samplingComplex random sample (England)Simple random sample (England and Wales)Complex random sample (England only).

Social Survey (Part One). This covers young men and women who left school in 1954-55. These young people and their parents were interviewed in their homes by representatives of the Social Survey Division of the Central Office of Information. This Part is the work of Mrs. Muriel Harris, formerly of that Department.


[page vii]

National Service Survey (Part Two). This covers a random sample of National Service men at the beginning of their National Service. Rather more than half had left school two or three years earlier. A questionnaire was completed by Service Interviewing Officers or N.C.O.s of the Army and the R.A.F. in discussion with the National Service man. The analyses of latent ability, (p. 116) and ability in its relation to family (p. 124) have been supplied by Mr. G. F. Peaker, C.B.E., H.M. Inspector. The rest of this Part has been written by the Council's Secretary.

Technical Courses Survey (Part Three). This falls into two distinct parts with different times and procedures. The first covers a random 5 per cent of men who, in the autumn of 1956, were enrolled for any National Certificate course at any stage. The second covers the same proportion of men who in 1957 enrolled for any of six City and Guilds of London Institute courses. The National Certificate students themselves completed a detailed questionnaire (covering home background, school, further education, employment): by contrast, information on the City and Guilds students was derived only from the college records. In neither case were there personal interviews. The text of Part Three is supplied by Mr. G. F. Peaker. In the case of both Parts Two and Three, the machine analysis of the replies was carried out by Mr. A. J. Curtis and his staff of the H.M.S.O. Combined Tabulating Installation.

Since these three surveys have much in common, yet much in which they differ, it is desirable at the risk of some repetition to make clear the salient and broad similarities and differences. A more detailed comparison of the first two surveys follows on page x.

(a) the common ground is greater in extent and method between the Social Survey and the National Service Survey than between either of these two and the Technical Courses Survey. This last is far more specialist in its intention and method; it is limited solely to the part-time route - that minority of young men who studied by part-time courses for the National, and certain City and Guilds of London Institute, Certificates. Alone of the three surveys it is not based on personal interviews.

(b) the considerable extent of common ground between the National Service and the Social Surveys, and the appearance in each of some data in apparently comparable form, makes it necessary to itemise certain differences-

(i) The Social Survey deals only with school-leavers from the four main types of maintained schools (grammar, technical, all-age, modern): it does 110t touch the independent or direct grant schools. With this proviso, the Survey covers a random


[page viii]

sample of young men and women educated in England. The National Service survey is both wider and yet more restricted: wider because it covers boys leaving all types of school in England and Wales, narrower because men starting on their National Service do not include certain categories, e.g., very low medical categories, who would appear in the Social Survey.

(ii) The National Service Survey alone provides an objective measure of ability (p. 113).

(c) The young people with whom these Surveys deal are in the main those born in the late 1930's or the very early years of the war, the National Service entrants and Technical students being rather older than the Social Survey population.

In most cases, primary education overlapped one war year or more: secondary education with few exceptions started after the war. By the time these surveys were conducted, all the young men and women had already left school and the great majority had been in full-time employment, often for several years.

These surveys necessarily record facts in the past. Some events lie further back in time than do others. The adolescent's school life precedes his employment or his use of the facilities offered by further education. Information relating to school, therefore, may sometimes be less up to date by several years than that relating say to employment. We are not, however, concerned here to delineate the educational scene or the fields of employment or leisure in their exact current dimensions, even were this possible, but rather to consider broad trends and relations. The surveys provide information not otherwise available about the relationship between a school life longer than the compulsory minimum and such factors as "parental occupation", "ability", size of family and the type of school attended.


[page ix]

This is more important than the information the tables supply about absolute numbers or proportions involved since there has been, for instance, in recent years a marked increase in the numbers of pupils staying on at school beyond 15.

The Council stands under a considerable debt of gratitude to the staff of the Government Social Survey and the two Services (in relation to Parts One and Two), and to many Technical Colleges (staffs and students) for their work in connection with Part Three. Their painstaking co-operation enabled light to illuminate many dark spaces. Mr. G. F. Peaker's contribution to the sampling design of the Social Survey is noted on page 7. He also contributed the sampling designs for the other two surveys.


[page x]

Notes on Tables in Parts One and Two.

The following Tables cover some common ground: this is particularly true as between the Social, and the National Service, Survey. Many Tables appear at first sight to be comparable, and direct comparison is tempting. Yet, for various reasons, this is generally impossible without some adjustment of one or other of the Tables. In advance of any detailed consideration of these Tables, it can be said that there are very few where any direct comparison without any adjustment is possible. There is, however, an appreciable number where some comparison is both possible and profitable given some preliminary work. It is the main purpose of these notes to identify each category of Table in Parts One and Two.

A very broad comparison between the surveys in this volume has been made on pages vi-viii. In the following notes we are concerned with Parts One and Two - in each case Section A describes the common ground, Section B deals with fields in which material for direct comparison is not generally to be found.

COMPARISON OF THE SOCIAL SURVEY AND THE NATIONAL SERVICE SURVEY

CHAPTER 1 OF EACH SURVEY - HOME BACKGROUND AND SCHOOL

A. Common Ground

Both surveys are basically concerned to examine the type of school attended, home background, age of leaving school and reasons for leaving school.

(i) Type of School attended by child in relation to the occupational group* of the father. (Social Survey Table I, National Service Survey Table 10).

A direct comparison will be found on page 112. The main point to notice is that the two surveys offer a complementary picture in terms the home background ("parental occupational group") of the pupils and the composition of the maintained schools. In both surveys, boys from homes of skilled workers form nearly half the school population in both categories of school analysed - the grammar and technical on the one hand and the modern and all-age schools on the other hand (the proportion is rather lower in the first and higher in the second case). In both surveys, likewise, boys from the homes of semi-skilled or unskilled workers are much under-represented in the composition of the selective schools, proportionately to the size of the parental occupation group from which they come. Likewise they are over-represented in membership of the non-selective schools. The converse is true of boys from professional or managerial homes, who have far more than their proportionate weight in the case of selective schools and far less in other schools.

*See pp. 11 and 114.


[page xi]

(ii) Proportions of selective school pupils leaving school at the age of 15, 16, 17 or 18. (Social Survey page 9 and National Service Survey Table II).

The National Service sampled population contains a rather larger proportion of premature school leavers and a smaller proportion of men who stay the full length of the seven year secondary course. This may be explained partly by the fact that the population is rather older than that of the Social Survey and left Grammar and Technical schools when premature leaving was more general than it was later to become. In the middle ranges - those men who left school at 16 or 17 - the proportions in the two surveys are almost identical.

(iii) Length of school life in relation to parental occupation of the pupil. (Social Survey Table 5, National Service Survey Table 14 - see also 5, 12, 13).

These tables present pictures agreeing in outline with the Council's last report "Early Leaving"; premature school leaving among boys from maintained selective schools is seen as a problem of relatively small dimensions among boys whose fathers were professional or managerial workers but of far greater seriousness among boys from the homes of semi-skilled or unskilled workers.

(iv) Reasons advanced by the Pupil for leaving School. (Social Survey Table 10, National Service Survey Tables 15a and b).

Though in appearance comparable, these Tables do not deal with identical situations. The Social Survey concerns grammar and technical school leavers of all ages: the National Service Survey deals only with 15-year-old leavers from those schools where it was not customary to leave school so early - grammar, technical and independent efficient schools. Put otherwise, the Social Survey deals with all cases of leavers in the two types of selective schools it deals with, the National Service Survey deals only with the exceptional cases. Despite this difference both surveys show broadly similar findings. About 40 per cent of men in the Social Survey (37 per cent in Table 15a) said they left school for reasons primarily deriving from apparent inadequacies in school or pupil (e.g., feeling that

"Early Leaving", H.M.S.O. 1954, price 3s. 6d.


[page xii]

the school work was irrelevant to one's needs, lack of interest in academic work, sense of academic inadequacy), 30 per cent of men in the Social Survey (27 per cent in Table 15a) said that they left because they positively wanted to start work or had a good opportunity to do so, 23 per cent in the Social Survey (21 per cent in Table 15a) mentioned considerations of money as a major factor in leaving. Only 1 per cent of men in either survey said that they were influenced in leaving by the example of their friends.*

B. Ground which is not common between these two surveys.

Social Survey: The sole information about the parents offered by the National Service Survey is that of the occupational group to which the father belonged. The Social Survey (besides obtaining this information) went further; interviews with parents took place in eight cases out of ten, and it was generally possible to find out details about the parents' income, school life (for the purpose of comparison with the length of school life of the child), and their feelings about the age when their children left school (Tables 2, 3, 4, 6, etc.). Nor is the information obtained by the Social Survey from the children in respect of money habits (Table 12), part-time paid jobs (Table 13), period of the year when they left school (Table 8), or their feelings about school-leaving at the time they left (Table 9) paralleled in the National Service Survey.

National Service Survey: We have seen (page viii) that this alone contains an objective assessment of ability. There is therefore no parallel in the Social Survey to tables (e.g. 1-4) involving this factor nor does the Social Survey record information on size of family (a factor in National Service Tables 6, 7 and 8) or the feelings of the recruit now about the age at which he left (Tables 16 and 17). Table 9 which shows the types of school attended by sons from different types of home, is by the nature of things not paralleled since the Social Survey deals only with four types of maintained school.

*The Social Survey figures are reworked from Table 10.


[page xiii]

CHAPTER 2 OF THE SOCIAL SURVEY
("The Employment Record of School-Leavers")
AND CHAPTER 3 OF THE NATIONAL SERVICE SURVEY
("Earnings and Occupations")

A. Common Ground.

Despite the similarity in the subject matter, there is relatively little material in these chapters which can be directly compared. There are, however, some common subjects. One is the analysis of the occupational groups of young adults. Another is earnings, though rather different information was asked for with consequently different results.

(i) Occupational Groups (Social Survey Table 14a, National Service Survey Tables 38, 39).

Table 14a deals with the occupational classification of the young man or woman at the time of interview, Tables 38 and 39 with that of the last job held before commencement of National Service. We have already seen (page viii) that the National Service sampled population is rather older than that of the Social Survey. Direct comparison is not possible between these tables without weighting the Social Survey figures to enable grammar/technical and modern/all-age figures to be added together.* When this is done the comparison is as follows:

Occupational Groups of Young Workers

(ii) Earnings (Social Survey Tables 16, 16a, National Service Survey Table 36).

Table 16 of the Social Survey shows the average net weekly wages of men from grammar/technical schools to be £4 13s. 0d. [£4.65], with a rather lower figure - £4 9s. 0d. [£4.45] - for men who had attended modern/all-age schools. The National Service Survey figures are higher - £5 16s. 0d. [£4.80] and £6 10s. 0d [£6.50]. respectively. The difference in levels between the surveys is

*In this adjustment, the modern/all-age school figures are given three times the weight of the figures for Grammar and Technical schools.


[page xiv]

largely attributable to the fact that the Social Survey asked for information on the average net weekly wage, whereas the National Service Survey recorded gross weekly earnings. As one might expect, the first is substantially lower than the second. Yet, this does not explain why grammar/ technical school leavers' earnings should exceed those of men from modern/all-age schools in the one case but be less in the other case, The reason for this probably lies in the technicalities of sampling. In the Social Survey boys from selective and from non-selective schools had - by the time the surveys took place - left school for about the same length of time: for both types of young workers the length of time since earning began was generally roughly the same. This was not the case in the National Service Survey, where by the age of 18 or 19 the modern or all-age school boys had generally had a longer period in paid employment than had former pupils from a selective school.

B. Ground which is not common between these two Surreys.

Social Survey: "B" covers the relationship between the age of leaving school and present occupational status (Table 14b), between academic achievement and occupational status (Table 14c), the reasons for taking any particular job (Table 15), the length of time in travel to and from work (Table 17) and number of jobs held since leaving school (Tables 18 and 18a). It also covers occupational changes of job since leaving school (Tables 19, 19a), whereas by contrast the National Service Survey covers other kinds of occupational mobility (see the next paragraph).

National Service Survey: This survey also concerns itself with occupational mobility but in a different manner - it studies the relationship between father's occupation and son's occupation before and, in prospect, that after, National Service (Tables 38-41). This survey alone gives information on gross earnings of higher age groups (Table 37).


[page xv]

CHAPTER 3 OF THE SOCIAL
("Further Education")
AND CHAPTER 2 OF THE NATIONAL SERVICE SURVEY
("Further Education and Vocational Training")

A. Common Ground.

Both surveys give a quantitative picture of provision in the field of full and part-time further education and refine this picture further by some considerations of the type of course, length of attendance and the method of attendance (e.g., part-time Day Release). Both deal with a far wider field of further education than does the Technical Courses Survey in Part Three, but neither attempts an analysis in comparable detail.

The two surveys do not however deal with identical situations: the Social Survey includes men who had left school for a minimum period of a year-and-a-half and for a maximum period of three years. The National Service analyses in Chapter 2 are of men with at least three years between school and National Service. On first consideration it might seem that the longer the interval between school and survey the greater the chance of participation in further education, but as far as teenagers are concerned, it is probable that further education starts fairly soon after leaving school or not at all. It is therefore not surprising that the two surveys present a fairly similar picture of participation in Further Education.

Participation in Further Education (Approx.)

Even if the 8 per cent attending non-vocational courses (and included in the 54 per cent) is a little high (page 146) there is still a close similarity in these columns. This similarity does not, however, extend to the full-time field. The reason for this is not at all apparent but it is worth noting that full-time education is far more liable to distortion in its pattern by arrangements for National Service than is part-time education, since the part-time education with which we are concerned all preceded National Service, but some at least of full-time education would often follow it.

Part-time Education in relation to Parental Occupation.

Table 21 of the National Service Survey shows that a clearly descending proportion of men participate in part-time further education as we move

*i.e., 46 per cent in vocational F.E. shown in Table 19, plus 8 per cent in non-vocational education shown on page 146.

†Table 20a adjusted as in the Note on page xiii.


[page xvi]

through the professional to the non-skilled occupation groups. If we take those men still participating in part-time education, then Table 20b of the Social Survey shows much the same thing - men from the homes of non-skilled workers who attended modern schools make a rather worse showing in terms of participation than do the others.

Further Education in Rural Areas.

Table 20d of the Social Survey suggests that part-time further education is less common in rural than in urban areas; Table 24 of the National Service Survey tends to confirm this.

Full-time Education and the Institutions which provide it.

Social Survey Table 21a may be compared with National Service Survey Table 18.

B. Ground which is not common between these two Surveys.

Social Survey: This survey is able to contrast the length of attendance at school, the type of course and the occupational background of those men who had given up further education with that of those who were continuing in it (Tables 20a, et pass.). Such a comparison was impossible in the National Service Survey, where the onset of National Service invariably terminated full-time education and in most cases doubtless terminated part-time education (of the type pursued before National Service). The Social Survey also attempts to identify those influences conducive to entering part-time further education and making a success of it (Tables 24a, 24d, 25a, etc.). In the latter connection it makes an analysis of the inducements offered by employers to attend part-time classes (Tables 24c, 24d). Besides these, the Social Survey examines the demands, in terms or working and studying hours made on students attending part-time courses (Tables 25b, 26a, 26b, 26c).

National Service Survey: This alone is in the position to examine part-time further education in relation to the ability of the student (Table 24). The main contribution of the National Service Survey, however, is to confirm certain findings of the Social Survey or alternatively to qualify them, and in particular to examine the field of industrial training. There is no equivalent in the Social Survey to this latter series of Tables (National Service Survey, Tables 27-35).


[page xvii]

CHAPTER 4 OF THE SOCIAL SURVEY
("Leisure Time Interests and Activities")
AND CHAPTER 4 Of THE NATIONAL SERVICE SURVEY
("Leisure Activities")

A. Common Ground.

Both surveys are concerned to analyse the organised leisure activities of youth, with the addition in the case of the Social Survey of some study in the use of free time in the evenings and the use of libraries, and in the case of the National Service Survey games and noteworthy special interests. Though comparison between these two chapters is tempting, it can be achieved only in a very limited degree and it is best to consider them as complementary rather than confirmatory pictures of leisure. The characteristic of the Social Survey is that its analysis centres on the word "club", a word used in the widest context, and that it is concerned with membership at the time of interview. Per contra the National Service Survey deals with three specific types of youth organisation, "mixed", "boys" and "uniformed", it includes only 15 and 16 year-old leavers who had had at least three years between school and National Service and - a very important point of contrast with the Social Survey - it records only active membership (the Social Survey also includes passive membership). Since both definition and conditions for inclusion are far more restrictive in the case of the National Service Survey, it is not to be expected that the proportions of men in club membership would be similar. This is borne out both by the general comparison, i.e., between Social Survey Table 28 and National Service Survey Table 44 (together with its preceding descriptive material) and also particular comparisons. Such a comparison, for instance, is possible in the field of uniformed organisations where the proportions in membership (by type of schools attended) are 11 per cent and 6 per cent for grammar/technical and modern/all-age leavers in the Social Survey but about a third less in the case of the National Service Survey.*

B. Ground which is not common between these two surveys.

The above analysis shows that the treatment of the common ground of these chapters is very different in the two surveys. Among specific points which appear in one survey but not in the other are the following:

Social Survey: The study of club membership in relation to participation in further education (Tables 28 and 30a), the types of clubs to which leavers belong (Table 29) and the organisations which run them (Table 30), etc., is not found in the National Service Survey. Nor is there anything in the National Service Survey in respect of evening leisure activities in a general way (Table 34) and evenings spent at home (Tables 33 (i) and (ii)).

National Service Survey: Two essential distinguishing points of this survey have been mentioned above i.e. it concerns active membership

*Social Survey, Table 29a. This proportion does not appear in the National Service Survey but can be worked out for selective schools from Table 47.


[page xviii]

only and is limited to the three specific and major types of youth organisation.

In addition it concerns itself closely with the home background and (in Table 48) the ability of the recruit. There is no parallel to part B (Games) or the brief study of special interests which conclude this survey.


[page 1]

Part One

The Social Survey






[page 3]

Contents

Page
INTRODUCTION
The Purpose7
The Sample - (1) Sampling Method7
              (2) Sample Achieved8
              (3) The Interview and the Questionnaire10

CHAPTER 1 HOME BACKGROUND AND SOME FACTORS AFFECTING THE AGE OF LEAVING SCHOOL
11

A. The Home Background of Grammar and Technical School-Leavers compared with that of Modern and All-Age School-Leavers
11
1. - Father's Occupation11
2. - Father's Income12
3. - Age at which Parents ended full-time Education14

B. Home Background in relation to Age of leaving School
15
4. - Age at which Parents left School in relation to Child's Age on leaving School15
5. - Father's Occupation in relation to Child's Age on leaving School16
6. - Father's Income in relation to Child's Age on leaving School18
7. - Attitude of Parents to the Age at which the child left School19
8. - Attitude of Parents to Children staying at School until the End of the Academic Year21

C. The Attitude of the School-Leavers themselves to leaving School
22
9. - Attitude of Grammar and Technical School-Leavers to the Age at which they left School23
       - Attitude of Secondary Modern and All-Age School-Leavers to the Age at which they left School24
10. - Reasons for leaving Grammar and Technical Schools24


[page 4]

Page
D. Money as a Factor affecting the Age at which Children leave School27
11. - Money as a Reason for leaving School, shown in relation to Father's Income28
12. - Amount paid to Parents for Board and Lodging by young Workers28
       - Proportion of young Workers living at Home who buy their own Clothes, shown in relation to the Amount they pay to Parents for Board and Lodging29
13.-Proportion of young People who held part-time paid Jobs while still at School30
       - Proportion of young People who had part-time paid Jobs while at School, shown in relation to Age on leaving School31
       - Number of Hours worked per Week while still at School32
       - Reasons given by young People for taking part-time paid Jobs while still at School32

CHAPTER 2 THE EMPLOYMENT RECORD OF SCHOOL-LEAVERS
34
14. - Occupations of School-Leavers34
       - Occupations of School-Leavers in relation to their Fathers' Occupations35
       - Occupations of School-Leavers in relation to Age of leaving School37
       - Occupations of School-Leavers in relation to G.C.E. Attainment at School38
15. - Reasons given by School-Leavers for choosing the Type of Work they were doing40
16. - Average Wage of young People in the various Occupational Groups41
       - Average Wage of Apprentices as compared with other Workers43
17. - Travelling Time as a Factor in the Choice of Job44
18. - Number of Jobs held since leaving School45
       - Number of Jobs held in relation to Age of leaving School47
19. - Proportions in the various Occupational Groups who changed Jobs47
       - Extent to which those who changed moved into a different Type of Work49


[page 5]

Page
CHAPTER 3 FURTHER EDUCATION55
20. - Further Education in relation to Age of leaving School55
       - Further Education in relation to Father's occupation56
       - Participation in Further Education in relation to present Occupation58
       - Participation in Further Education in rural as compared with urban Areas60
21. - Full-Time Further Education61
       - Proportions attending the various Types of Institutions for full-time Further Education61
       - Duration of full-time Further Education62
22. - Type of Course taken by part-time Students64
       - Proportion within the various part-time Courses who had given up attending Classes66
       - Duration of part-time Education67
23. - Achievements of part-time Students who had given up Classes68
24. - Pressures and Inducements towards part-time Classes69
       - Proportions of School-Leavers who received Suggestions about part-time Classes from various Sources69
       - Compulsory part-time Classes as a Condition of Employment71
       - Proportions of part-time Students who had Day Release72
       - Other Inducements offered by Employers73
25. - Conditions of Day Release74
       - Proportion of day release Students within the various Courses74
       - Proportion of day release Students who also attended Evening Classes76
       - Proportion of day release Students who lost Wages or Bonus because of Day Release76


[page 6]

Page
26. - Time spent at Work and Study by part-time Students77
       - Average Number of Hours per Week spent at Work and Study by day release, as compared with evening only, Students77
       - Number of Evenings per Week spent at Classes by those still attending compared with those who had given up part-time Further Education78
       - Proportion of part-time Students saying that Classes took up more time than they wished to give79
27. - Reasons given for ceasing to attend Classes, and Criticisms of Classes made by part-time Students80

CHAPTER 4 LEISURE TIME INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES
81
28. - Membership of Clubs and other Organisations81
29. - Type of Club to which School-Leavers belonged84
       - Proportion of School-Leavers belonging to the various Types of Club85
30. - Organisations who run the Clubs to which School-Leavers belong86
       - Proportion of part time Students taking part in extra-curricular Activities at the College or Institute attended for part-time Further Education88
31. - Club Membership in rural as compared with urban Areas88
32. - Club Membership in relation to Age of Members89
       - Type of Club in relation to Age of Members90
33. - Evening Activities outside the Home92
       - Number of Evenings per Week spent in the three most popular Activities outside the Home95
34. - Number of Evenings spent at Home during the Week97
35. - Library Membership amongst the young People98


[page 7]

Introduction

The Purpose

The aim of this survey, which was carried out during the summer of 1957, was to find out more about the 15 to 18 year-olds in education, work and leisure. Within this broad purpose, the interests of the Council were rather with girls than boys (since the other two surveys in this volume deal primarily with boys) and with school and further education rather than employment. But in almost every respect there was a paucity of information about the teen-ager, and to fill some of these gaps was a major aim.

The Sample

The survey covers boys and girls from four types of maintained secondary school - grammar, technical, modern and all-age schools in England. Direct grant and independent schools were accordingly not included. It was found to be impracticable, within available resources, to attempt to distinguish between different types of maintained schools other than on a broad criterion whether they were selective in their intake or not. In the subsequent tables, therefore, grammar and technical schools are treated together, and likewise secondary modern and all-age schools. Other types of maintained secondary school are not included, but they provided a relatively low percentage of intake of secondary pupils.

(1) Sampling Method (on the advice of Mr. G. F. Peaker, C.B.E., H.M.I.)

Stage (i). A representative sample of local education authorities in England was selected. Thirteen of the chosen authorities were County Boroughs and twenty-seven were Counties.

Stage (ii). The thirteen County Boroughs were treated as whole units and schools were selected from them in the ratio of two grammar or technical schools to five modern or all-age schools. Each of the twenty-seven Counties was broken down into units representing 150,000 of the population, each unit containing approximately the correct proportion of urban and rural population. From the resulting units twenty-seven were selected systematically from a random start and, within each of the twenty-seven selected units, schools were selected, again in the ratio of two grammar or technical schools to five modern or all-age schools.

Stage (iii). Within each unit, forty-four children who left school in 1954 and 1955 were selected from the two grammar or technical schools and fifty-five who left in 1954 and 1955 were selected from the five modern and all-age schools.


[page 8]

This resulted in two samples of

(a) 1,760 grammar and technical school-leavers.
(b) 2,200 modern and all-age school-leavers.
The samples were selected from names on the school registers. The earliest date of leaving covered by the enquiry was Easter 1954 (three years prior to the enquiry), and the latest date of leaving was Christmas 1955 (eighteen months prior to the enquiry). It was felt that those who left school later than December, 1955 would, for the purposes of the survey, have too short a post-school record. It was not practicable to go back further than 1954 because the addresses obtained from the registers were already three years old in the case of the earliest leavers in 1954, and with the passing of time became progressively less dependable.

(2) Sample Achieved

Interviewers were instructed to see both selected leavers and parents and in the majority of cases this was possible. There were a few cases where they were able to interview the child but not the parent, and a considerable number of cases in which they were able to interview the parent but not the child.

Sample Achieved

Fortunately there is, from the parents' questionnaires, sufficient factual information to be able to assess whether the young people who were not interviewed are different from the ones interviewed in respect of some of the more important factors by which the results will be analysed. This comparison is shown below for the grammar and technical school sample. As far as the modern school sample is concerned the number of cases in which the parent only was interviewed is so small that differences, if any, would be unimportant.


[page 9]

Grammar and Technical School-Leavers interviewed compared with Leavers not interviewed


[page 10]

In the grammar and technical school sample, the proportion leaving school at eighteen years or over is higher amongst the group in which the parents only were interviewed, due to the difficulty in contacting those away at college or in the Forces, which was more common amongst the older leavers.

The proportion who have had part-time education since leaving school is lower amongst the group in which the parent only was interviewed. In view of the fact that this group has had more full-time education, both before and after leaving school, one would expect a lower proportion of them to have been involved in part-time education.

(3) The Interview and the Questionnaire.

The young people were interviewed in their homes, this being preceded by a talk with the parents. It was felt that it would be both more courteous and more accurate to obtain facts about home background direct from the parents themselves, and at the same time it was possible to obtain information about the attitude of the parents to the child leaving school, and also the amount paid to parents for board and lodging by the young people who were working. All other questions concerning the young people were asked of the boys and girls personally, except where they were not available for interview (often because they were no longer living at home) in which case parents were asked about the present occupation of the child and whether he or she had taken any further education since leaving school.

Tables relating to the young people's employment record, educational attainments, and leisure activities, include only the cases in which there were personal interviews with the boys and girls concerned.


[page 11]

CHAPTER 1

Home Background and some Factors affecting the Age of leaving School

A. THE HOME BACKGROUND OF GRAMMAR AND TECHNICAL SCHOOL-LEAVERS COMPARED WITH THAT OF MODERN AND ALL-AGE SCHOOL-LEAVERS

1. Father's Occupation.

It was necessary to use a rather broad system of occupational grouping, otherwise the sample would have become too atomised when considering occupation in relation to other factors, such as sex of child, and child's age of leaving school and participation in further education.

Occupations were therefore grouped in the following way:-

(a) Professional and Managerial included both the major and minor professions, administrators, higher executives, and business proprietors. It approximates very closely to Socio-economic Groups 3 and 4 of the General Register Office's Standard Classification of Occupations.

(b) Clerical and other Non-manual Workers covered all other office workers i.e. those without professional qualifications or executive or administrative responsibilities, small shop-keepers, shop assistants, those engaged in personal services, and all other non-manual workers. In general terms it is the group often referred to as "White-collar" workers and is based on Socio-Economic Groups 5, 6, 7 and 8.

(c) Skilled Manual Workers are those categorised as such in Socio-Economic Groups 9 and 10.

(d) Semi and Unskilled Manual included all workers covered by Socio-Economic Groups 2, 11 and 12.*

The distribution of these groups within the two samples is shown in Table 1. It is noteworthy that, whereas only one in ten fathers of grammar and technical school-leavers were semi- or unskilled manual workers, almost one in four (23 per cent) of the fathers of modern and all-age school-leavers fell into this group. At the other end of the table the difference is even more marked, with 18 per cent of fathers in the professional and managerial category in the grammar and technical school sample as compared with only 4 per cent in the

*Numbers in Socio-Economic Group 1 were negligible.


[page 12]

modern school sample. The proportion of clerical and other non-manual workers is also higher in the grammar and technical school sample, (19 per cent as compared with 11 per cent).

It would be a mistake however, to allow these obvious differences to obscure the fact that in both samples the children of skilled manual workers form by far the largest individual group. Moreover this group is perhaps the most homogeneous of them all when considered in terms of social class. Thus although the children of professional and non-manual workers account for 37 per cent of the grammar and technical school sample, as compared with only 15 per cent of the modern and all-age school sample, four out of ten in the one sample, and five out of ten in the other, are the children of skilled workers with a very similar home background.

Table 1. The Occupations of Fathers in the Grammar and Technical School Sample compared with those of the Modern School Sample.

*All cases in which there was an interview with parents are included in Table 1 irrespective of whether the child was subsequently interviewed.

2. Father's Income.

For the purpose of this survey "income" was defined as father's or guardian's gross earnings from all sources plus any additional income from pensions or private means. Income derived from other members of the household was not included.

The proportion of fathers in the middle income group (over £10 to £12 per week) was the same in both samples (16 per cent); but, whereas in the grammar and technical school sample there were equal proportions above and below that range, only 18 per cent of


[page 13]

incomes in the modern and all-age school sample were over £12 per week, and 47 per cent were in the "£10 or under" category (see Table 2 below).

A simple comparison of the distribution of gross incomes within occupational groups (Table 2 below) shows that the professional and managerial workers had by far the highest proportion (54 per cent) in the "over £16 a week" category. On the other hand, over 50 per cent of the semi- or unskilled manual workers were in the two lowest income groups.

Table 2. The Distribution of Fathers' Incomes within Occupational Groups.


[page 14]

It will be noted that in cases where the father was dead, or retired either because of age or ill-health, the proportion of low incomes was, as would be expected, greater than in any other category. Approximately two-thirds of the widows and retired fathers in the grammar and technical school sample, and three-quarters of those in the modern school sample, were in the lowest income groups.

The few cases in which occupation was either unstated or unclassifiable were, for convenience, included with the "Dead or Retired" but amounted to a very small fraction of the group.

3. The Age at which Parents ended full-time Education.

The proportion of parents whose full-time education had continued beyond the age of fourteen was not high. Only 2 per cent of the children in the modern and all-age school sample had both parents with full-time education beyond the age of 14, and a further 10 per cent had one parent who had stayed at school beyond the minimum leaving age.

In the grammar and technical school sample 12 per cent of the children had two parents whose full-time education had continued beyond 14 years, and a further 22 per cent had one parent who had continued at school beyond the minimum leaving age. Some of the remaining 66 per cent of grammar and technical school parents were presumably premature leavers from schools offering courses beyond that age, but in the main it would be true to say that approximately two-thirds of the grammar and technical school children came from homes where both parents had received only elementary school education.

Table 3


[page 15]

B. HOME BACKGROUND IN RELATION TO AGE OF LEAVING SCHOOL

Comparison of the two samples having shown that parents in the grammar and technical school sample were drawn rather more frequently from the professional and non-manual occupational groups, that they had, on the whole, somewhat higher incomes, and that a higher proportion of them had themselves left school at ages above the then legal minimum of 14 years, it is relevant to examine the relationship between these factors and the ages at which their children left school. Since only 3 per cent of the modern and all-age school children stayed on at school until 16 years or over attention must be confined to the grammar and technical school sample. The proportion of grammar and technical school boys and girls leaving school at 15, 16, 17 or 18 years is shown in Table 4a.

4. The Age at which Parents left School in relation to Child's Age on Leaving School.

Table 3 showed that in 66 per cent of the cases in the grammar and technical school sample neither parent had stayed at school beyond 14 years, whereas from Table 4a it appears that 83 per cent of boys and 89 per cent of girls stayed at school beyond the age of 15 years 10 months. Not only has the minimum leaving age been raised from 14 to 15, but the proportion of children staying on beyond it is higher than the proportion of parents who did so.

In Table 4b the proportion of parents, who themselves stayed on at school beyond the then legal minimum age of 14 years, is shown in relation to the age at which their children left school. The figures for boys and girls and fathers and mothers are shown separately though there are no major differences in respect of sex.

Table 4a. The Ages at which Boys and Girls in the Grammar and Technical School Sample left School in 1954 or 1955.


[page 16]

The groups were divided at the 10 months point in order to avoid including in a lower age-group those who left school within two months of their next birthday. The first group is in the main those who left grammar or technical school prematurely before reaching the age of 16, and in most cases, before taking G.C.E. The next group is made up of young people who did not stay on for any sixth form work although they completed the five-year course. The third group had, on the whole, spent one year in the sixth form and the fourth group was in the main composed of those who had completed an advanced course.

Table 4b

The proportion of parents who themselves left school above the minimum leaving age is highest amongst the children who stayed longest at school, rising from 11 per cent, in the case of the 15 year-old leavers, to around 40 per cent in the 18 year-old leavers group. It is, however, perhaps equally important to note that more than half the children who stayed at school until 18 years or over, had parents who had themselves left school at 14 or under.

5. Father's Occupation in relation to Child's Age all leaving School.

Premature school-leaving at 15 years was almost non-existent amongst the children of professional and managerial fathers; and the proportion who left school at 15 is highest amongst the children


[page 17]

Table 5

of manual workers. Twenty-one per cent of the sons of skilled manual workers and 25 per cent in the semi- or unskilled manual group left school at 15 years, as compared with 15 per cent of sons of the clerical and other non-manual category. For daughters, the figures for those leaving school at 15 is 9 per cent in the clerical and other non-manual category, as compared with 14 per cent and 19 per cent for the daughters of skilled and semi- or unskilled manual workers respectively.

A lower proportion of girls than boys left school at 15 in all categories except the professional and managerial which, as already stated, had negligible proportions of either sex leaving at 15 (4 per cent for girls and 3 per cent for boys). The difference between the proportion of boys and girls who left school at 15 in the grammar and technical school sample as a whole (boys 17 per cent and girls 11 per cent) is probably to some extent a reflection of the practice, common in certain sections of industry, of encouraging boys to do


[page 18]

a year's practical work in the factory prior to being accepted as apprentices at the age of 16.

Although there was little over-all difference in the sample as a whole between the proportion of boys, as compared with girls, who stayed at school until 18 years or over, there were some differences in certain occupational groups in this respect. Thus 43 per cent of sons of professional and managerial fathers and 25 per cent of sons of clerical or other non-manual workers who attended grammar and technical schools stayed till they were 18, compared with only 36 per cent and 18 per cent of daughters. The girls showed little difference, in respect of 18 year-old leavers, between the clerical and other non-manual and the skilled manual groups (18 per cent and 16 per cent respectively), though the figures drop to 8 per cent in the case of daughters of semi- or unskilled manual workers. The boys, on the other hand, show a steady decline in the proportions leaving school at 18 when non-manual and manual groups are compared. The figures fall from 43 per cent and 25 per cent in the two non-manual categories, to 15 per cent and 6 per cent for sons of skilled manual and semi or unskilled manual workers respectively.

To summarise - as one goes through the categories, professional and managerial, clerical and other non-manual, skilled manual and semi or unskilled manual, the proportion of premature leaving at 15 increases in that order and the proportion of children staying on at school beyond the age of 16 decreases. This difference between occupational groups was somewhat less sharp for girls than for boys though the trend is still clearly visible.

6. Father's Income in relation to Child's Age on leaving School.

Premature leaving at 15 from grammar and technical schools is rare when father's income exceeds £16 a week, and shows little variation between the other income groups, though the tail-off starts in the £12 to £16 a week category. (See Table 6 below).

The converse of this pattern is shown when one examines the figures for those who stayed on beyond the age of sixteen which is the minimum age for "normal" leaving from grammar and technical schools. The proportion of 17 and 18 year-old leavers in the top income group (over £16 a week) is:- boys 54 per cent and girls 64 per cent as compared with 37 per cent of boys and 38 per cent of girls leaving school at 17 or 18 years in the sample as a whole. There is again little variation between the other income groups in the figures for 17 and 18 year-old leavers combined (see Table 6) except that the boys show a dip to 25 per cent in the £10 to £12 a week category, rising to 39 per cent in the £12 to £16 a week group. This, however,


[page 19]

is possibly related to the question of apprenticeships, already mentioned, which affects boys rather than girls; and since a high proportion of the fathers in the £10 to £12 a week income group were manual workers (see Table 2) it seems likely that apprenticeship should be fairly common amongst their sons.

Table 6. The Relation of Father's Income to the Age at which Pupils left Grammar and Technical Schools.

It would seem therefore that, though the tendency is for the length of a child's school life to increase with father's income, the difference is not very great until one reaches an income of over £16 a week - a figure attained by only 14 per cent of fathers in the grammar and technical school sample.

7. The Attitude of Parents to the Age at which Child left School.

We have seen that the proportion leaving grammar and technical schools prematurely at 15 was higher amongst the children of manual workers than non-manual workers, and negligible if father's income exceeded £16 a week; and that the proportion staying on beyond the age of 16 was highest amongst sons and daughters of professional


[page 20]

and managerial fathers and lowest amongst the children of unskilled manual workers. On the other hand, the majority of children had been kept at school longer than their parents and even in the lowest income group approximately 30 per cent of children had stayed at school beyond the age of 16. The reaction of parents to the question of whether they considered their son or daughter had left school at the right age must be examined with this background information in mind.

Approximately three-quarters of the parents of grammar and technical school children thought their child left school at the right age and one-fifth would have preferred the child to stay longer at school. Only 3 per cent would have liked the child to leave earlier.

Table 7

The proportion of parents in agreement with the age at which the child left is appreciably higher in the case of 18 year-old leavers than for the rest, whereas the proportion who would have preferred their child to stay longer at school is greatest amongst parents of 15 year-old leavers. It would thus seem that parents are not in the main unfavourably disposed towards the idea of children staying on at school. On the other hand approximately two-thirds of the parents whose children left without completing a full Sixth Form course were acquiescent about this.

The argument sometimes advanced that parents are less in favour of prolonged school life for girls than for boys is not upheld by Table 7. There is here no major difference in the attitude to sons and daughters.

The opinion of parents in the modern and all-age school sample on whether their child left school at the right age cannot be used to compare attitudes to leaving at various ages since only 3 per cent of


[page 21]

the children in this sample stayed at school beyond the age of 15. Nevertheless, the replies to this question are indicative of the extent to which parents had adjusted themselves to the raising of the school-leaving age to 15. Only 4 per cent of boys' parents and 5 per cent of girls' would have liked their child to leave school earlier. It would thus seem that, in the 7 or 8 years which had elapsed between the introduction of the new leaving age in 1947, and these young people leaving school in 1954 and 1955, it had become almost universally accepted by parents that children should stay at school until at least 15 years old.

8. The Attitude of Parents to Children staying at School until the End of the Academic Year.

It is common for children at modern or all-age schools to leave at the end of the term in which they reach the age of 15, without waiting until the end of the current school year, and this practice makes it difficult to organise final year courses. Even in the grammar and technical schools some children leave in the middle of the academic year. Parents were asked whether their child had left before the end of the school year, and if so, whether they would have been willing for him or her to stay on until the school year ended in July. Over 90 per cent of parents of grammar and

Table 8

technical school leavers had either kept their children at school until the end of the school year or would have been willing to do so. In


[page 22]

the modern and all-age school sample, although only just over 40 per cent of the children had stayed until the school year ended in July, a further 28 per cent of boys' parents and 24 per cent of girls' said they would have been willing for the child to do so.

It seems that approximately one-quarter of the parents of modern and all-age school children would have been opposed to any attempt to make their child stay at school to complete the academic year, but many of them pointed out that this was only because the child itself was reluctant to stay longer at school. Similarly some parents, who said they would have been willing for the child to stay at school until July, added that the child had not wished to do so.

C. THE ATTITUDE OF THE SCHOOL-LEAVERS THEMSELVES TO LEAVING SCHOOL

So far we have dealt solely with the attitude of parents and with information about the child's home background derived from the interview with parents. The attitude of the school-leavers themselves is obviously of importance in any examination of factors which may influence the length of school life. In view of the wide range of topics this survey had to cover, it was impossible to deal more than superficially with attitudes to the school-leaving age and reasons for leaving school. The attitudes presented here are based only on the immediate response to the question, "Would you have liked to stay longer at school?" followed up, when the response was "Yes" with, "Until what age?" and "Why did you not stay on?", and by, "Why did you want to leave?", when the response to the original question was "No", No attempt was made to probe for underlying reasons; but this method had at least the advantage of obtaining an unprompted response relatively free from any bias introduced by the questions or the interviewer.

Twenty-two per cent of all grammar and technical school boys and 19 per cent of grammar and technical school girls said that they would have liked to stay longer at school. As one would expect, this figure falls - in the case of those who had in fact stayed on until 18 years or over - to 7 per cent of boys, and to 3 per cent of girls who would have liked yet longer at school; and, since most of these boys and girls could not say for how much longer they would have liked to stay, it seems likely that they were merely sorry to leave school and had, in the main, completed their Sixth Form course.

Twenty-nine per cent of boys and 27 per cent of girls, who left school at 17 years, would have liked to stay longer, most of them


[page 23]

Table 9a. The Attitude of Grammar and Technical School-Leavers to the Age at which they left School.

saying they would have liked one more year in order to take Advanced G.C.E.

Of those who left school at 16, 27 per cent of boys and 23 per cent of girls would have liked to stay longer, and approximately two-thirds of these boys and girls who wanted to stay longer would have liked to take the full two-year Sixth Form course.

A somewhat lower proportion of 15 year-old leavers said they would have liked to stay longer at school, i.e. 19 per cent of boys and 14 per cent of girls.

Sixteen per cent of modern and all-age school boys and 23 per cent of girls said they would have liked to stay longer at school, and these proportions do not differ substantially from those of the grammar and technical school sample; but since 97 per cent of the modern school sample left school at 15 years it is with the 15 year-old


[page 24]

Table 9b. The Attitude of Secondary Modern and All-age School-Leavers to the Age at which they left School.

leavers from grammar and technical school that they should be compared.

One major difference between the 15 year-old leavers in the two samples is that the grammar and technical school group attended schools where there was a recognised course which they were supposed to follow until reaching the age of at least 16; and those who left at 15 were presumably either misfits in that type of school or had strong pressures causing them to leave. In the modern school sample, on the other hand, many of the children had little alternative but to leave at 15 if the school had no course to offer, (other than a repetition of the year they had just completed) and where there was no chance of transferring to a selective school. It is perhaps understandable that the proportion of girls who would have liked to stay longer at school should be higher in the modern school sample than amongst the 15 year-old leavers from grammar and technical schools. The boys from secondary modern schools desiring further education and training might be expected, in many cases, to consider apprenticeships which, as already noted, often involved entering the factory at 15 and this may account, at least in part, for the fact that fewer boys than girls would have liked to stay longer at school.

10. The Reasons for leaving Grammar and Technical Schools.

The reasons given in reply to "Why did you want to leave?", which was asked of all who said they would not have liked to stay longer at school, are compared in Table 10 with the reasons for leaving given by those who would have liked to remain at school. It will be noted that the tendency is for several reasons to occur with a similar frequency when the two groups - those who wished to stay and those who wished to leave - are combined in a total figure. This seems to indicate that, as far as the majority of young people were concerned,


[page 25]

it was a combination of several factors making them glad to leave school and it is not particularly significant that some mentioned one thing and some another. It is only amongst those who desired longer at school that one or two main factors emerge as predominant in influencing the decision to leave in spite of the urge to stay.

Table 10 Reasons for leaving Grammar and Technical Schools.

The 12 per cent of boys and 5 per cent of girls in the grammar and technical school sample who would have liked to stay longer at school, but had completed the highest course available were mostly pupils from technical schools, many of which had no Sixth Form courses. There would be little point in considering reasons for leaving modern schools, since in 1954 and 1955 very few of them had courses to offer to retain the over-fifteens.

Young people who left school because they wanted, or needed, to earn money.

Whether wanting to earn was a desire to have money for themselves, or a necessity arising out of family circumstances, was left


[page 26]

ambiguous by most of the young people who mentioned money as a reason for leaving school. The fact remains that "wanted to earn money" was by far the most frequent reason for leaving amongst grammar and technical boys and girls who said they would have liked to stay longer at school. Thirty-four per cent of boys and 43 per cent of girls who would have liked to stay at school said that they left in order to earn money as compared with 13 per cent of boys and 15 per cent of girls giving the same reason amongst those who said they had no desire to stay longer at school.

Young people who said they wanted to start work but did not mention the financial aspect.

Those who said they left school because they wanted to start work, but did not mention money, have been treated as a separate category, though in some cases "wanted to start work" may have been synonymous with "wanted to earn money". Among boys and girls who said they would have preferred to stay longer at school, the proportion who left school in order to earn money is greater than the proportion mentioning wanting to work without reference to the financial angle, i.e. 34 per cent as compared with 6 per cent in the case of grammar and technical school boys, 43 per cent as compared with 4 per cent for grammar and technical school girls.

Young people who left because a suitable job was offered.

These young people are distinguished from those who merely said that they wanted to start work, because they made a special point of the fact that they were actually offered a suitable job before they left school. It is possible that the frequency with which boys and girls at school are offered jobs is rather higher than the figures suggest, because some of those who said merely that they wanted to start work may have omitted to mention that they were actually offered a job.

Young people who left school because they were not learning anything useful for future career.

When young people gave this as a reason for leaving school it was sometimes a case of desiring vocational subjects not available in the school curriculum, and sometimes the belief that they had already received enough education for their purposes.

Young people who left school because they lacked academic ability.

Relatively small proportions said their own lack of academic ability was the main factor in their decision to leave school and we have no data from the schools with which to compare pupils' own assessment. The proportion saying they lacked ability was higher


[page 27]

amongst grammar and technical school-leavers who would otherwise have liked to stay longer at school. Eleven per cent of these boys and 10 per cent of girls said that they left school either because they failed to achieve a high enough standard in the G.C.E., or would have failed to pass other examinations, or were unlikely to attain university or professional qualifications. This group was possibly more critical of their own abilities than the group which, in any case, wanted to leave school.

Young people who left school because their friends were leaving.

Only 1 per cent of all grammar and technical school boys and 2 per cent of girls gave the fact that their friends were leaving as the reason for leaving school themselves: however it is clearly impossible to assess the extent to which young people were unconsciously influenced by the behaviour of their friends.

Young people who left school because their parents wanted them to leave.

This reason was given by only 1 per cent of all boys and 2 per cent of all girls, but it rises to 8 per cent in the ease of girls who said they would otherwise have liked to stay at school. Table 7 showed little difference between the parents of boys and the parents of girls as far as attitude to the length of the child's school life was concerned, and indeed, this over-all picture is confirmed by the total figures for boys and girls who said in Table 10 that parents were responsible for their decision to leave school. Nevertheless it would seem that amongst those who felt that they left school before they really wanted to, parental pressure in opposition to staying at school had been stronger on girls than boys.

D. MONEY AS A FACTOR AFFECTING THE AGE AT WHICH CHILDREN LEAVE SCHOOL

The following points were studied:- the proportions of young people who mentioned money as a reason for leaving school (this was examined in relation to father's income); the amount paid to parents by young people for board and lodging after starting work; finally the number of young people who had taken paid part-time jobs while still at school, (it was felt that their reasons for doing so might be relevant to the issue of whether the desire to earn money related to the young people's wish for financial independence rather than to parents' needs.)


[page 28]

11. Money as a Reason for leaving School, shown in relation to Father's Income.

The young people who mentioned wanting to earn money as a reason for leaving school are shown in Table 11 as a proportion of all young people within each of the categories based on father's income.

Table 11

It will be noted that the proportion of young people mentioning money as a reason for leaving school declines, as might be expected, as father's income increases.

Table 12. The Amount paid to Parents for Board and Lodging by young Workers.

[See Notes on the text for an explanation of pre-decimal currency.]


[page 29]

The above figures are more meaningful when considered in relation to whether the young people also buy their own clothes and this is shown in Table 12a.

Table 12a. The Proportion of young Workers living at Home who buy their own Clothes, shown in relation to the Amount they pay to Parents for Board and Lodging.

Table 12a tends to cancel out any differences observable in Table 12. Although girls on the whole pay less to their parents for board and lodging a higher proportion of them buy all their own clothes. The majority of both boys and girls, who hand over less than £2 a week to their parents, buy their own clothes, whereas well over 80 per cent


[page 30]

of those who pay £3 a week or more buy none of their own clothes; but it must be stressed in fairness to the young people that many of those who bought none of their own clothes directly did in fact, hand over their entire wages to their parents.

The amount paid to parents was also examined in relation to father's income, but this did not appear to affect the issue greatly, apart from the fact that the few who paid nothing, or less than £1, came in the main from homes where father's income exceeded £16 a week. When the proportions buying their own clothes are taken into account, the majority of young people in all parental income groups contributed considerably towards their own upkeep. Furthermore, in view of the average wages of the young people, many of them, even after they had paid their parents, must have had quite a lot of money left to spend as they pleased, particularly as compared with the young people of the same age who were still at school.

13. The Proportion of young People who held part-time paid Jobs while still at School.

Table 13 shows that over 50 per cent of boys in both samples held part-time jobs before leaving school and the figures are not much

Table 13. The Proportion of young People who had part-time paid Jobs while still at School, shown in relation to Father's Income.


[page 31]

affected by father's income until it exceeds £16 a week. As far as girls are concerned parental income does not appear to affect the issue at all but fewer girls than boys, and more grammar and technical school than modern and all-age school girls, held part-time jobs while still at school. It will be seen in Table 13a, however, that the proportion of girls who held part-time jobs before leaving grammar and technical schools at 15 is not very different from the proportion of part-time workers amongst modern school girls, 97 per cent of whom left school at 15. The vast majority of 15 year-old leavers of both sexes in both samples, who did part-time jobs before leaving school, delivered newspapers or other goods for tradespeople, and this appears to be regarded as more suitable work for boys than girls.

Table 13a. The Proportion of young People who had part-time paid Jobs while at School, shown in relation to Age on leaving School.

*97 per cent of modern and all-age school boys and girls left school at 15.

The older girls from grammar and technical schools worked mainly as shop assistants on Saturdays and there is a 10 per cent increase in the proportion of girls over 15 holding jobs while still


[page 32]

at school, as compared with the 15 year-old leavers. The proportion of grammar and technical school boys doing part-time jobs decreases amongst the 17 and 18 year-old leavers; but whether this reflects a more serious attitude to their school work, or merely indicates that they were less acceptable as shop assistants than the girls, is a matter on which we have no evidence.

13b. Number of Hours worked per Week while still at School.

The number of hours per week devoted to paid part-time jobs by those still at school is shown in Table 13b. It is noteworthy that although negligible proportions of girls worked for over ten hours per week, 15 per cent of modern and all-age school boys, and 13 per cent of grammar and technical school boys did so.

Table 13b

13c. The Reasons given by young People for taking part-time paid Jobs while still at School.

Only 9 per cent of boys and even fewer girls, who took a job while still at school because they wanted to earn money, said that their family needed the money. (See Table 13c). The rest all wanted the money for their own needs. Whether these needs would be categorised as necessities by those responsible for formulating educational policy is irrelevant; the fact remains that half the boys in both samples wanted pocket money, guitars, bicycles, records, holidays, clothes and other things badly enough to be prepared to go and work for them even before they left school.


[page 33]

Table 13c


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CHAPTER 2

The Employment Record of School-Leavers

The analysis of occupation is complicated in the grammar and technical school sample by the fact that 14 per cent of boys and 15 per cent of girls were still taking full-time further education and had not yet started work. "Taking full-time further education" has been included as an occupational category since this group amounted to over 50 per cent of those who left school at 18 years or over, and to deal only with those who were in paid employment would, therefore, have been somewhat misleading. A high proportion of those taking full-time further education were preparing for professional careers, and this should be borne in mind when considering the occupational categories.

The fact that 24 per cent of the grammar and technical school boys were in the Forces also tends to distort the occupational pattern. In view of the fact that deferment is more often given to apprentices and to full-time students than to other occupational groups it seems likely that the "skilled manual" and "full-time education" categories are depleted somewhat less than the others.

14. The Occupations of School-Leavers.

Grammar and Technical School boys were more evenly distributed over the various occupational categories (with the exception of "unskilled manual work"), than were modern school boys or the girls in either sample. Full-time further education and professional work together accounted for 24 per cent of grammar and technical boys, and other non-manual work for 22 per cent. Twenty-five per cent were in skilled manual jobs (including apprentices) and 24 per cent were in the Forces (mainly National Service). Only 4 per cent were doing unskilled manual work.

Amongst Modern School boys 50 per cent were doing skilled manual work, 28 per cent were in unskilled manual jobs and 13 per cent were doing non-manual work other than professional. Only 5 per cent were in the Forces, the majority being not yet of military age and in the main having left school younger than the grammar and technical school boys. The proportion of modern school boys taking full-time further education, or doing professional work, was negligible.

As far as Grammar and Technical School girls were concerned 15 per cent were taking full-time education, and a further 15 per cent


[page 35]

had already started work in professional occupations, but the vast majority (62 per cent) were in other non-manual occupations (usually clerical work). Only 4 per cent were doing manual work.

Amongst Modern School girls non-manual work accounted for 53 per cent of the sample, and manual work for 39 per cent.

The extent to which these overall proportions in the different occupational categories varied in relation to father's occupation, age of leaving school, and the number of subjects passed in the General Certificate of Education before leaving school, will be shown in Tables 14a, 14b, and 14c.

14a. Occupations of School-Leavers in relation to their Fathers' Occupations.

Although children of non-manual workers tended to take up manual work less frequently than did those whose fathers had themselves been manual workers, there was considerable social mobility and many young people took up a different type of work from their fathers.

As far as grammar and technical school boys were concerned, the proportion taking full-time further education at the time of interview was highest (26 per cent) amongst the sons of professional and managerial workers, and lowest when fathers were in the unskilled manual category (8 per cent).

Nineteen per cent of the sons of professional and managerial workers had already started work of a professional character, as compared with under 10 per cent of boys whose fathers came into other categories.

The proportions doing skilled manual work were lower amongst the sons of professional or other non-manual workers than amongst those whose fathers were themselves manual workers. Twenty-eight per cent of the sons of skilled manual workers, and 36 per cent amongst those whose fathers were non-skilled manual workers were in skilled manual occupations, as compared with 15 and 18 per cent respectively for sons of professional and managerial and other non-manual workers.

In the Modern School boys' sample approximately half the sons of both skilled and unskilled manual workers were in skilled manual occupations, and the proportion fell only slightly to 42 per cent in the case of sons of non-manual workers. The proportion of boys doing unskilled manual work was highest (35 per cent) amongst those whose fathers were themselves unskilled manual workers, and lowest amongst the sons of non-manual workers (22 per cent). Non-manual


[page 36]

work accounted for 24 per cent of those whose fathers were also non-manual workers, as compared with just over 10 per cent for sons of manual workers.

Table 14a*

*Rounding off in this and subsequent tables means that totals do not always aggregate 100 per cent.

Amongst Grammar and Technical School girls non-manual work, usually of a clerical nature, predominated irrespective of paternal occupation, though the proportion of girls in such work fell slightly to 53 per cent amongst daughters of professional and managerial workers, and was highest (75 per cent) amongst the daughters of unskilled manual workers.

The proportions taking full-time further education (including universities) varied most in relation to father's occupation, the figures ranging from 26 per cent in the case of daughters of professional and


[page 37]

managerial workers to 6 per cent amongst those whose fathers were unskilled manual workers. The proportion of girls already employed in professional work varied little with father's occupation and amounted to 15 per cent in the grammar and technical school girls' sample as a whole, but if those taking full-time education in preparation for a professional career were added, the daughters of professional and managerial workers would have a substantial lead over the other categories in so far as tile proportion entering the professions was concerned.

Twenty-three per cent of the daughters of non-manual workers in the Modern School sample were doing manual jobs, and the proportion rose to 39 per cent for daughters of skilled manual workers and to 48 per cent in cases where the father was an unskilled manual worker. The proportion of modern school girls doing non-manual work, other than professional, was somewhat higher amongst those whose fathers were also non-manual workers - 67 per cent, as compared with just over half for daughters of skilled manual workers and just under half for daughters of unskilled manual workers.

Table 14b. Occupations of School-Leavers in relation to Age of leaving School.

(i) Boys in the Grammar and Technical School Sample.

Two-thirds of the boys who left grammar or technical school at fifteen had gone into manual work. There can be little doubt that

NOTE: When dealing here with the occupations of the young people the "professional" category does not include "managerial", since they were too young to have achieved managerial status, though some would undoubtedly rise to this category later in their careers. When dealing with the occupations of the fathers the category is "professional and managerial".


[page 38]

the majority of 18 year-old leavers would ultimately become professional workers, though at the time of interview over half of them were still taking full-time further education and a quarter of them were doing their National Service. The 16 year-old leavers were fairly evenly divided between skilled manual work and clerical or other non-manual jobs. Only 13 per cent of the 17 year-old leavers had taken up manual work and the position is obscured by the fact that 38 per cent were in the Forces.

(ii) Boys in the Modern School Sample.

The modern school boys, 97 per cent of whom left school at 15, show a pattern of occupations similar to that of the 15 year-old leavers from grammar and technical schools, except that 28 per cent of modern school boys were in semi/unskilled manual work, as compared with only 11 per cent of grammar and technical school boys.

(iii) Girls in the Grammar and Technical School Sample.

Over 60 per cent of all grammar and technical school girls had taken up clerical or non-manual work other than professional, and it was only amongst those who had stayed at school until at least 18 that the proportion fell appreciably to 13 per cent.

(iv) Girls in the Modern School Sample.

Thirty-nine per cent of the modern school girls were doing manual work, as compared with 18 per cent of the 15 year-old leavers amongst grammar and technical school girls. Just over 50 per cent of the modern school girls were in non-manual occupations approximately two-thirds of which were clerical jobs.

14c. Occupations of School-Leavers in relation to G.C.E. Attainment at School.

G.C.E. was taken at school by less than 2 per cent of the modern school sample, but in the grammar and technical school sample, where numbers with passes in the G.C.E. are appreciable it is possible to consider the type of work taken up in relation to performance in G.C.E. before leaving school. Since, however, it was felt that information provided by parents about examination results might not be accurate Table 14c (below) refers only to the young people who were interviewed personally, whereas Tables 14a and 14b included as well those for whom only the parents' section of the questionnaire was completed.

The numbers in Table 14c should not be used in order to assess the proportion of the total sample who passed G.C.E. at various


[page 39]

levels (i.e. to compute across the columns rather than down) since those who stayed longest at school are under-represented. Otherwise it is mainly the proportions in the Forces which are most distorted (Cf. Table 14b with Table 14c), because only about one-fifth of the boys doing National Service happened to be at home on leave when the interviewer called, whereas it was possible to obtain an interview with approximately two-thirds of the full-time students since some of them were living at home while attending college and others were available during vacation.

Table 14c

*109 Boys who never took G.C.E. were Technical School Boys. Total No. of Tech. Boys - 132
61 Girls who never took G.C.E. were Technical School Girls. Total No. of Tech. Girls - 77

As might be expected it was only amongst those who had obtained at least one pass at "A" level that substantial proportions were taking full-time further education (including universities), at the time of


[page 40]

interview - over 60 per cent in the case of boys and 50 per cent of girls.

Amongst boys, the proportion who had already started work in professional occupations was lower amongst those with G.C.E. at "A" level than amongst those with several "O" but no "A" passes, mainly because many of those with Advanced G.C.E. were obtaining professional qualifications by means of full-time further education, whereas those who embarked on professional careers without "A" level G.C.E. were more often articled to their profession and were working for their qualifying examinations as part-time students.

Clerical and non-manual work, other than professional, predominated amongst boys who had passed G.C.E. at "O" level only, and the proportions doing manual work increased as the number of subjects passed in G.C.E. decreased and was as high as 73 per cent amongst boys who had never taken G.C.E.

Amongst girls, 39 per cent of those with G.C.E. at Advanced level were already working in professional occupations, as compared with 19 per cent of those with five or more passes at "O" level only and negligible proportions of those with less than five passes. The difference between boys and girls in respect of the proportions with G.C.E. at Advanced level who had already entered professions is due partly to the fact that girls tended to take shorter courses at college (Cf. Table 21b, Page 63) and therefore a higher proportion had already started work, and partly to the number of girls entering the nursing profession straight from school. Furthermore the girls were not affected by National Service.

The proportion of girls doing clerical or non-manual work, other than professional, was over 80 per cent amongst those with between one and four passes at "O" level only, decreasing somewhat to 65 per cent for those with five or more "O" passes, and falling sharply to 10 per cent for girls with Advanced G.C.E.

15. The Reasons given by School-Leavers for choosing the Type of Work they were doing. (see pp. 42 and 43).

Approximately one-third of the jobs taken by boys and girls in both samples were chosen became the young people wanted to do the kind of work involved, whereas a further 35 to 45 per cent of the reasons given for choosing jobs dealt with factors other than the actual work itself e.g. pay, prospects, working conditions, location, etc., and between 17 and 21 per cent of the jobs were not chosen for any specific reason but in the somewhat vague hope that the work would not prove uncongenial. In approximately 10 per cent of the


[page 41]

cases it was stated that there had been no choice in the matter because it was the only job available.

The proportions claiming a specific interest in the work itself did not vary greatly in relation to sex, or to type of school attended, and neither did the proportions who could produce no specific reason or who had no choice in the matter. The frequency with which any individual factor other than the work itself was mentioned tends to be low, which makes comparisons rather difficult, but it is worth observing that career prospects were mentioned more frequently in the grammar and technical school sample than in the modern school sample, and by boys more often than by girls, whereas the reverse situation applies in the case of "nice workmates".

Whereas one cannot hope to reveal all complexities governing choice of career merely by asking why young people chose a given job, the answers given are not without interest despite the oversimplified approach to the problem.

16. The Average Wage of young People in the various Occupational Groups.

It seems likely that consideration of the financial rewards obtainable must exert some influence on the choice of job, and when the average wages for the different occupational categories are considered it appears that at least for the first two or three years after leaving school the non-skilled manual workers receive the highest wages and the professional workers the lowest. It must, however, be remembered that many of the latter were still trainees in their profession, just as many of the skilled workers were still apprentices.

That the pay of professional and skilled workers may ultimately surpass that of the others is the long-term view, which may not have much immediate appeal to young people confronted with the choice between extra pocket money and no more examinations on the one hand and, on the other, lower wages or even no wages at all, and a considerable amount of studying and mental effort.


[page 42]

Table 15

Table 16

[See Notes on the text for an explanation of pre-decimal currency.]


[page 43]

Table 15 - continued

Table 16a. Average Wage of Apprentices as compared with other Workers.

[See Notes on the text for an explanation of pre-decimal currency.]


[page 44]

17. Travelling Time as a Factor in the Choice of Job.

Proximity of the job to home was mentioned as having influenced choice by only 3 per cent of boys, and 9 per cent of girls, but if actual time spent travelling to work is considered it seems clear that often the young people had chosen a job near their home.

Table 17


[page 45]

There is also the circumstance that boys more frequently used bicycles and auto-cycles which cut out time spent waiting for public transport.

Boys and girls in the grammar and technical school sample spent, on an average, five or six minutes more on the journey to work than did those in the modern school sample; and the young people living in small or medium-sized towns tended to have a shorter journey than those in the large conurbations or rural areas. The difference in average travel time between one type of area and another, however, never exceeded five minutes, although one might have expected the rural areas to involve longer journeys to work than urban areas. In fact, as far as grammar and technical school boys were concerned, the average journey to jobs held at the time of interview, by those living in conurbations, was five minutes longer than that of boys living in rural areas.

18. The Number of Jobs held since leaving School.

Since it is sometimes thought that young people drift rapidly from job to job it seemed important to attempt to assess the extent of this problem and, in order to do so, those who left school in 1954 have been separated from the 1955 leavers. The former had been on the labour market for two-and-a-half to just over three years, whereas the 1955 leavers had had between eighteen months and two-and-a-quarter years as employees (allowing for the fact that boys and girls usually leave at the end of a school term).

Fifty-nine per cent of grammar and technical school boys who left school in 1954 had held only one job in two-and-a-half to three-and-a-quarter years, and 17 per cent had held more than two jobs. Amongst the 1955 leavers the proportion of grammar and technical school boys who had never changed jobs rose to 73 per cent and only 8 per cent had changed more than once.

The grammar and technical school girls showed a very similar pattern to that of the boys for those who left school in 1954 i.e. 54 per cent had never changed jobs and 16 per cent had changed more than once, but a slightly higher proportion of girls had changed jobs once in the first eighteen months to two-and-a-quarter years (27 per cent of girls who left school in 1955 as compared with 19 per cent of boys).

When the grammar and technical school sample is considered as a whole, irrespective of the year in which they left school, 67 per cent of boys and 58 per cent of girls had never changed jobs, and only 12 per cent of boys and 13 per cent of girls had changed more than once.


[page 46]

Job changing occurred rather more frequently in the modern school sample, though here again substantial proportions, 49 per cent of boys and 44 per cent of girls had never changed jobs. On the other hand approximately one-quarter of the modern school boys and girls had changed jobs more than once since leaving school; and 13 per cent of boys and 11 per cent of girls had changed more than twice, as compared with 3 per cent of grammar and technical school boys and girls.

Table 18

Amongst those who left grammar and technical schools at fifteen, 24 per cent of boys and 28 per cent of girls changed jobs more than once, as compared with] 2 and 13 per cent for boys and girls respectively in the grammar and technical school sample as a whole. In this


[page 47]

Table 18a. Number of Jobs held, in relation to Age of leaving School.

N.B. - Although the period since leaving school varied from eighteen months to three years this variation applies equally in all age groups so the comparison is valid.

respect the 15 year-old leavers from grammar and technical schools were similar to the modern school sample, though the proportion who had not changed jobs at all was higher amongst boys and girls who had left grammar and technical schools at fifteen than amongst the young people from modern schools.

Amongst those who left school at sixteen or over, the proportions who changed jobs more than once were considerably reduced, ranging from 7 to 12 per cent in the case of boys, and from 5 to 11 per cent amongst girls. The apparent tendency, in Table 18a for boys who left at sixteen to change jobs less frequently than the 17 or 18 year-old leavers is attributable in part to apprenticeships, which occurred more frequently amongst the 16 year-old leavers, and also to the fact that a higher proportion of 17 and 18 year-old leavers had left jobs because they had been called up for National Service.

19. Proportions in the various occupational Groups who changed Jobs.

When the proportions in the different types of first job are compared with the position at the time of interview (by which time a number of people had changed jobs, in some cases more than once), it is seen that the distribution of occupations remains substantially the same (see Table 19); and it might perhaps be inferred therefore that young people do not change their type of work when they change employers. This is not, however, true, as emerges when the situation is examined in more detail in Table 19a. Equilibrium is maintained partly by compensating movements in and out of the various types of work.


[page 48]

Table 19


[page 49]

19a. The Extent to which those who changed moved into a different Type of Work.

Approximately half the boys from Grammar and Technical Schools who changed jobs for the first time took a second job within the same occupational category as their first, with the exception of boys in the non-skilled manual group. Forty-three per cent of boys doing other non-manual work in the grammar and technical school sample changed jobs at least once, as compared with 18 per cent of professional workers and 21 per cent of skilled manual. In the modern school sample 69 per cent of unskilled manual and 58 per cent of other non-manual workers changed jobs, as compared with 38 per cent of skilled manual workers. Of the twenty-seven grammar and technical school boys who left non-skilled manual jobs, only six went into this type of work in their second job, the first job having been, in the other cases, a temporary measure while awaiting more suitable work or call-up into the Forces. On the other hand, twenty-two other boys who had previously been in non-manual or skilled manual jobs moved into the unskilled manual category, thus maintaining it at approximately the same size. It was only in non-manual work (other than professional), and in the Forces, that the proportions moving in and out were not approximately equal. Seventy-nine boys left first jobs in the other non-manual category and only sixty, from all sources, took up this type of work in their second job. On the other hand, eight boys left the Forces and twenty-five went in, eighteen of whom came from the other non-manual category, deferment of National Service being less common in this category than amongst skilled manual or professional workers.

Amongst Modern School boys it was in the other non-manual group that a lower proportion of boys took a second job in the same category as their first-approximately one-third as compared with just over half in the skilled and unskilled manual categories. Here again, however, the categories remained more or less in a state of equilibrium because of movement from one group to another.

When boys changed from second jobs into third jobs much the same trends as were apparent between first and second jobs can be seen though the numbers involved are smaller. Approximately one-third of the grammar and technical boys who had changed jobs once changed again, as did half the boys who had already changed once in the modern school sample. In both samples the unskilled manual, and non-manual other than professional categories showed higher proportions who changed jobs than did the professional and skilled manual categories.


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Table 19a

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Table 19a - continued

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Table 19a - continued

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Table 19a - continued

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The majority of Grammar and Technical School girls in employment were engaged in non-manual work (other than professional) and 44 per cent in this category (171 out of 388) changed jobs as compared with 25 per cent in the professional category (16 out of 63). Seven of the professional workers who changed jobs took up professional work for their second job, eight moved into other non-manual work and one into non-skilled manual. Ten per cent of the other non-manual workers who changed jobs moved into professional work but the vast majority stayed in the other non-manual category.

Sixty-three per cent of Modern School girls in the non-skilled manual jobs left their first job, as compared with 35 per cent of those in skilled manual work and 58 per cent of those in the other non-manual category. Approximately 20 per cent of those who left non-manual first jobs moved into manual work - usually non-skilled - in their second job. Of the non-skilled manual workers who changed jobs, 58 per cent remained in this same category in their second job, the rest being fairly evenly divided between non-manual and skilled manual second jobs. Two-thirds of the girls in skilled manual work did not change jobs at all but of the thirty-eight who did change, only fourteen took skilled jobs for the second time, fifteen went into non-skilled manual jobs and nine into non-manual work.

Approximately one-third of the grammar and technical girls who changed jobs once also changed jobs at least once more, as compared with just under half of the modern school girls.

The young people were asked why they had left their jobs but in general it is not possible to say that any particular factors were of paramount importance in provoking frequent changes, on the basis of the reasons given by the young people themselves; and indeed one would not expect a great deal to emerge from such an invitation to rationalise. The fact remains that job changing tended to be less frequent amongst professional and skilled manual workers than amongst the rest, which is only to be expected in view of the training period involved. Unfortunately these two categories account for little over half the occupations followed by boys and for under 20 per cent of the occupations of girls.


[page 55]

CHAPTER 3

Further Education

The samples were divided into four categories when considering further education:

(1) those who were, at the time of interview, still taking part-time courses,
(2) those who had at one time attended part-time classes but had given them up,
(3) those who were receiving, or had received, some full-time education since leaving school, and
(4) those who had not participated at all in any form of further education.
20a. Further Education in relation to Age of leaving School.

As would be expected the 18 year-old leavers from grammar and technical schools showed the highest proportion with full-time further education (over 70 per cent) and the lowest proportion with part-time further education. Participation in part-time further education did not vary greatly, within the grammar and technical school samples, in relation to age of leaving school, except that girls who had left school at fifteen showed a somewhat higher proportion who had never participated, (36 per cent, as compared with 25 per cent for all grammar and technical school girls).

Ninety-seven per cent of the boys and girls in the modern school sample left school at fifteen and when they are compared with the 15 year-old leavers from grammar and technical schools there are great differences in the proportions still attending classes, or who never participated in further education, although the proportions who started part-time courses and gave them up are very similar. Whereas 57 per cent of boys who left grammar and technical schools at fifteen were still attending part-time classes, the figure was 32 per cent for modern school boys; and 46 per cent of modern school boys had never participated in further education as compared with 22 per cent of boys who had left grammar and technical schools at fifteen. Thirty per cent of 15 year-old leavers amongst grammar and technical school girls, and only 12 per cent of modern school girls were still attending part-time classes; and whereas 60 per cent of modern school girls had never participated in further education, the figure was 36 per cent for girls who left grammar and technical schools at fifteen.


[page 56]

Thus even amongst the premature leavers from grammar and technical schools the proportion participating in part-time further education is greater, for both boys and girls, than amongst modern school-leavers.

Table 20a

*97 per cent of modern school boys and girls left school at 15.
Table adds to over 100 per cent because some boys and girls had both full and part-time Further Education.

20b. Further Education in relation to Father's Occupation.

Participation in further education did not vary a great deal in relation to father's occupation, except that, in the grammar and technical school sampJe, a higher proportion of sons and daughters of fathers in the professional and managerial category received full-time further education - 33 per cent of boys and 42 per cent of girls as compared with 19 per cent of all grammar and technical school boys and 28 per cent of girls.

Seventy-three per cent of the daughters of non-skilled manual workers in the modern school sample had never participated in further education, as compared with 60 per cent of all modern school girls and 28 per cent of girls with fathers in non-skilled manual occupations in the grammar and technical school sample.


[page 57]

Table 20b

Table adds to over 100 per cent because some boys and girls had both full and part-time Further Education.


[page 58]

20c. Participation in Further Education in relation to present Occupation.

Only those who were already in paid employment either as trainees or qualified persons have been included in the professional category in Table 20c. Many of the boys and girls who would ultimately take up professional work were still taking full-time further education and came therefore into the "no occupation" category. The proportions with full-time further education in the professional category are thus less than they would otherwise be, though a higher proportion of grammar and technical school girls who tended to take shorter full-time courses than the boys, (see Table 21b) had completed full-time further education and taken up professional occupations (39 per cent as compared with 12 per cent for boys). It is estimated that the proportions with full-time further education in the professional category in the grammar and technical school sample would rise to over 50 per cent for both boys and girls, if those still taking full-time further education, but intending to take up professional work afterwards, were included; and the proportions with part-time further education or no further education at all, would be somewhat reduced.

The boys doing skilled manual work, in both samples, showed the highest proportions still taking part-time classes (77 per cent for grammar and technical school boys and 46 per cent for modern school boys), and the lowest proportions who had never participated in further education (12 per cent in the grammar and technical school sample and 35 per cent in the modern school sample).

Those in clerical jobs had the highest proportions with no further education at all amongst grammar and technical school boys, except for the non-skilled manual workers whose numbers were, in many cases, too small to percentage. Negligible numbers of modern school boys were in clerical jobs and it was the non-skilled manual workers amongst modern school boys who showed the lowest proportions participating in further education.

Clerical work accounted for 60 per cent of the occupations of grammar and technical school girls, and for 30 per cent of those of modern school girls, and the proportions of clerical workers participating in further education was the same in both samples - 26 per cent were still taking part-time classes, 17 or 18 per cent had taken a full-time course, and a further 17 or 18 per cent had never participated in further education. The tendency for courses taken by clerical workers to be of short duration is emphasised by the fact that 40 per cent had already ceased to attend part-time classes.


[page 59]

Table 20c

*Some boys and girls had both full and part-time Further Education and are counted twice.


[page 60]

20d. Participation in Further Education in rural as compared with urban Areas.

It seemed possible that fewer young people in rural areas might participate in further education owing to lack of facilities or difficulties of travel but the differences between urban and rural areas were not great.

Table 20d

*Table adds to over 100 per cent because some boys and girls had both full and part-time Further education.


[page 61]

21. Full-Time Further Education.

Since full-time further education covered a very varied field, ranging from the universities to such things as machine operators' courses lasting only a few weeks, it is necessary to consider the duration of full-time further education, and also what proportions attended the various types of college, institute, etc. In the grammar and technical samples it was also possible to consider these proportions in relation to father's occupation, but the proportions taking full-time further education in the modern school samples were so small that further breakdowns were impracticable.

21a. The Proportions attending the various Types of Institutions for full-time Further Education.

Nine per cent of the Grammar and Technical School boys interviewed went to universities, 5 per cent attended full-time courses at technical colleges after leaving school, and a further 5 per cent took full-time courses at other colleges or institutes, which included art schools, commercial colleges, trades schools, teacher training colleges, etc. The proportion with university education rose to 20 per cent in cases of sons of professional and managerial workers, but otherwise the figures did not vary much in relation to father's occupation. It must be borne in mind that some boys do their National Service before going to the university, so ultimately the proportion of boys with full-time further education will probably be somewhat higher than the figures given in this report.

Three per cent of the Grammar and Technical School girls went to universities and 8 per cent to teacher training colleges. Seven per cent took full-time courses at commercial colleges and 6 per cent at technical colleges. A further 4 per cent went to other colleges and institutes, which included art schools, domestic science colleges, commercial colleges, etc. When considering the proportion of girls taking full-time courses at technical colleges it must be remembered that many of these courses were in commercial rather than technical subjects.

The proportion attending universities was 8 per cent in the case of daughters of fathers in the professional and managerial category, as compared with 2 per cent for skilled manual and non-manual, and less than 1 per cent for daughters of unskilled manual workers. Fifteen per cent took full-time courses at commercial colleges, amongst daughters of fathers in the professional and managerial category, as compared with 7 per cent of all grammar and technical school girls.


[page 62]

21b. The Duration of full-time Further Education.

Sixty-six per cent of the full-time courses taken by boys, after leaving grammar and technical schools, lasted for more than two years, and 11 per cent lasted for more than one year but not more than two. Thirteen per cent of the courses lasted for less than six months, and 10 per cent for six months to one year.

Amongst boys from modern schools the situation was reversed, with 60 per cent of the full-time courses lasting for less than six months and only 12 per cent lasting for more than two years.


[page 63]

The grammar and technical school girls tended to take shorter courses of full-time further education than did the grammar and technical school boys, mainly because of the lower proportion going to universities, and also because of the popularity, amongst girls, of commercial courses, often of comparatively short duration. Thirty-one per cent of the courses lasted for more than one, but not more than two years, (mainly teacher training courses), 30 per cent lasted for six months to one year and 17 per cent for less than six months.

Twenty-seven per cent of the courses taken by modern school girls lasted for less than six months, as compared with 60 per cent for modern school boys. The proportions for courses lasting six to twelve months (31 per cent), and over twelve to twenty-four months (33 per cent), were very much the same for modern school girls as for grammar and technical school girls, but only 9 per cent of the courses taken by modern school girls lasted for more than two years, as compared with 22 per cent for grammar and technical school girls.

Table 21b

*Duration = Length of time attended for students no longer going, or expected duration of courses still in progress and attended. Abandonment of full-time courses was not common.


[page 64]

22a. The Type of Course taken by part-time Students.

Amongst Grammar and Technical School boys National Certificate courses accounted for 35 per cent of the part-time students, and City and Guilds came next with 22 per cent. Sixteen per cent of the grammar and technical school boys who took part-time further education were working for G.C.E. and 9 per cent for examinations of professional institutions or the civil service. A further 6 per cent of part-time students took other courses with qualifying examinations, and 12 per cent of the courses taken by grammar and technical school boys had no examinations attached to them.

In the Modern School boys' sample City and Guilds courses accounted for 42 per cent of part-time students, and National Certificate courses for 22 per cent. Three per cent took G.C.E. courses, and 11 per cent other courses with qualifying examinations. Twenty-two per cent of the courses taken by modern school boys had no examinations attached to them.

Amongst Grammar and Technical School girls 44 per cent of the part-time courses taken had no examinations attached to them and 26 per cent were courses for qualifications in commercial subjects. Eleven per cent of the part-time students were working for G.C.E., 4 per cent for National Certificate, and 4 per cent for examinations of professional institutions or the civil service. Eleven per cent of the courses were for other miscellaneous qualifications.

In the Modern School Girls' sample, 62 per cent of the part-time courses had no qualifying examinations attached to them, 19 per cent were examination courses in commercial subjects, and 3 per cent were G.C.E. courses. Sixteen per cent were courses with other qualifying examinations.

That 16 per cent of the part-time courses taken by grammar and technical school boys and 11 per cent in the case of girls should have been G.C.E. is noteworthy since in many cases they presumably could have done this at school had they chosen to do so. Approximately three-quarters of the grammar and technical school girls taking G.C.E. as part-time students were doing it at "O" level, as were three-fifths of the grammar and technical school boys.

In both samples the girls took a higher proportion of courses which had no examinations attached to them than did the boys. Some of these courses may nevertheless have had a vocational motive. There is little doubt, however, that the majority of courses without qualifying examinations were not essential to the job held, though they may in


[page 65]

some cases have had a certain degree of vocational usefulness. Many of them were purely recreational, such as keep fit classes and dancing classes. In any event, a high proportion of these non-examination courses were given up, as will be seen later in Table 22b.

The "other courses with qualifying examinations" were, in the main, vocational trade courses.

Table 22a


[page 66]

22b. The Proportion within the various part-time Courses who had given up attending Classes.

Between 70 and 80 per cent of all part-time students, who started courses not leading to qualifying examinations, had given them up by the time of interview. Two-thirds of the boys and girls in the

Table 22b


[page 67]

grammar and technical school sample who took part-time G.C.E. courses had already stopped attending, approximately half the girls and two-thirds of the boys having given up without passing the examination in any subject.

Thirty-three per cent of modern school boys who started National Certificate courses gave up, as compared with 12 per cent of grammar and technical school boys. Thirteen per cent of modern school boys and 9 per cent of grammar and technical school boys gave up City and Guilds courses; and other courses with qualifying examinations were given up by 44 per cent of modern school boys who started them and by 38 per cent of grammar and technical school boys.

It was thus only in National Certificate courses that modern school boys were markedly more prone to give up than grammar and technical school boys, and it will be shown later that day release was given less frequently to modern school boys taking National Certificate courses than to grammar and technical boys, which may have affected the proportions giving up the course (see Table 25a).

As far as girls were concerned the proportion of all part-time students who had given up courses was approximately two-thirds in both samples, whereas approximately two-thirds of the boys in both samples were continuing courses.

22c. The Duration of part-time Education.

Amongst those still continuing part-time classes, 86 per cent of grammar and technical school boys, and 67 to 76 per cent in the other three groups, had been attending for more than a year; and, in fact, 36 per cent of the grammar and technical school boys, and 25 to 29 per cent of the others had been going to classes for more than two years, which is quite a substantial proportion in view of the fact that only those who left school in 1954, or early in 1955 had an opportunity to attend for more than two years, i.e. approximately half the grammar and technical school sample and two-thirds of the modern school boys and girls. (This difference between the samples being due to the fact that pupils from grammar and technical schools tend to wait till the end of the school year before leaving).

Amongst those no longer attending classes, on the other hand, just over a third in all groups had given up less than six months after starting; and only 20 per cent of modern school girls, and 26 per cent of the others, had carried on for more than a year before giving up.


[page 68]

Table 22c

*Duration = Length of time attended to date of interview.

23. The Achievements of part-time Students who had given up Classes.

As seen above, at least three-quarters of those who had given up classes had done so during, or at the end of, their first year as part-time students, and one would not therefore expect their achievements to be great. The diversity of courses and the small numbers involved in most cases, make it difficult to summarise their achievements in any very meaningful way. Taking, however, those who gave up courses leading to examinations, one finds that 78 per cent in the modern school boys' sample, and just over 60 per cent in the other three groups, abandoned courses without passing an examination at any level in any subject.


[page 69]

Table 23

24. Pressures and Inducements towards part-time Classes.

The general effects on the proportions participating in further education of factors such as home and educational background, and type of work taken up, were discussed earlier; but there is still the question of what effect advice in favour of classes by parents, teachers, youth employment officers and employers, has on the proportions doing so.

The inducements offered by employers to encourage attendance at classes, particularly the granting of day release to part-time students, are clearly of major importance, as also is the question of the extent to which participation in part-time further education was voluntary or a compulsory condition of employment.

24a. The Proportions of School-Leavers who received Suggestions about part-time Classes from various Sources.

A higher proportion of boys than girls received suggestions from various sources about the advisability of taking part-time classes. Only 9 per cent of grammar and technical school boys, 16 per cent of modern school boys, and approximately one-quarter of the girls in both samples, said that no-one had ever suggested they should attend part-time classes; and in all groups except grammar and technical school girls the proportion saying they had received no suggestions about classes was considerably higher amongst those who had never taken part-time further education than amongst those who had done.


[page 70]

Table 24a

N.B. - Table adds to over 100 per cent because the suggestion of classes often came from more than one source.

The Grammar and Technical School girls appear to have ignored advice to take classes at least as frequently as they followed it, except that amongst those who had taken part-time classes, employers had suggested it in 48 per cent of the cases, as compared with 33 per cent amongst those with no further education at all.

Classes had been suggested by school teachers and employers with approximately equal frequency amongst Modern School girls who had taken part-time further education (45 per cent in the case of teachers, and 47 per cent for employers) whereas amongst modern school girls with no further education at all only 12 per cent said that their employers had advised them to take classes, although their schools had apparently done so in 36 per cent of the cases. The parents of modern school girls had suggested classes in 32 per cent of the cases in the group who had participated in part-time further education, as compared with 16 per cent amongst non-participants.

Amongst Modern School boys, the figures for suggestions from parents about classes were very similar to those for modern school girls; but the figure for employers was as high as 81 per cent amongst modern school boys who had taken part-time classes, as compared with 25 per cent in the case of modern school boys with no further education at all.


[page 71]

Employers had suggested part-time classes to 83 per cent of the Grammar and Technical School boys who took them, though it is perhaps equally noteworthy that employers had also advocated classes in 42 per cent of the cases amongst grammar and technical school boys who did not participate at all in further education.

24b. Compulsory part-time Classes as a Condition of Employment.

Although suggestions from teachers, youth employment officers and parents no doubt had some effect on the proportions participating in part-time further education, it is clear that, amongst boys at least, the predominant influence was that of employers. This raises the question to what extent employers enforced their wishes in this matter by making attendance at part-time classes a virtually compulsory condition of employment.

Table 24b shows that, amongst boys still attending classes, attendance was compulsory for 66 per cent in the grammar and technical school sample, and for 70 per cent in the modern school sample.

Amongst girls, however, classes were compulsory for about 20 per cent of those who were still attending them at the time of interview.

Table 24b

The difference between boys and girls in the proportions attending classes voluntarily is of particular interest when one considers what this means in terms of the total samples, instead of merely amongst those at present attending classes. As the next table shows 48 per cent of boys and 22 per cent of girls in the grammar and technical school sample, and 32 per cent of boys and 12 per cent of girls in the modern school sample, were still taking part-time further education at the time of interview; but when one considers only those doing so voluntarily one finds that the proportions for the sexes are equal in the two samples, i.e. 16 per cent for boys and 17 per cent for girls in the grammar and technical school sample, and 10 per cent for both boys and girls in the modern school sample.


[page 72]

Table 24b (i)

24c. The Proportions of part-time Students who had Day Release.

Sixty-five per cent of all boys who had ever taken part-time further education, in both samples, were given day release by their employers in order to attend classes; and amongst boys still attending classes the proportion with day release was 78 per cent in the grammar and technical school sample, and 75 per cent in the modern school sample, The proportion of day release students amongst boys who had given up part-time courses was appreciably lower - 37 per cent in the grammar and technical school sample and 48 per cent in the modern school sample.

Thus it would seem clear that amongst boys day release is a powerful factor in favour of the continuance of part-time further education. Amongst girls, on the other hand, the proportion of day release students did not exceed 20 per cent of all who had ever taken part-time further education, and this proportion varied little between those who had given up, and those who were continuing, part-time classes.

Table 24c


[page 73]

24d. Other inducements offered by Employers.

Some employers encouraged participation in part-time further education by such inducements as payment of class fees, or fares, or the awarding of prizes to successful students; but clearly these inducements must be considered in relation to whether they were

Table 24d

N.B. - Table adds to over 100 per cent because some employers gave more than one inducement.


[page 74]

additional to, or instead of, day release. The employers who gave day release also gave other inducements more frequently than those who did not give day release. Over 70 per cent of boys' employers, who did not give day release, also failed to give any other inducements, whereas amongst boys with day release only 29 per cent in the grammar and technical school sample, and 40 per cent in the modern school sample, said their employers gave no additional inducements.

As far as the girls in both samples were concerned, 88 per cent of employers who did not give day release also gave no other inducement, whereas amongst girls who received day release, only 22 per cent in the grammar and technical school sample and 32 per cent in the modern school sample said their employers gave no additional inducements.

The proportion of employers offering no inducements tended to be higher amongst students who had given up classes than amongst those who were continuing part-time further education.

25. The Conditions of Day Release.

Since day release, for boys at least, is probably the most important single factor operating in favour of continued participation in further education, it is worth considering some of the conditions under which it operates; in particular, the type of course for which day release is given, the extent to which the granting of day release is conditional upon attendance at evening class as well, and the proportion of students who suffer any financial loss because of day release.

25a. The Proportion of day release Students within the various Courses.

Amongst grammar and technical school boys taking National Certificate and City and Guilds courses 86 per cent were day release students, as compared with 44 per cent of those taking G.C.E. and approximately one-third of those in other courses.

In the modern school sample, day release was given to 83 per cent of the boys taking City and Guilds courses, but to only 58 per cent of those taking National Certificate and to approximately half the boys in other courses. We have no evidence as to why the proportion of modern school boys with day release for National Certificate courses should be lower than that of grammar and technical school boys, whereas the proportions with day release for City and Guilds courses are approximately the same in the two samples. The lower proportions with day release in National Certificate courses, amongst modern school boys, must be borne in mind when making com-


[page 75]

parisons between the two samples in terms of the proportions who gave up courses (see Table 22b).

Only 20 per cent of the girls with part-time further education had ever had day release, and the proportion of day release students, in both samples, was highest amongst those taking "other courses with qualifying examinations" that is amongst those working for examinations of professional and trades institutes. Of the girls who took commercial courses, only 17 per cent in the grammar and technical sample, and 13 per cent in the modern school sample, had day release.

Table 25a


[page 76]

25b. The Proportion of day release Students who also attended Evening Classes.

For approximately half the boys who received day release it was compulsory that they should also attend an evening class (52 per cent in the grammar and technical school sample and 47 per cent in the modern school sample). A further 19 per cent in the grammar and technical sample, and 13 per cent in the modern school sample, attended evening classes voluntarily in addition to their day release classes.

Table 25b. Day release Students and Evening Classes.

Amongst girls 19 per cent of day release students in the grammar and technical school sample, and 12 per cent in the modern school sample attended compulsory evening classes, and a further 33 per cent and 21 per cent of clay release students, in the two samples respectively, attended voluntary evening classes.

Table 25c. The Proportion of Day Release Students who lost Wages or Bonus because of Day Release.


[page 77]

Loss of wages or bonus because of day release was virtually non-existent amongst girls, and occurred amongst only 10 or 11 per cent of men day release students. In the cases where there was some financial loss, it was usually not that the employer had deducted wages for the day spent at class, but that the production bonus which the boy might otherwise have earned was adversely affected.

26. The Time spent at Work and Study by part-time Students.

It seemed important that we should attempt to assess just how much time young workers have to spend when they attempt to combine studying with earning a living.

26a. The average Number of Hours per Week spent at Work and Study by day release, as compared with evening only, Students.

It seemed likely that students without P.D.R. might be left with considerably less leisure time than those with P.D.R., but Table 26a reveals that the average total hours per week spent at work and class and on homework were actually a fraction longer amongst day release students than amongst those students without day release in the grammar and technical school samples; and in the modern school sample, although those without day release showed a slightly higher average num ber of hours, the difference was less than one hour per week. The explanation for this, on the surface surprising circumstance, no doubt lies to some extent in the fact that day release students tended to take more time-consuming courses and that, except for the modern school girls, the majority of day release students also attended evening classes. It must also be recognised that the small number of girls with day release, and the comparatively low proportion of boys without day release, make the average figures somewhat unreliable.

Table 26a. The average Number of Hours per Week spent on Work (i.e. Job) + Class + Homework by Students still taking part-time Classes.


[page 78]

Unfortunately it is not possible to produce comparable figures for those who had given up classes, since many of them could not remember accurately, having often attended classes for a comparatively short period some considerable time ago, and in some cases their working hours had also changed since then.

26b. The Number of Evenings per Week spent at Classes by those still attending compared with those who had given up part-time Further Education.

Just over half the part-time students amongst girls in both samples, and irrespective of whether classes were continuing or had been given up, attended classes on more than one evening per week; whereas amongst the boys in both samples, although just over half the part-time students who had given up had classes on more than one evening per week, the proportions with evening classes more than once a week amongst boys still continuing part-time further education were only a little over one-third. Furthermore 24 per cent of grammar and technical school boys who had given up classes, and

Table 26b


[page 79]

37 per cent in the modern school boys sample, had classes more than twice a week, as compared with 12 per cent and 18 per cent for boys continuing classes in the two samples.

There seems little doubt that the chances of a course being abandoned increase, as far as boys at least are concerned, the more evenings per week that are involved. This is somewhat less true of girls because the courses taken were on the whole, either comparatively short-term commercial ones or of a recreational rather than vocational nature.

Table 26c. The Proportion of part-time Students saying that Classes took up more Time than they wished to give.

It is noteworthy that the proportions feeling that classes made too heavy a demand upon their time were appreciably higher amongst those who had given up part-time education; but the majority of young people denied, when asked directly, that classes took up more time than they wished to give. It is possible that a prestige factor was involved here to some extent, in the sense that they did not wish to appear frivolous or lazy.


[page 80]

27. The Reasons given for ceasing to attend Classes, and Criticisms of Classes made by part-time Students.

Many of the reasons given for ceasing to take part-time classes, though expressed in a variety of ways, meant in effect, that the courses had been dropped because they were not essential to the jobs held, either because they had reached the minimum level required by their employers, or because they had changed jobs, or because the course was not of direct vocational value. Many of those who said that they gave up because they had completed the course had done so at a comparatively low level, and thus "Course completed" was often not essentially different in meaning from "further classes not necessary for job".

Table 27


[page 81]

CHAPTER 4

Leisure Time Interests and Activities

It was not possible at the end of an already lengthy questionnaire to deal with leisure activities in great detail. It seemed worthwhile, however, to consider whether there were any major differences, in broad outline at least, between those young people participating in further education and the others, in so far as membership of clubs and other organisations was concerned.

28. Membership of Clubs and other Organisations.

There appeared to be no suitably brief definition of "clubs" which would not confuse rather more than it clarified the issue. The young people were therefore merely asked a series of questions about any clubs or societies of which they had ever been members and this was amplified by means of a prompt list which covered:- "Youth clubs, social clubs, drama and debating societies, uniformed organisations, hobbies groups, and clubs or societies of any other kind."

A higher proportion of grammar and technical school-leavers than modern school-leavers were club members and, within each sample, club membership was higher amongst boys than girls. Thus in the grammar and technical school sample 79 per cent of the boys and 60 per cent of the girls were members of one or more clubs at the time of interview as compared with 56 per cent of boys and 35 per cent of girls who had left modern schools.*

That men are more club-minded than women is well-known, so it is perhaps not surprising that this should also be true in the case of young people. It is interesting to note, however, that the type of school attended produces at least as great a difference in the proportions belonging to clubs as does sex, and that indeed the girls with grammar or technical school background show at least as high a proportion of club members as do the boys from modern or all-age schools.

It is also noteworthy that the boys who had attended grammar or technical schools not only had the highest proportion of club members but 25 per cent of them belonged to more than two clubs, as compared with only 7 per cent of modern school boys belonging

*These percentages are much higher than those in Part Two (National Service Survey) page 166 where the definition is restricted to active membership of Boys', Mixed or Uniformed organisations.


[page 82]

to more than two clubs. Eleven per cent of girls from grammar or technical schools belonged to more than two clubs, as compared with 2 per cent of girls in the modern school sample. Amongst grammar and technical school-leavers who had received full-time further education the proportion belonging to more than two clubs at the time of interview was 40 per cent for boys and 19 per cent for girls.

Table 28

*Totals add to less than the sum of the categories because some boys and girls had both full and part-time further education.


[page 83]

Amongst boys in the Grammar and Technical School sample the total proportions of club members as opposed to non-members did not vary greatly with the degree of participation in further education, but it is noteworthy that the proportion who had been club members at one time but had given it up was highest amongst those who had also started part-time classes and given them up, (26 per cent as compared with 15 or 16 per cent in the other categories).

In the Modern School Boy's sample club membership was highest (65 per cent) amongst those who were continuing part-time further education and lowest amongst those who had taken some full-time further education. It must be remembered however that only 53 modern school boys in all had taken a full-time course after leaving school and that for 60 per cent of these the course had lasted for less than six months. (See Table 21b, Page 63). These short courses at commercial schools or technical colleges can hardly be regarded as analogous with the full-time courses at technical colleges or university taken by many of the grammar and technical school boys who went on to full-time further education. Modern school boys who started part-time classes but gave them up, show a somewhat higher proportion of club members than those with no further education at all (58 per cent as compared with 49 per cent), but slightly lower than those who were continuing with part-time courses.

Amongst Grammar and Technical School Girls club membership was 71 per cent for those with full-time further education as compared with 49 per cent for those with no further education at all. There was little difference between those still taking part-time classes and those who had already given them up (around 60 per cent in both cases were club members).

The Modern School Girl's sample showed by far the lowest proportion with club membership - 35 per cent for the sample as a whole. This figure drops to 28 per cent for those who had received no further education at all but there was little difference between the three categories with some further education, the figures ranging from 44 to 50 per cent.

Thus it would seem that as far, as girls are concerned, club membership tends to be higher amongst those who take some form of further education after leaving school than amongst those who do not. This is also true in the main of modern school boys, except for the small group who took a short course of full-time training after leaving school. The grammar and technical school boys, on the other hand, appear to be generally club-minded and even those who had received no further education at all after leaving school did not show a lower proportion of club members than did the sample as a whole.


[page 84]

The evidence also suggests that those boys and girls who start part-time education after leaving school and abandon it, also tend to give up being club members rather more than do those who continue with their part-time classes.

29. The Type of Club to which School-Leavers belonged.

Having noted the differences between the various groups in respect

Table 29

(N.B. - This Table is based on the number of clubs not the number of members. For the proportions of young people belonging to the various types of club, see Table 29a).

*Totals add to less than the sum of categories because some boys and girls had both full and part-time Further Education.


[page 85]

of the proportion of club members to non-members, it remains to consider whether there are any major differences with regard to the type of club joined by those participating in further education as compared with the rest. In Table 29 we see that organisations providing general activity of the youth club type account for over 40 per cent of the clubs to which boys and girls in the modern school sample belonged, and for around 30 per cent of clubs of which boys and girls in the grammar and technical school sample were members.

Amongst grammar and technical school boys the youth clubs were equalled in popularity by organisations concerned with outdoor sports which also accounted for approximately 20 per cent of the clubs to which modern school boys and grammar and technical school girls belonged. For modern school girls, on the other hand, outdoor sports were relatively unimportant and clubs where dancing was the only activity were, apart from youth clubs, the only sizeable group and accounted for 23 per cent of the clubs to which modern school girls belonged, as compared with only 6 or 7 per cent in the other three samples.

In general the type of club activity varied little in relation to participation in further education, except that those who had taken some full-time education since leaving school showed somewhat higher proportions of clubs concerned with arts, crafts, music, etc., with a resultant reduction in the preponderance of youth club activity. The modern school boys who had taken full-time courses after leaving school did not show this wider range of interests.

Table 29, being based on the number of clubs to which the young people belonged, indicates only the relative popularity of the different types of club in relation to each other. In order to see what proportion of young people belonged to the various types of club it is necessary to turn to Table 29a.

29a. The Proportion of School-Leavers belonging to the various Types of Club.

The totals in Table 29a add to over 100 per cent because some boys and girls were members of more than one type of club but the Table has been adjusted to eliminate double counting in cases where the same person was a member of more than one club of the same type. This problem arose mainly in the outdoor sports category, where some people were, for example, members of both football and cricket clubs, or tennis and swimming clubs, etc.

The overall picture in Table 29a is much the same as that presented by Table 29 ; but in the case of grammar and technical school boys


[page 86]

the relatively high proportion belonging to more than one type of club makes youth club activity less predominant in Table 29 than it appears in Table 29a, because although youth clubs account for only 29 per cent of the total club activity (Table 29) of boys with grammar or technical school background, 49 per cent of these boys were actually members of youth clubs. With modern school girls, on the other hand, the fact that 65 per cent of them belonged to no clubs at all reduces the proportion who are members of youth clubs to 21 per cent in Table 29a, although youth clubs accounted for 43 per cent of the clubs to which those who were club members belonged.

Table 29a

30. The Organisations who run the Clubs to which School-Leavers belong.

Only 5 or 6 per cent of the clubs to which boys and girls from grammar or technical schools belonged at the time of interview were run by municipal or non-religious voluntary organisations as compared with around 20 per cent of clubs to which modern school boys and girls belonged. This difference was particularly marked in the case of youth clubs where only 18 per cent of those attended by


[page 87]

grammar and technical school boys, and 14 per cent of those to which grammar and technical school girls belonged, were run by municipal or non-religious voluntary bodies, as compared with 38 and 40 per cent of the youth clubs to which modern school boys and girls respectively belonged. It seems therefore that differences in school background continue to segregate young people even after they have left school.

Table 30


[page 88]

The comparatively high proportion of clubs run by private enterprise is noteworthy, particularly as far as boys were concerned. Forty-three per cent of the clubs to which the modern school boys belonged were run by private or commercial organisations as compared with 37 per cent and 23 per cent for grammar and technical school boys and girls respectively and 29 per cent for modern school girls. Private enterprise predominated amongst the clubs where dancing was the only activity, accounting for 58 per cent of the dancing clubs attended by grammar and technical school girls and for approximately 80 per cent in the other three groups. Sports clubs were also dominated to quite a large extent by the private and commercial organisations, which were often the supporters' clubs of the local football team, though in the grammar and technical school sample private clubs for tennis and other sports were also popular.

30a. The Proportion of part-time Students taking part in extra-curricular Activities at the College or Institute attended for part-time Further Education.

The fact that in the grammar and technical school sample 18 per cent of boys' clubs and 22 per cent of girls' clubs were run by college or old scholars' associations, as compared with only 2 per cent of those in the modern school sample, is not surprising since the grammar and technical school boys and girls with full-time further education had not only a high proportion of club members but also a high proportion who were members of several clubs (see Table 28). Few of the colleges attended for part-time further education, on the other hand, appeared to provide club facilities and Table 30a (below) shows that negligible proportions of part-time students took part in any extra-curricular activities at their college or institute.

Table 30a

31. Club Membership in rural as compared with urban Areas.

It seemed possible that the proportion of club members might be


[page 89]

considerably lower in rural than in urban areas; in fact, there was in the main, very little difference between them; though amongst girls from grammar and technical schools 62 per cent in urban areas were club members as compared with only 47 per cent in rural areas; and 30 per cent of modern school girls in rural areas had never been club members, as compared with 18 per cent of modern school girls from urban areas. There was also very little difference between urban and rural areas as far as the demand for extra clubs was concerned.

Table 31

32. Club Membership in relation to Age of Members.

The issue of age in relation to club membership is complicated by the fact that the older boys and girls in the grammar and technical school sample were those who had stayed longer at school and who had, in many cases, received full-time further education. The somewhat increased proportions of club members amongst the 20 year-olds in the grammar and technical school sample does not therefore necessarily imply that young people become more club minded as they get older but is rather a reflection of the tendency for club membership to be higher amongst those with more education.

The issue is more straightforward in the modern school sample where 97 per cent of the boys and girls left school at fifteen. Club membership amongst modern school boys tends to increase slightly


[page 90]

between the ages of sixteen and eighteen whereas with the girls it begins to decrease at seventeen.

Table 32

32a. Type of Club in relation to Age of Members.

Table 32a shows the distribution of the various types of club in relation to the age of members, but does not add substantially to the information already derived from Table 29 since the relative frequency of one type of club in relation to another does not vary greatly with age.

Amongst modern school boys and girls youth clubs predominate in all age groups but outdoor sports clubs are somewhat more popular with the 15 year-olds than the 16 year-olds, and for the girls, dancing clubs outnumber outdoor sports clubs in all age groups.

As far as Grammar and Technical School boys are concerned, youth clubs, and sports clubs are fairly evenly balanced in the 15 and 19 year-old groups; but amongst the 17 year-olds youth clubs occur twice as frequently as outdoor sports clubs, and amongst the 20 year-olds the situation is reversed, 32 per cent of the clubs being


[page 91]

sports clubs and 18 per cent youth clubs. The 20 year-olds were the older leavers from grammar and technical schools, many of whom had gone on to take full-time further education. Table 32 shows that 42 per cent of 20 year-olds and over belonged to more than two clubs as compared with 25 per cent of the grammar and technical school boys. The increased frequency of sports clubs in this age group in Table 32a is in part therefore a reflection of the fact that some of them belonged to more than one sports club. As already mentioned in connection with Table 29, these older leavers also tended to belong to somewhat higher proportions of arts, music and hobbies clubs than did the rest.

For Grammar and Technical school girls the picture in Table 32a is similar to that for grammar and technical school boys, except that sports clubs were not quite so popular.

Table 32a


[page 92]

33. Evening Activities outside the Home.

The young people were asked what they had done on each evening not spent at home during the seven days prior to the interview.

The boys in the Grammar and Technical School Sample spent an average of 4 nights a week on leisure activities outside the home, and this rose to 4.5 nights in the case of those with no further education and fell to 3.4 nights per week for boys with some full-time further education. The boys who were continuing part-time classes spent an average of 3.7 nights out per week for leisure activities (evenings spent at class were excluded), as compared with 4.2 nights for boys who had given up part-time classes.

Interviewing took place during the spring and summer months and outdoor activities accounted for an average of 1.0 evenings per week, followed by dancing or social activity at clubs (excluding games) .92, and cinema or shows .84.

The average time spent on dancing varied little with participation in further education.

The Grammar and Technical School boys with full-time further education spent an average of .64 evenings per week at the cinema or shows, as compared with 1.0 for boys who had given up part-time classes, .90 for boys who had received no further education since leaving school, and .81 for boys who were continuing with part-time classes. The boys who had taken full-time further education spent slightly less time than the rest on outdoor activities (.70 as compared with 1.0 for the sample as a whole), in spite of the fact that outdoor sports clubs pre-dominated amongst the clubs to which this group of boys belonged (see Table 29). It must be recognised however that sports clubs are more frequently a weekend than an evening activity. The outdoor evening activity frequently took the form of walking or riding bicycles or motor cycles, though there was of course some tennis, cricket, swimming, etc.

The Modern School boys spent an average of 4.5 evenings per week on leisure activities outside the home, as compared with 4.0 for grammar and technical school boys. They spent rather more time on outdoor activities and the cinema than did the grammar and technical school boys and rather less on other activities. The cinema was somewhat less popular with the modern school boys who were continuing with part-time classes than with those who had given them up, or who had received no further education; and dancing occupied an average of 1.05 evenings a week amongst those who had given up part-time classes, as compared with .79 evenings for all modern school boys.


[page 93]

Table 33 (i)

*Totals are less than the sum of the categories because some boys had both full and part-time F.E.


[page 94]

Table 33 (ii)

*Totals are less than the sum of the categories because some boys had both full and part-time F.E.


[page 95]

The Grammar and Technical School girls went out, on an average, 3.6 evenings per week, and this figure varied little in relation to participation in further education. They went to the cinema approximately as frequently as the grammar and technical school boys (.8 times a week) but did everything else slightly less frequently than the boys, except for visiting friends or taking part in religious activities. The frequency of the various activities varied very little in relation to participation in further education.

The girls in the Modern School Sample went out, on an average, 3.7 evenings per week and this fell slightly to 3.3 for girls still going to part-time classes and to 3.2 for girls with some full-time further education. Modern school girls went to the cinema 1.07 times per week, as compared with 1.29 times for modern school boys and .84 and .82 for grammar and technical school boys and girls respectively. The frequency of their other activities was very similar to that of the grammar and technical school girls. The modern school girls who had taken no further education went to the cinema slightly more frequently than the rest, and those who were continuing with part-time classes visited friends or relatives rather less often than did the other modern school girls.

33a. The Number of Evenings per Week spent in the Three most popular Activities outside the Home.

The distribution of the number of evenings per week spent on the three main types of activity outside the home (see Table 33a below) underlines the tendency suggested by the averages in Table 33 (i) and (ii) for cinema-going to be rather more frequent amongst boys and girls who do not participate in further education. Over 40 per cent of boys in the Modern School Sample who had either never participated in further education, or who had given up part-time classes, went to the cinema more than once a week as compared with 28 per cent of those who were continuing part-time classes.

Thirty-four per cent of Modern School girls who had taken no further education, went to the cinema more than once during the week as compared with 15 per cent of those still taking part-time classes and 22 per cent of those who had given up part-time classes.

The same tendency, though rather less pronounced, is apparent in the Grammar and Technical School Sample.

It is interesting to note that dancing more than once a week did not on the whole occur less frequently amongst those participating in further education, though 33 per cent of modern school boys who


[page 96]

had given up part-time classes went dancing more than once a week, as compared with 19 per cent of all modern school boys.

It would be unwise to attach much significance to the figures relating to outdoor activities since they include both watching and taking part in sport, serious walking and cycling and comparatively aimless walking or riding around. The information obtained was not detailed enough to enable a more precise classification to be made.

It is possible that a much more detailed investigation than was practicable within the scope of this survey would reveal differences of degree and quality, in the activities of the various groups, which do not emerge in the very generalised outline of leisure activities given here.

Table 33a


[page 97]

Table 33a (cont.)

*Totals are less than the sum of the categories because some boys and girls had both full and part-time Further Education.

Table 34 The Number of Evenings spent at home during the Week

There is a big difference between boys and girls in respect of the proportions who went out every night of the week. Twenty-eight per cent of modern school boys and 17 per cent of grammar and technical school boys did not spend a single evening at home during the week, as compared with 5 and 6 per cent of girls in the two samples.


[page 98]

35. Library Membership amongst the young People.

All the young people in both samples were asked whether they belonged to a library. Only 16 per cent of modern school boys and girls were members of the public library at the time of interview. In the grammar and technical school sample membership of public libraries was 55 per cent for boys and 50 per cent for girls. Membership of other libraries was small - 16 per cent for grammar and technical school boys, 17 per cent for grammar and technical school girls, 3 per cent for modern school boys and 5 per cent for modern school girls. Had it not been for membership of university and technical college libraries by those who were taking full-time education, the grammar and technical school sample's figures for membership of libraries other than public libraries would have been as low as those of the modern school sample.

Table 35


[page 99]

Part Two

The National Service
Survey






[page 101]

Contents

Page
INTRODUCTION

A. Method
107
i Numbers in the two Surveys108

B. The Sampled Population: Its Composition
109
ii Age on Commencement of National Service and Type of School attended109
iii Age at Time, and Year, of leaving School109

C. Comparison of the National Service Survey with the Census Figures and the Social Survey
110
iv Domicile: National Service compared with the Census figures110
v Occupational Groups in the Survey compared with the Census Distribution111
vi Type of School attended compared with the National Distribution112
vii Population of the Modern School comparing the National Service with the Social Survey112
viii Parental Occupations of Recruits who had attended Grammar or Technical Schools112

D. Definitions
113
ix Proportions of Recruits in each Ability Group113

CHAPTER 1. ABILITY, SCHOOL AND FAMILY, SCHOOL LEAVING
116

A. The Distribution of latent Ability
116
1. - Ability of Recruit in relation to his Age on leaving School and parental Occupation118
2. - Ability of Recruit in relation to the School he attended and parental Occupation120
3. - Ability of Recruit in relation to his highest educational level and parental Occupation122
4. - G.C.E. passes at Ordinary level in relation to the Ability of the Recruit124


[page 102]

Page
B. Family Background. Ability and School124
i Ability and Family124
Chart. - Men's scores in the Army Tests, grouped by Father's Occupation and Family sizes125
ii Size of Family and School-Leaving Age126
5. - Proportions of Recruits who left School at 15, 16, 17 or 18+ in relation to Occupation of Father127
6. - Size of Family in relation to Occupation of Father128
7. - Age of Recruit on leaving School in relation to Size of Family128
iii Type of School and School-Leaving Age128
8. - Age of Recruit on leaving School in relation to Size of Family and parental Occupation129
9. - Type of School attended by Recruits of different occupational Backgrounds130
10. - Proportions of Recruits with different occupational Backgrounds who attended each Type of School130
11. - Age of Recruit on leaving School in relation to Type of School he attended131
12. - Proportion of Grammar School Pupils by parental Occupation staying at School until 17 and 18132
13. - Contrasts in the occupational Composition of the Grammar School leavers up to, and over, 16132
14. - Age of Recruit on leaving School in relation to Type of School and Occupation of Father133

C. Reasons for leaving School at 15 and present Feelings
134
i Reasons134
15. - Main Reason for having left at 15 a School where it was customary to stay on longer135
ii Present feelings about leaving School at 15136
16. - How the Men now feel about leaving School at 15136
17. - Main Reason for Regret at leaving School at 15137


[page 103]

Page
CHAPTER 2. FURTHER EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING138

A. Full-Time Education since leaving School
138
18. - Recruits with full-time Further Education after school in relation to parental Occupation138

B. Part-Time Vocational Education
139
19. - Proportions of Men who attended vocational part-time Courses during any of the first three Years after leaving School, in relation to the Type of Course140
20. - Recruits who took vocational part-time Courses in any of the first three Years after leaving School in relation to occupation of Father140
21. - Proportion of Recruits, in relation to parental Occupation, who took a vocational part-time Course at any time during the first three Years after leaving School140
22. - Length of Attendance in vocational part-time Courses at any Time during the first three Years after leaving School, in relation to Type of Course141
23. - Part-time vocational Courses attended at any time during the first three Years after leaving School, in relation to part-time day Release142
24. - Proportions of Men in Ability Groups 1 and 2 and 3-6 who had attended part-time vocational Courses during any of the first three Years after leaving School in relation to Domicile before National Service144
25. - Part-time vocational Courses taken by Recruits who left School at 16 and commenced National Service at 18145

C. Non-Vocational Part-Time Further Education
145
26. - Attendance at part-time non-vocational Courses in relation to Type of Course and Length of Attendance145


[page 104]

Page
D. Apprenticeships and other Forms of Training for Industry and the Professions146
27. - Proportions of Recruits in each Type of Training147
28. - Types of Vocational Training in relation to Ability148
29. - Levels of Ability in relation to Types of Training149
30. - Type of School in relation to the Training to which pupils proceeded150
31. - School Background of Men in different Types of Training150
32. - Parental Occupation in relation to Recruit's Training151
33. - Proportions of Recruits in each parental Occupation Group who became Craft Apprentices152
34. - Recruits who had had no Training in relation to parental Occupation and Age on leaving School152
35. - Recruits who had abandoned Training in relation to parental Occupation and Age on leaving School153

CHAPTER 3. EARNINGS AND OCCUPATIONS
154

A. Earnings
154
36. - Gross Weekly Earnings in last Job of Recruits who commenced National Service at the age of 18 or 19155
37. - Gross Weekly Earnings in last Job of Recruits who commenced National Service at the age of 21 or 22157

B. Occupational Groupings and Trends
158
38. - Types of Occupation of Father and Son159
39. - Father's Occupation in relation to - Son's Occupation before National Service, and Occupation intended after National Service160
40. - Recruit's Occupation before National Service in relation to - the Father's Occupation - and the Occupation intended after National Service162


[page 105]

Page
41. - Recruit's intended Occupation after National Service in relation to - the Father's Occupation and Recruit's Occupation before National Service164

CHAPTER 4. LEISURE ACTIVITIES
166
A. Youth Organisations166
42. - Proportions of 15 and 16 year-old School-Leavers in active Membership of a Youth Organisation during all or any of the first three Years after leaving School166
43. - Parental Occupations of Recruits (Members of Youth Organisations compared with Non-Members167
44. - Duration in active Membership of Youth Organisations167
45. - Proportions of Men in each Type of Organisation in relation to parental Occupation168
46. - Duration of active Membership in relation to Type of Organisation and parental Occupation169
47. - Duration of active Membership in relation to Type of Organisation and School last attended169
48. - Active Membership of Youth Organisations during any of the first three Years after leaving School in relation to Ability170

B. Games
171
49. - Men who left School at 15 or 16 who played Games actively during the first three Years after leaving School in relation to parental Occupation, School and membership of Youth Organisations172

C. Special Interests
173
50. - Recruits with a well-defined special interest sustained at a reasonably high Level in relation to Type of School attended173


[page 106]

Page
APPENDIX TO PART TWO
A technical Note to amplify the Chart on page 125175
51. - Test Scores by Occupation of Father and Number of Children in the Family176
52. - Analysis of Variance for Army Test Scores178
53. - Average Number of Children in the parental Occupational Groups179
54. - Proportions of Men falling into the various Occupational Groups179
55. - Proportions of Men analysed by Family Size180
56. - Mean Squares180
57. - Army Tests Scores by Size of Family and Order in Family181
58. - Significance Tests for the Differences between the Means in Table 57182


[page 107]

Introduction

A. METHOD

The survey took the form of a simple random sample comprising nearly 9,000 men who began their National Service between 1956 and 1958. The main points in which the Council was interested are indicated by the table headings.

In no sense does it deal with National Service as such. It is designed to illuminate the background, in wide terms, of young men all of whom have left school, have reached at least the age of 18 and most of whom have already embarked on their job or profession. The mechanism of National Service recruitment was used by the Council because it provided an effective means - indeed the only means - of obtaining systematic, carefully considered information on these young men over a broad front, together with a measure of their ability. The Council gratefully acknowledges its debt to the War Office and the Air Ministry for their co-operation, and to the individual interviewing officers and N.C.O.'s for their patient and careful interest.

(i) Interview.

The following tables are compiled from data collected by Service interviewers from Army and R.A.F. National Service men over the period 1956-1958. The objective tests (the measure of "ability") were those regularly given by the Services to all recruits. A questionnaire formed the basis of an interview with an officer, who went through the questions with the man point by point, and who was thus able to enquire further if it seemed that any aspect was not fully understood. Although the tabulation was of the "punched card" type, the procedure itself was a personal one.

(ii) Sampling.

The quality of Service intakes varies appreciably both between the Service chosen (R.A.F. and Army) and the time of the year in which recruitment takes place. The early autumn season's intake, for instance, normally gives a relatively good educational showing, since it includes the older school leavers. For these reasons the Survey covered both Army and R.A.F. and in each case was spread over a 12 month period. Care was taken by the Council to see that, as far as possible, questions related to fact and not to opinion. However, opinion could not altogether be avoided nor was fact itself always simple. A relatively easy question of fact was the age at which a man had left school, or the type of school attended: a more difficult one


[page 108]

was sometimes that relating to father's occupation. In such cases of difficulty, care was taken to see that the Service interviewers had uniform and adequate guidance. Among questions of opinion are those dealing, for instance with reasons for, and present feelings about, age on leaving school.

The sampling was as follows:-

Army Survey: Over a year, every National Service man whose personal number ended with the digit 7 and who had been educated in England or Wales was, on joining the Army, interviewed in the manner described above. In this way, 6,850 men were interviewed over the twelve month period.

R.A.F. Survey: Using the same questionnaire the R.A.F. interviewed 2,000 men posted through R.A.F. Station, Cardington (this station receives nearly all men posted from England and Wales). The first three names on each Flight Roll were taken. This survey was likewise spread throughout the year so as to cover all types of intake. Numbers were as follows:

Table i. Numbers in the two Surveys.

The R.A.F. interviews covered 12.5 per cent of all these postings, the Army survey 8.8 per cent. Where R.A.F. and Army tables have been added together (as has been done in tables not involving "ability") then the R.A.F. figures have been reduced by one quarter to give roughly appropriate weight to the two samples.


[page 109]

B. THE SAMPLED POPULATION: ITS COMPOSITION

The Survey deals only with National Service men educated in England or Wales. The following tables give details of ages, types of school and year of leaving school:

Table ii. Age on Commencement of National Service and Type of School attended.

*includes 13 men under 18
+includes 6 men over 25

Table iii. Age at the Time, and Year of leaving School.

The largest single group (47 per cent) is those men who were 18 years on commencement of National Service; the next largest group is for those aged 21. Deferment operated heavily throughout each type of school other than the independent efficient schools.


[page 110]

Between the ages of 18 and 26 almost all men were liable for National Service but not all performed it. Of the class of 1933, for instance, about one man in five was found unfit for National Service and a further proportion (about 6 per cent) was reserved. Nor as between any twelve month periods does the National Service intake comprise identical proportions of all those men liable for National Service at the time; the size of the intake depends on government policy and the needs of the Services. In the period covering the Army Survey (August 1956-August 1957 inclusive), for instance, the intake into National Service was reduced by the registration of only three instead of four quartet age groups.

C. COMPARISON OF THE NATIONAL SERVICE SURVEY WITH THE CENSUS FIGURES AND THE SOCIAL SURVEY

The Survey would have given a valid picture of young men educated in England and Wales only if the survey population had itself been a random sample of that whole population; as we have seen, it is not so. However, comparisons with known national figures do not suggest any very great difference, under the heads specified below - domicile, schools, or parental occupation - between the survey and the national population.

Table iv. Domicile: National Service compared with the Census Figures.


[page 111]

Home Background

The definition of "occupational group" is given on page 114. The following Table compares the sampled population with the national picture for men aged 35-44 and 45-54 (these age groups being those to which fathers of National Service men would normally belong). The recruits with fathers whose occupation was classified as "non-manual" amount to 23 per cent in the Survey compared with 26 per cent nationally: the 3 main "manual" categories are 68 per cent compared with 65 per cent - no considerable difference. Within the manual group itself there are rather larger differences as between that Survey and the national picture, e.g. between 46 per cent for the skilled workers in the Survey with the 39 per cent nationally for men aged 45-54.

Table v. Occupational Groups in the Survey compared with the Census Distribution.

The Socio-Economic Groups are as follows: 1 Farmers : 2 Agricultural workers; 3 Higher administrative, professional and managerial ; 4 intermediate administrative, professional and managerial (including teachers and professional staffs; 5 shopkeepers and other small employers; 6 clerical workers; 7 shop assistants: 8 personal services; 9 foremen; 10 skilled manual workers: 11 semi-skilled manual workers; 12 unskilled manual workers; 13 Armed Forces (other ranks); 14 full-time students; 15 not known; 16 other groups. Deceased fathers were classified in the survey by their last occupation; apprentices, by the qualifications for which they were training.

Types of School Attended - Table vi.

The comparison in this Table is with the national picture in 1952 (when most of the sampled population were of secondary age).

School and Home Background - Tables vii and viii.

There are no national figures available to relate the type of school attended by a boy to the occupation of his father. We can however compare the National Service Survey with the Social Survey.


[page 112]

Table vi. Type of Schools attended compared with the National Distribution.

Modern Schools

Table vii. The Population of the Modern School comparing the National Service Survey with the Social Survey.

Grammar Schools

Table viii. The Population of the Grammar and Technical School comparing the National Service Survey with the Social Survey.

*Excludes direct grant grammar schools where pupils from the Professional and Managerial Group might be expected to be numerous.


[page 113]

D. DEFINITIONS

A special sense attaches to "ability", "occupational group", "educational level".

"Ability".

On arrival at his Basic Training Unit, the recruit's capabilities are assessed in comparison with all others in his intake, for the purpose of allocating him to the most suitable available employment. He takes certain objective tests:

non-verbal test of reasoning ability
measurement of mechanical knowledge and aptitude
test of simple arithmetic and mathematics
test of spelling, comprehension and verbal facility
test of ability to understand complex instructions and to carry them out rapidly and accurately.
For each test there are 6 orders of merit, from 1 the highest, to 6 the lowest, based on the scores obtained. The sum of the scores in all the tests gives the Summed Selection Group, termed here the "ability" group. The distribution of scores in the survey is as follows:

Table ix. Proportions of Recruits in each Ability Group.

*=9 point scale.


[page 114]

As will be seen there are now fewer men in group 6 on the Army tests: this group has therefore usually been amalgamated with group 5.

The R.A.F. figures are entered here only for a rough comparison, since they are based on rather different tests (one a verbal, the other a non-verbal test of general ability), and were standardised on a different level.

Most educational discussions are concerned with intelligence as measured at the age of 11: here we are dealing with ability as measured by tests at the beginning of National Service - which may mean an age of 18 for one man, or 21 or over for another. The tests are given in order to decide which recruits it will be more profitable to train for those Service tasks that are more skilled, more responsible or otherwise more exacting. In this, the tests have been quite successful as extensive following up has shown. In this sense they are a measure of the recruit's ability. In devising the tests the object has been to make them dependent to the least extent on the amount of education beyond the minimum that the recruits have had, and dependent to the greatest extent upon his natural talent. It is plain that this object can be only imperfectly attained. But to the degree that it is attained the tests can serve as an indication not only of developed ability, but also of ability where it is latent - that is, where it has not shown itself in the recruit's progress up the ladder of formal education.

"Occupational Group".

The basis here is the General Register Office's socio-economic classification of 1951 (the distribution of men aged 35-44 and 45-54 on this basis being shown on page 111). The largest single group is the skilled manual worker and comprises nearly half the total sample. This classification is used in an identical manner in the case of both National Service and Technical Courses surveys. With small exceptions (for instance, the amalgamation of the semi-skilled and unskilled manual groups) it is also that used in the Social Survey.*

The sampled population is analysed in these tables in six groups described as follows:

Occupational groupSocio-Economic
Group
I. Professional and managerial3 and 4
II. Clerical and other non-manual5, 6, 7
III. Skilled manual9, 10
IV. Semi-skilled manual11
V. Unskilled manual12
VI. Remainder (a heterogeneous group comprising
those working on the land, students, other ranks
in the Armed Forces, etc.)
1, 2, 8, 13,
14, 15, 16

*NOTE: Compare page 11. In the Social Survey, Socio-Economic Group 8 is included in "Clerical and other non-manual". Here, and in the Technical Courses Survey, it is included in "other groups". Numbers in S-E.8 are very small. The Social Survey also amalgamates Groups 2, 11 and 12.


[page 115]

In Chapter 1 the tables set out groups I-V, omitting VI (in view of the lack of any unity in its composition). For the other chapters, this lack of unity is not important, and the tables generally include group VI unless otherwise indicated.

"Educational Level".

This educational classification is part of normal Army procedure, but was adopted by the R.A.F. in this form solely for the purpose of their part in the Survey. The Army code provides for 8 educational levels. They reflect the man's highest educational achievement by the age of call-up, covering both school and further education.

*As E.L.7 contains the 15 year-old school leaver downgraded on poor test results in mathematics and verbal ability, so E.L.5 contains a few 15 year-old leavers upgraded on good results on the same tests.

The classification does not enable us to say whether a qualification is obtained on the academic or technical side.


[page 116]

CHAPTER 1

Ability, School and Family, School Leaving

A. THE DISTRIBUTION OF LATENT ABILITY

The initial group of tables is designed to show that it is likely that there is much latent ability which, for various reasons, has not hitherto shown itself in educational achievement. The argument rests on the results of the tests given to recruits when they join the Army and the R.A.F. These tests are described on page 113 above. As has been said they are given in order to decide which recruits it will be more profitable to train for the service tasks that are more skilled, more responsible or otherwise more exacting and in this sense they are a measure of the recruit's ability.

Table 1a sets out the relation between three factors, namely the Army recruit's age on leaving school, his father's occupational group, and his ability in the above sense. Each column contains the recruits in a particular ability group, with the highest on the left. It will be seen that most of the recruits falling into the highest order of ability stayed at school at least until the age of 16, and that the highest single sub-group is made up of those who stayed to 18 or 19. But for the second order of ability the position is quite different. In the second column the weight is in the foot. No fewer than 1,188 recruits out of the 1,834 in this column, that is, about two-thirds, had left school at the minimum age. At this point a leap to Table 4a may profitably be made. Table 4a shows the relation between ability, in the above sense, and success in the General Certificate of Education examination at the Ordinary level. It appears that most of the recruits in the first order of ability had actually taken the examination, and that, among those who had, the average number of subjects passed was 5.7. In the second order of ability the average number of subjects passed per candidate was 3.7, a lower but still respectable figure, with 56 per cent of the candidates passing in 4 or more subjects. But only 24 per cent of these army recruits had ever been candidates - another aspect of the fact that most of the group left school at the minimum age. It is not unreasonable to infer that if they had stayed longer at school there would have been a considerable yield. It is worth noting in Table 1a that about half of those in the second order of ability who left school at 15 had fathers in the skilled occupational group. Indeed, these recruits make up more than a third of the whole of the second order of ability.


[page 117]

Table 2a resembles Table 1a, except that "Type of School" replaces "Age of Leaving School". It will be seen that most of the recruits in the first order of ability had been in schools which provided the more academically exacting type of course. On the other hand most of those in the second order - 1,059 out of 1,815 - had been in all-age and modern schools, mainly at a time when the current movement to provide more extended and exacting courses for the abler pupils in modern schools was in a very early stage. It may be held that the table provides strong evidence that this movement is likely to be attended with increasing success.

In Table 3a "Type of School" is replaced by "Educational Level" (this is a term of art explained on page 115). It takes account of both educational achievement at school and further education after the recruit had left school. The main point about this table is that it reinforces the argument of its predecessor. In the first column the weight is in the head, and in the second, at the foot. The distribution by the occupational group of the recruit's father suggests that the educational yield depends very much upon the climate of opinion in each group.

Tables 1a, 2a, 3a, and 4a all relate to the Army; the corresponding tables for the R.A.F. are 1b, 2b, 3b and 4b. The tables for the R.A.F. point to the same moral as those for the Army. At first sight they do not appear to point to it so firmly, but the main reason for this is the different basis of recruitment. For example, among these Army recruits 77 per cent left school at the age of 15 or below, among the R.A.F. only 49 per cent. There appears to be less latent ability (and more developed ability) in the R.A.F. because there is a higher educational standard of admission to the R.A.F. The R.A.F. includes a much smaller proportion of recruits who left school at 15. Similarly for the other tables. There are minor consequences, such as that the borderlines between the ability groups are drawn at different levels in the two services.* But the salient point is that the R.A.F. tables show the same features as the Army tables, though owing to the restriction of the range of recruiting the features are not so strongly marked.

*This may be seen in Table 4b where the average number or G.C.E. (O) passes obtained by candidates in the second order of ability is 4.5, against 3.7 for the Army.


[page 118]

Table 1a. Ability, School-Leaving Age and parental Occupation (Army)

tce=trace.


[page 119]

Table 1b. Ability, School-Leaving Age and parental Occupation (R.A.F.)


[page 120]

Table 2a. Ability, School and parental Occupation (Army).


[page 121]

Table 2b. Ability, School and parental Occupation (R.A.F.)


[page 122]

Table 3a. Ability, Educational Level and parental Occupation (Army).

*For more detailed description of each level see page 115.


[page 123]

Table 3b. Ability, Educational Level and parental Occupation (R.A.F.)

*For more detailed description of each level see page 115.


[page 124]

Table 4a.* G.C.E. Passes at Ordinary Level, in relation to the Ability Group of the Recruit.

Army

Table 4b.*

R.A.F.

*Covers all six occupational groups

B. FAMILY BACKGROUND, ABILITY AND SCHOOL

(i) Ability and Family. The survey suggests a clear and consistent relation between size of family and ability, seen in the following chart.


[page 125]


[page 126]

The chart shows the mean scores in the Army tests for recruits grouped by fathers' occupations and family sizes. The scoring system is simple, recruits in Ability Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 + 6 being given scores of 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 respectively. This is arbitrary, but so are all scoring systems, and no reasonable system would have given markedly different results. The chart brings out the point that the decline in the score as family size increases is not merely a reflection of the fact that on the average the families of unskilled workers are larger than those of professional workers. The decline is visible within every occupational group, and is indeed remarkably regular in each of them.

The detailed analysis leading to the chart, and the associated tests of significance, are given in the Appendix to this Part (page 175). The tests of significance show that the results are exceedingly unlikely to be mere sampling fluctuations: they would be reproduced in other samples, or in a complete count, provided the general background remained unchanged. The proviso is important. The results reflect the social background and the educational system in the immediate past, and changes in either or both may modify these relations, just as changes in sanitation and medical science have modified the life table, which has been none the less, through all its changes, a useful short-term guide as to what may be expected until new measures have been undertaken.

An analysis by position in the family was also made, but none of the results reached significance, nor was there any regular pattern. This strongly suggests that if there are any general effects of position in the family they must be quite small.

The effects of family size and parental occupation stand out very distinctly in the Army tests. In the R.A.F. tests the pattern is much fainter. This is because the Army recruits are not far from being a fair sample of the general population of young men, whereas the R.A.F. recruits are more highly selected. The groups that make low scores are fully represented in the Army, whereas in the R.A.F. they are represented less fully, and, on the whole, by their abler members. The different compositions of the two Services in respect of both family size and parental occupation, are shown on pages 179 and 180.

(ii) Size of Family and School Leaving Age.

We have seen that there is a relation between size of family and higher or lower ability. The following tables (5-14) are concerned with factors other than ability, e.g. with size of family, age on leaving school and the type of secondary school attended.


[page 127]

It is generally and rightly believed that a boy's family circumstances play a large share in determining what sort of secondary school he attends and how long he stays there. Tables 5-14 are designed to measure the differences which exist between one child and another. They take account of two family factors - the father's occupation and the number of children in the family. Both are shown to be influential.

Table 5. Proportions of Recruits who left School at 15, 16, 17 or 18+ in relation to Occupation of Father.

This table shows that boys from non-manual workers' homes have a much higher expectation of a long school life than boys from manual workers' homes. The very important group of skilled workers' sons, who provide about half the sampled population and nearly half of the two highest ability groups, are much nearer in expectation of school life to the other manual workers' groups than to the non-manual. It is, perhaps, not so generally realised that leaving school before 16 is still not uncommon among the sons of non-manual workers; a quarter of those whose fathers were in the professional and managerial group left at 15, as did 59 per cent of the sons of other non-manual workers.


[page 128]

Table 6. Size of Family in relation to Occupation of Father.

Table 7. Age of Recruit on leaving School in relation to Size of Family.

Tables 6 and 7 show that the less skilled the occupational group the larger the family is likely to be; and the larger the family, the shorter is the expectation of school life. It is, perhaps, less generally known that inside each occupational group, it is a disadvantage to belong to a large family if one hopes to stay at school after 15. Table 8 brings this out very clearly.

In each occupational group there is a steady rise, with larger families, in the proportion leaving school at 15. Thus, in the largest group (the skilled workers) the rise is from 67 per cent among "only" children to 93 per cent in a family with six children. Among the sons of semi-skilled and unskilled workers the effect is to some extent masked by the general prevalence of leaving school as early as possible, but it is still there.

(iii) Type of School and Age on leaving School.

So far we have been concerned with the ages at which boys leave school. Table 9 is concerned with the type of secondary school they attend.


[page 129]

This table confirms the generally accepted view that a majority of sons of professional people go to selective schools, but only a minority of manual worker's sons do so. A non-manual worker's son is nearly three times as likely to go to a selective school as a manual worker's; nobody, except the son of a father in the professional or

Table 8. Age on leaving School related to size of Family and parental Occupation.

tce=trace.


[page 130]

Table 9. Type of School attended by Recruits of different occupational Backgrounds.

tce=trace.

managerial group, is at all likely to go to an independent school recognised as efficient. It is less well known that about a quarter of the sons of professional and managerial workers attend modern or all-age schools and that half the sons of other non-manual workers do so.

Table 10. Proportions of Recruits with different occupational Backgrounds who attended each Type of School.

Table 10 sets out the same information starting from the standpoint of the school and not the individual pupil. This table shows the social composition of the various types of secondary school in the sampled population. At one end of the scale are the independent


[page 131]

efficient schools, with four-fifths of their pupils drawn from the professional and managerial group; at the other end are the modern and all-age schools with 86 per cent of their pupils coming from the families of manual workers. The grammar school column shows a relatively even split between the sons of non-manual and manual workers (44 per cent and 56 per cent respectively), the technical school a less even split - 32:68 on the same basis. The sons of skilled workers are represented in grammar and technical schools in much the same proportions as they bear to the total sampled population in the 5 occupation groups - 44 per cent in grammar schools, 49 per cent in technical, 51 per cent in all the five groups.

Table 11. Age of Recruit on leaving School in relation to Type of School he attended.

Table 11 shows that leaving before 16 was virtually no problem in the independent efficient schools, but still a fair-sized one in grammar schools at the time these recruits finished their education, and a very considerable one in technical schools. Extended courses had hardly begun by that time to make a perceptible impression on the modern schools. From the Sixth Form point of view - leavers at 17 and 18 - there is a declining gradient from the independent schools on the left of the table to the modern schools on the right. In interpreting the technical school figures it must be remembered that at the operative time only a minority of these schools had any Sixth Forms at all.

Tables 12 and 13 (both deriving from 14) deal only with maintained and direct grant grammar schools. These tables show how, within the grammar school, there is a close association between the length of school life and occupational background. Of sons of parents in the unskilled manual group admitted to grammar schools only a small minority stay at school beyond 16. By contrast, staying on


[page 132]

beyond 16 is common among boys from professional or managerial homes. Table 13 shows the radically different complexion of the Sixth Form leavers in terms of the background of the boys. Though a minority among those leaving at 16, boys from the homes of the non-manual workers are a majority in the last two years of grammar school life.

Table 12. Proportion of Grammar School Pupils by parental Occupation Slaying at School until 17 and 18.

Table 13. Contrasts in the occupational Composition of the Grammar School-leavers up to, and over, 16.

Table 14 indicates that inside each type of school there is a close association between length of school life and occupational background.

The picture is consistent in each type of school and occupational group. School life beyond IS, very uncommon though it was at the operative dates in modern schools, is more frequent among the sons of professional and managerial workers than in any other group.


[page 133]

Per contra, although a long school life is expected in grammar and technical schools, it is least frequent among boys whose fathers were in unskilled work.

Table 14. Age of Recruit on leaving School in relation to Type of School and Occupation of Father.


[page 134]

C. REASONS FOR LEAVING SCHOOL AT 15 AND PRESENT FEELINGS

(i) Reasons.

The Tables hitherto have been based on the recruit's answers to factual questions, e.g. age of leaving school, type of school, father's occupation, or on objective assessments - the ability of the recruit. While aware of their dangers, the Council had, however, to concern itself with less tangible questions: in particular it seemed right and necessary, since early school-leaving was clearly sometimes related to factors far removed from any consideration of educational benefit or loss, to obtain the views of the man himself on the appropriateness of the age at which he left school.

The great majority of those who left school as soon as the law permitted had attended modern or all-age schools and we know that in the early 1950's such schools had generally little, if any, provision for continued education beyond 15. In these cases it seemed profitless to search for reasons for early school-leaving other than that to leave was customary and, often, almost inevitable. Ninety per cent of the 15 year-old leavers fell into this category. The concern of this enquiry therefore lay with the other 10 per cent. These men said that they had attended schools where to leave at 15 was not customary - inferentially grammar, technical or independent efficient schools (with such few modern schools as had extended courses).

Tables 15a and 15b set out the main reasons given by these men for leaving school. The Tables are divided between men of higher and lower ability.

It does not seem that the nature of the reply is much affected by the ability of the recruit, In both surveys the same replies are generally present in roughly the same proportions whether the men are of the upper or lower ability category. Rather surprisingly this even applies in relation to reasons, e.g. "Saw no point in staying at school longer", where the Army and the R.A.F. pictures are strikingly different.

The R.A.F. intake is, as we have said elsewhere, of a relatively high quality and it is probable that the Army survey more nearly mirrors the national picture. From Table 15a it seems that about one


[page 135]

Table 15a. Main Reason for having left at 15 a School where it was customary to stay on longer.

Table 15b.


[page 136]

in three of these men left school at 15 because he felt that further school life had little to offer. The availability of some particular job influenced a further third of men of higher ability (and about one-quarter of the other men).

The main contrast afforded by the R.A.F. relates to the first reason - very few of the R.A.F. men were content with the rather vague statement that they "saw no point in staying at school longer" - and there is a consequential increase in the number of replies under other heads.

(ii) Present Feelings about leaving School at 15.

The second, and from the Council's point of view the more important, question related to the men's present feelings about school-leaving. All those men who left school at )5 (regardless of the type of school or its ability to provide extended education) were asked whether they now regretted leaving school then and if so, why? Table 16 shows that about one man in six who left school at 15 subsequently wished he had 110t left so early. Within this ratio, however, there are great differences between the men from the five occupational groups.

Table 16. How the Men now feel about leaving School at 15.

It seems apparent that the more generally accepted is longer school life in a social group, the higher the proportion of the early school leavers who regret leaving school at the minimum age; those same factors which induced many men from one type of home to stay at school longer than the law demanded possibly also operated to make the early school-leavers regret that they had not stayed on longer.


[page 137]

A further point emerges from this table. Whereas only 8 per cent of men from the homes of the unskilled worker in fact stayed at school beyond 15, 11 per cent said that they wished that they had done so. Had these men in fact had the extended length of school life which they subsequently professed to want, then the number of voluntary stayers on at school from this occupation group would therefore have more than doubled. Again, it has to be remembered that this professed desire for a longer school life occurred against the background of a school leaving age raised by a year not very long before. Far more nationally significant in value, however, are the views of men from skilled manual homes - who amounted to half the sampled population. Had the men in this group, in fact, stayed on at school in accordance with these later expressed wishes then the numbers staying on at school beyond 15 from this group would have increased by about 60 per cent.

The questionnaire also asked those men who left school at 15, and regretted that they had done so, the reasons for their regrets. The question was to this extent deficient that it provided for only four possible answers. Three reasons were job-directed ones and the other relates to a feeling of social inadequacy.

Table 17. Main Reason for Regret at leaving School at 15.

The small proportion of men (3 per cent) who had changed to a job requiring more education than they had had contrasts with the much larger number (46 per cent) who would like to change jobs. While the sense of social inadequacy is relatively seldom given as a ground for regret - it implies a sense of inferiority which men are not commonly ready to admit to others - it is still worth noting that 1 man out of 5 from the clerical and other non-manual group (and 1 out of 7 over-all) admitted this as a reason for regretting a short school life.


[page 138]

CHAPTER 2

Further Education and Vocational Training

The survey was concerned with Further Education at three points - A. full-time education since leaving school, B. part-time vocational education, (distinguishing day release, evening attendance, correspondence courses) and C. non-vocational education. A (full-time education) related to the whole period between school and National Service: B and C related to Further Education in the three years immediately after school.

A. FULL-TIME EDUCATION AFTER LEAVING SCHOOL

The sum total of information on full-time education as revealed by the survey is not exhaustive, since a number of men interposed National Service between school and entering a university or a training college for teachers.* The men who claimed to have had

Table 18. Recruits with full-time Further Education after School, in relation to parental Occupation.

*University practice varied, but teacher training colleges normally required that a man completed National Service before training.


[page 139]

such full-time education - 411 or 5.4 per cent - is thus not the total of all men who would have had such full-time education before a career. Table 18 shows how very many of the men came from the homes of non-manual workers, and how few from the semi-skilled or unskilled homes.

Universities and Technical Colleges accounted for 69 per cent of those with full-time education. Under the "Other Institutions" are the Art and Commercial Colleges, the first comprising about 10 per cent of all full-time students and the other about 4 to 5 per cent (the balance of the 31 per cent is made up of other institutions, e.g. agricultural colleges). There is a contrast between those men from the homes of the non-manual workers and the rest. The non-manual groups with 20 per cent of the sampled population, had 56 per cent of places in universities and technical colleges; the semi-skilled and unskilled groups with a rather higher percentage of the sampled population (22 per cent) had only about 11 per cent of University/Technical College places.

B. PART-TIME VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

The data obtained from the survey in this numerically far more extensive field related to courses taken in any of the first three years after leaving school - this was inevitable if the questionnaire was not to become unmanageable, nor did it seem a serious limitation since, where part-time vocational courses are started at all, it is normally within these years.

(i) Table 19 shows attendance in these vocational courses by those men (*about nine out of ten men in the sampled population) who commenced National Service at least three years after leaving school, i.e. by those men who could have attended such vocational courses over a full three years whether they did so or not. Table 20 shows the occupational backgrounds and Table 2l the proportions of men from each parental occupational group.

*(i) 86 per cent of the recruits had had a three year gap between leaving school and National Service. Most of these were 15 year-old leavers, but there was a sprinkling or others. (ii) About 6 per cent had a two year gap - mostly those who left school at 16 and joined up at 18. (iii) Three per cent had a one year gap and 5 per cent a gap of less than one year - i.e. the 18 year-old leavers who joined up for National Service straight away. Tables 19-24 concern (i) only, Table 25 concerns (ii).


[page 140]

Table 19. Proportions of Men who attended vocational part-time Courses during any of the first three Years after leaving School, in relation to the Type of Course.

Table 20. Recruits who took vocational part-time Courses in any of the first three Years after leaving School in relation to Occupation of Father.

Table 21. Proportions of Recruits in relation to parental Occupation who took a vocational part-time Course at any time during the first three Years after leaving School.


[page 141]

These three tables show:

Table 19 - the relatively high proportion of men who took these courses, and the great numerical importance of technical courses.

Table 20 - the large proportion of men who come from the homes of skilled manual workers.

Table 21 - the higher attendance at courses by recruits from the non-manual homes. Sixty-five per cent of men from the homes of professional or managerial workers took such vocational courses, compared with only 27 per cent of the men from the homes of unskilled workers.

Forty-six per cent of the recruits professed to have had some vocational part-time education after leaving school. However, unless corrected it would give a misleading quantitative picture: one-third of these men had in fact attended courses during only two years or less after leaving school. Average attendance was appreciably longer in the technical, shorter in the non-technical fields.

Table 22. Length of Attendance in vocational part-time Courses at any Time during the first three Years after leaving School, in relation to Type of Course.

(ii) We have so far considered part-time vocational education without regard to the manner of the student's attendance, whether by part-time day release by his employer (P.D.R.), or in his own spare time either by evening attendance at a technical college or correspondence course. The following table makes the important distinction between those who had - and those who did not have - day release in order to attend the course.


[page 142]

Table 23. Part-time vocational Courses attended at any time during the first three Years after leaving School in relation to part-time Day Release.

*Of the 157, 21 had taken language courses.


[page 143]

Of these men attending vocational courses for one year only, 31 per cent had had clay release; for those with 3 years' attendance 78 per cent had had some day release.* The great majority of those with day release had had it for the full period of attendance. Clearly day release and length of attendance tend to be related (either because day release encourages long attendance, or is more readily given by employers for longer courses or a combination of both causes).

Overall two out of three men attending these vocational courses had had day release during at least part of the years of attendance. The picture is, however, somewhat uneven. We have already noticed the numerical preponderance of the technical and commercial fields. This preponderance is yet more marked if we consider only that important group of men who had attended such courses over a full 3 year period. Of all such men with part-time day release over the full three years, 91 per cent (1,350 out of 1,482) were in the technical field. If we look at those men who had attended for one year only and had had day release, the preponderance of the technical field is rather less decisive - 70 per cent (110 out of 157). In the commercial field, there was far less day release - less than one man out of three (101 out of 332) attending a commercial course had had release for any part of it. The G.C.E. field is, admittedly, as bad but is far smaller.

(iii) In Table 23 we saw that 2,066 men had attended vocational part-time courses during all three years after leaving school, and that all but 446 of them had had part-time day release for some of the time. The questionnaire enabled a further analysis to be made of those without day release - 376 of them attended evenings only and the balance - 70 men - took correspondence courses. This relatively small use of correspondence courses would be surprising, were it not that we are here concerned with the first three years after leaving school at 15 or 16, and it is known that the main work of the correspondence colleges lies with older men and women.

(iv) From previous Tables the following points have emerged:

(a) not far short of half the men had taken part-time vocational courses during the first three years after leaving school,
(b) those who had taken these courses had mostly attended over a full three years.
(c) eight out of ten men taking courses studied in the technical field.
*These figures are comparable to those given for day-release in Part Three, (page 222 shows that 71 per cent/67 per cent of National Certificate Engineering Students, with and without exemption respectively, had day release; for the City and Guilds courses the figures are 77 per cent, 73 per cent, 87 per cent, 68 per cent, 82 per cent, and 76 per cent in the six courses p. 231).


[page 144]

(d) proportional to the size of the occupational group more men from the homes of non-manual workers attended than from other homes,
(e) two out of three men attending vocational courses had had the benefit of part-time day release - in most cases for the whole period of attendance. However, for those men who had attended such courses for one year a minority (less than one in three) had had day release.
(v) In the following Table part-time vocational education is examined regionally, in terms of the ability level of the recruit.

Table 24. Proportions of Men in Ability Groups 1 and 2, and 3-6 who attended part-time Vocational Courses during any of the first three Years after leaving School, in relation to Domicile before National Service.

The above figures may be thought to show a fairly high proportion of the abler men in vocational courses. Clearly, however, total figures conceal fairly wide regional variations. Provision for men in the lower level of ability (i.e. ability groups 3-6) is far less satisfactory and in the Army sample it ranges from less than one in five (17 per cent) to a maximum of just over two in five (41 per cent). Admittedly the R.A.F. presents a more encouraging picture but it is a more selective service.

(vi) The Tables relating to part-time vocational education have so far concerned only men with an interval of three years between leaving


[page 145]

school and National Service. There is, however, a smaller but important group of those who left school at 16 and commenced National Service two years later. Table 25 shows that 52 per cent of these men said that they had attended a vocational course during these two years. Since the numbers involved are, however, relatively few, no separate analysis by type of course is attempted.

Table 25. Vocational part-time Courses taken by Recruits who left School at 16 and commenced National Service at 18.

C. NON-VOCATIONAL PART-TIME FURTHER EDUCATION

We have seen how widespread was attendance at part-time vocational courses of various types. The national picture for non-

Table 26*. Attendance at part-time non-vocational Courses in relation to Type of Course and Length of Attendance.

*This table relates to 15-16 year-old school-leavers who commenced National Service at least three years later.


[page 146]

vocational courses is known - from other evidence - to be far less satisfactory. However, it seemed worth while to use the facilities of the survey to examine attendance in relation to the age of the student at such courses, the period of attendance and the type of school. Table 26 distinguishes three types of course (the questionnaire provided for separate information on foreign languages, but since the number of participating students was almost negligible - only 15 - this head has been merged with "other fields").

The 523 in Table 26 is about 8 per cent of all school-leavers of these ages but since a number of men took more than one non-vocational course, a rather lower proportion of all men, in fact, took any such course. About 8 out of 10 of these men came from non-selective schools. The proportion as well as number of men from selective schools who took non-vocational courses was less than the proportion from modern or all-age schools.

Less than one-third of men attending non-vocational courses were granted part-time day release for the purpose of attendance.

D. APPRENTICESHIPS AND OTHER FORMS OF TRAINING FOR INDUSTRY AND THE PROFESSIONS

We have seen at page 109 that the great majority of recruits had left school in the first half of the decade of the 1950's: this was a time of rapid post-war expansion when in respect of their labour, young men were on a sellers' market and could normally be absorbed into industry easily enough without the need for a high level of skill or training or educational attainment beyond the minimum. The very shortage of juvenile labour encouraged employers increasingly to offer apprenticeships and other facilities for training partly to ensure an adequate supply at the various levels of skills but also partly to attract suitable young men to firms or industries.

Information was sought in the survey on training before National Service. Thirty-nine per cent (3,143 out of 7,991)* of men, said that

*In a review of industrial training conducted by the Ministry of Labour in 1956 among 63,366 men aged 18 registering under the National Service Acts, the figures were:

%
Men undergoing three years training in industry 38
Men with training more than three months but less than three veal's7
Others employed but not now in training55
100

This 55 per cent is a maximum figure for those without training; it almost certainly includes a proportion who had had, but completed, training.


[page 147]

they had no training after leaving school and these men are the subject of an analysis at (iv) below. In anticipation of this analysis it may be said that many of these men without training had had full-time education at school up to the commencement of National Service.

The term "apprenticeship" has a variety of meanings: at one extreme it can indicate serious intensive training up to five years backed by indentured contract and part-time day release, at the other, it can include informal and perhaps ineffectual training at the works with no facilities for day release. An attempt, therefore, is made in the following analyses to distinguish between men with and those without day release.

Certain high levels of training are understandably little represented in the sample population. Of graduate apprentices, for instance, there are very few because men later to become graduates often performed National Service before proceeding to a university degree. For the same reason among others the relative proportions of men in technical courses and commerce may be distorted by the fact that National Service often preceded commercial courses but followed other technical college courses.

The Council's main concern lay with four points:

(i) Types of training and their relation to ability.
(ii) The School in relation to types of training.
(iii) The home background and types of training.
(iv) Men without training or who abandoned it.
Since some categories of training (e.g. graduate apprentices) are relatively small, they have been amalgamated with kindred but larger categories.

(i) Types of training and their relation to ability.

Sixty-one per cent of all recruits said that they had received training; a rather higher percentage in the R.A.F. (75 per cent) and a rather lower one in the Army (58 per cent).

Table 27. Proportion of Recruits in each Form of Training.


[page 148]

In terms of ability, the recruits are apportioned between the various types of training as follows:

Table 28. Types of Vocational Training in relation to Ability.

A close relation between good ability and such training schemes as demand a high level of academic achievement is both evident and to be expected; thus 69 per cent of articled pupils and other high grade trainees in the Army were of the highest ability. However,


[page 149]

there is much overlap of ability with other types of training. Five per cent of craft apprentices and 8 per cent of learners were also of the same high ability. By contrast, 43 per cent of graduate/student apprentices rated lower in ability.

Table 28 shows that the average level of ability among craft apprentices is lower than in the higher grade apprentices but as we have seen, it also shows a sizeable overlap of ability. What it does not reveal directly however are the levels of ability as apportioned between the different types of training. These are as follows:

Table 29. Levels of Ability in relation to Types of Training.

tce=trace.

If we exclude those men with no training - a heterogeneous group dealt with in (iv) below - the craft field is that comprising the greatest number of men in the Army, and even more markedly in the R.A.F., in the highest ability group. Learners and craft apprentices combined comprise more men of the highest ability than do all the high level trainee schemes - graduate, student apprentices, articled clerks, articled pupils, etc. - together.

(ii) The School in relation to Types of Training.

We have so far considered training in terms of levels of ability. Table 30 shows the types of training undertaken by leavers from different types of school.

The restricted range of opportunities for training hitherto available from the modern school is something suspected without the aid of statistics. What is perhaps not so recognised is that as many as one boy in five from the grammar schools became a craft apprentice, a higher proportion than entered any other (and generally higher) single type of training. If, as appears, this relatively low level of


[page 150]

apprenticeship was widely used by the ex-grammar boy even at a time of shortage of juvenile labour and wide employment opportunities, the surplus of juvenile labour (now developing in some areas) may increase the number of grammar school entrants at this training level, to the detriment of the modern school pupil's opportunities.

Table 30. Type of School in relation to the Training to which Pupils proceeded.

We have considered various types of school in terms of the training which followed the end of school. We now turn to types of training and analyse them in terms of the education which preceded it.

Table 31. School Background of Men in different Types of Training.


[page 151]

By far the largest number of craft apprentices come from the modern and all-age school; however, the contribution of the grammar and technical school, 23 per cent, is far from negligible. With learnerships (representing higher and lower grades of training) the percentage from these selective schools is still higher - 29 per cent. Just as here there is considerable overlap between the various types of school in their contribution to the lower levels of training, so there is some overlap, more surprisingly, with the higher grade trainees where there is some contribution from the all-age and modern schools.

(iii) Home Background and Types of Training.

In the third analysis we are concerned with the home background of the different types of trainee. Table 32 is given in actual numbers, since the size of the numbers from the various occupational groups is thus more evident.

Table 32. Parental Occupation in relation to Recruit's Training.

It is apparent how small a number of higher grade trainees derive from the semi-skilled and unskilled manual homes, and how many come from homes of non-manual workers. The skilled group occupies a medial position: its numerical contribution - even at the high levels of training - is not far short of that of the professional and managerial group, yet it is not nearly as great as the immense numerical predominance of this group as a whole would justify.


[page 152]

If we turn to the craft field, the recruits as a proportion of each parental group entering apprenticeships are as follows:

Table 33.

The number from the skilled group entering craft apprenticeships (1,491) greatly exceeds that from any other single group and, in addition, is proportionately as well as absolutely large - this skilled group provides 54 per cent of craft apprentices whereas it forms only 46 per cent of the sampled population. However, if we ignore the skilled workers' group the contribution to the craft field from non-manual homes is, perhaps surprisingly, not very much less than from the homes of manual workers.

(iv) Men without Training or who abandoned it.

We have seen that about four out of ten of all recruits had had no training for industry or the professions before commencing National Service (Table 27), that this group contains wide variations in ability (Table 28), but that it includes a large proportion of

Table 34. Recruits who had had no Training in relation to parental Occupation and Age on leaving School.


[page 153]

recruits of the lowest ability group (Table 29). We have further seen that seven out of ten of such men come from modern or all-age schools. Lastly Table 32 shows the type of home from which the men came.

Clearly, the description "no training" conceals very wide differences. In Table 34 these men are analysed both in terms of parental occupation group and age on leaving school.

More than seven out of ten of these men had left school at the minimum age. The unskilled group presents the most unsatisfactory picture. Over half the men in this group were without training and all but a few had left school at the minimum age.

The category of recruit who "started training and abandoned it" also deserves some rather closer examination. Previous tables have shown that this category is relatively small (4 per cent - Table 27), that it contains rather less than its due proportion of men of high ability (Table 28) and that most men so described come from non-selective schools (Table 31). Finally, Table 32 shows that about 40 per cent of these men come from the homes of skilled manual workers.

The following table analyses these men by age on leaving school.

Table 35. Recruits who had abandoned Training in relation to parental Occupation and Age on leaving School.

The last line expresses those who had abandoned training as a proportion of those still in training. It will be seen that the proportion rises from left to right. Among men from the unskilled parental group, almost one in ten men started training, only to abandon it later.


[page 154]

CHAPTER 3

Earnings and Occupations

A. EARNINGS

The question "Does long education pay in terms of higher earning ability" is one whose long term implications fell outside the scope of this survey. The man on the ladder leading up to professional status does not expect to be far advanced in earning capacity by the age of 23 or 24 and few recruits started their National Service after that age. However, many people have shorter-term financial objectives and the survey enables us to gain some impression of wage differences.

In Tables 36 and 37 we are concerned with one group of men who commenced National Service at the age of 18 or 19 and a further group who joined up at 21 or 22. Combined, these two groups number 6,588 or 83 per cent of the sampled population. The younger group is comprised of those men who did not qualify for, or alternatively want, deferment of National Service. The great majority were not apprentices. The older group comprises men whose National Service had in almost every case been deferred, doubtless because they had attended an approved course of training.

The men were asked to state to the nearest pound their "gross weekly earnings" in the last job they had held before National Service. Short-term jobs, e.g. to pass a few weeks between school and National Service, were excluded. In Table 36 the earnings of the 18 and 19 year-olds are considered. Table 37 concerns the group aged 21 and 22. The gross weekly earnings in every case relate to about 1957 (some men joined up in late 1956 and some men in early 1958 but these are exception).*

Table 36 shows that most of those who left school at the minimum age were 3 or 4 years later earning appreciably more than those who left at 16 or 17 (in particular they had a larger percentage of men in the higher earnings bracket), that the school-leavers from a modern or all-age school earned more than those from other schools; that those of the lowest educational rating were more highly

*In Tables 36 and 37 the earnings are averaged over the whole country; they conceal regional differences.


[page 155]

Table 36. Gross Weekly Earnings in last Job of Recruits who commenced National Service at the age of 18 or 19.

*There are some small variations in the totals A-E owing to incomplete answers.


[page 156]

remunerated than the others, that those who did no training or who had abandoned it and those who came from the semi-skilled or unskilled manual groups fared financially the best. In short, earnings were in general (but with large exceptions) inversely proportional to length of education or attainment, and directly proportional to length of time out of school and (presumably therefore) in employment.

Table 37 concerns men aged 21 and 22. It should be remembered that it deals with a different section of young workers; the Table is not a mere projection two or three years on of Table 36. These men are mostly those who have taken training meriting deferment. In particular they include the better of the secondary modern school-leavers.

In certain points, the inferences to be drawn from this Table resemble those from the previous Table. It still seems that length of time in employment preserves some of its importance. By the time they are 21 and 22 the 15 year-old leaver earns on the average £9 8s. 0d.; the 18 year-old leaver £8 18s. 0d. a week. However, by this age, level of educational attainment is clearly of emerging importance. If it does not secure striking financial advantages to the young man, at least it does not leave him financially worse off.

These two Tables suggest that whatever its long-term value is to the individual, continued education cannot be said to "pay" in terms of immediate financial gain within the ages we have been considering: equally however at the age of 21 or 22 it does not seem seriously to penalise. Two further points stand out. Wherever any one factor is kept constant (e.g, age on leaving school) there are still very wide differences in the earnings of these young men; the differences must largely relate to the man himself and the use he makes of his opportunities and not to his educational background. The second point is that the financial plums, both clearly visible to and often obtained by the early school-leaver, seem to be considerable. Not far short of one boy in three who left school at 15 was earning £8 a week (and frequently much more) three years later.

We have so far considered differences in earnings among those actually working. However, the financial disadvantage of full-time education (other than of works based sandwich courses which were relatively a new creation and were numerically insignificant at the time of the survey) is not that a man earns less than his fellow for a period but that he is effectually debarred from earning at all. He remains dependent on others: his parents, the local authority or the state. Of the men who commenced their National Service at the age of 18 to 19, 7 per cent said that they had not been earning. This figure, however, conceals wide variations between men from different


[page 157]

Table 37. Gross Weekly Earnings in last Job of Recruits who commenced National Service at the age of 21 or 22.

*There are small variations in the totals of A-E owing to incomplete answers.


[page 158]

types of home. Thus 34 per cent of men from professional and managerial homes by contrast with only 1 per cent of men whose fathers were semi-skilled or unskilled workers said that they were not earning at the time they started National Service. Among recruits aged 21 to 22 the corresponding figures are, overall, 5 per cent ranging from 19 per cent from professional homes to 1 per cent from unskilled manual homes. We have here a measure of the willingness, ability or opportunity of the various homes to sacrifice immediate financial advantage in favour of long-term educational benefits for their sons.

B. OCCUPATIONAL GROUPINGS AND TRENDS

The resources of the survey were inadequate to examine questions of occupational change and trends deeply, yet the subject could not be ignored. Tables 38 to 41 are mainly concerned with what, for lack of a better phrase, may be termed occupational mobility; here this means the movement of a man from an occupation falling into one group to another occupation in a different category. Hitherto in this survey "occupational group" has always been that of the father: here we also examine that of the recruit before National Service in contrast with his prospective occupation thereafter ("career ambition"). These have been expressed in occupational "groups" in the same way as the father's employment.

(i) Table 38 shows the proportions of the sampled population (fathers and recruits separately) falling into the occupational groups. The main purpose is to afford a contrast between father and son and also between the son's occupation before and in prospect after National Service.

(ii) Table 39 examines the father's occupation in relation to that of his son both before and after National Service.

(iii) Table 40 relates the son's occupation before National Service to the father's occupation and his own prospective level of employment after National Service.

(iv) Table 41 contrasts the son's prospective occupation when National Service is finished with the father's present occupation and the son's occupation before National Service.

Caution is necessary in the interpretation of these Tables. We have seen that the sampled population is not homogeneous - i.e. it falls into the two distinct divisions of those men without and those men with deferment: the first group are, on the whole, non-apprentices and the second group those men who had had apprenticeships or


[page 159]

other forms of approved training meriting deferment. There is a corresponding difference of two or three years in age as between the men in these two divisions. This means that the older men are sometimes more nearly in reach of their career ambition than the younger men. The second point is that whereas the father's occupation, and the recruit's occupation before National Service, are matters of fact, the occupations after National Service are conjectural. Men do not always attain their career ambitions.*

The following Table contrasts the picture of the father's occupation with that of the son before and after National Service. Column (d) sets out the census picture of the working population aged 25 to 34 years in 1951 and is given merely for comparison with Column (c).

Table 38. Types of Occupation of Father and Son.

Comparing (a) and (c) there are three declining groups - the clerical, the semi-skilled and the unskilled group, and as many expanding groups - professional, skilled workers and "other" groups. In short, in terms of career ambition there is a prospective flight from manual jobs requiring little or no skill, and a stationary or declining clerical group.

*However, in many cases no real doubt can have existed about classification by occupation after National Service. An apprentice to a skilled trade was, for instance, already classified by the interviewing officer as a skilled manual worker, and the classification would normally apply with equal certainty after National Service was finished.


[page 160]

In Table 39 we are concerned to examine column (a) above (i.e. the occupation of the father), in more detail, in relation to column (b) (recruit's occupation before National Service) and (c) recruit's intended occupation after National Service.

Table 39. Father's Occupation in relation to -
    Son's Occupation before National Service
    Occupation intended after National Service.


[page 161]

In A and B the diagonal line indicates that proportion of men who stay in the same occupational group as their parents. Clearly these percentages are higher (as would be expected) in the bottom than in the top half of the Table. None the less, the diagonal percentages are nowhere the majority, except for the skilled worker, and in the case of parents in semi- or unskilled occupations they are a small minority. For instance, only 15 per cent of recruits from unskilled workers' homes expected themselves to be unskilled workers.

Considering the parental occupation groups individually:

(i) About half (49 per cent) the men from professional and managerial homes hope themselves to remain in the same group. About 1 in 5 (21 per cent) anticipate skilled manual status.

(ii) Only about 1 in 5 men (23 per cent) from the homes of clerical and other non-manual workers expect to be so themselves classified after National Service. A higher percentage (37 per cent) were aiming at skilled manual status.

(iii) A clear majority (60 per cent) of men from the homes of skilled manual workers anticipate that they themselves will be skilled workers. Eleven per cent of this group are aiming at professional/managerial status (owing to the very large size of the whole group this 11 per cent is appreciable in number).

(iv) A small minority of men both from semi-skilled and unskilled workers' homes think that they themselves will be similarly classified. In each case, however, a far larger percentage are aiming at the status of skilled manual worker.

Table 40 examines the men before National Service in terms of parental background and of career ambitions afterwards.

Again the diagonal line indicates the "stayers", i.e. in A, those men classified before National Service in the same occupational group as the father and in B those who hope to be classified after National Service in the same way as before. There is a considerable contrast indicated by the diagonal lines in the Table at A and B. The top half consists of relatively low percentages, except in the case of the skilled manual worker - by the time they were called up for National Service relatively few men were classified in the same occupation as their fathers. B shows much higher percentages. The great majority of men falling into the professional or the skilled categories before National Service anticipated that they would have the same level of work after National Service was finished. Again,


[page 162]

Table 40. Recruit's Occupation before National Service in relation to -
    the Father's Occupation
    the Occupation intended after National Service.


[page 163]

however, there is a contrast offered by the lower levels of skill. The majority of men in both the semi- and unskilled manual groups on the commencement or National Service clearly hoped that the future would offer something better - generally skilled manual work.

Table 41 examines the prospective occupations of men after National Service in terms, first of the father's occupation and secondly of the recruit's own occupation before National Service.

Again, the diagonal line shows the "stayers", Table 41A deserves particular attention. Only in the case of the future skilled worker would the majority (55 per cent) of men come from that type of home. In every other case the future occupation groups would be heavy importers from other groups:

(i) A comparison of columns (a) and (c) in Table 38 will show that the future professional/managerial group is in prospect larger than at present. Yet, despite this prospective increase, Table 41 shows that only a minority of men (38 per cent) would have had fathers who themselves were professional or managerial workers. Almost as many men (34 per cent) would enter this group from the skilled worker homes and an appreciable proportion (16 per cent) from the clerical and other non-manual homes.

(ii) Table 38 suggests that the clerical and other non-manual group may be a declining one, and Table 41A that only a minority (26 per cent) of its members, even with this reduced size, would themselves derive from the homes of clerical workers. A larger percentage (37 per cent) would come from skilled manual homes.

(iii) As Table 38 shows, the skilled manual group would be an expanding one. From Table 41A it appears that though a clear majority (55 per cent) of its future members would come themselves from the homes of skilled workers there would be importations from all other occupational groups.

(iv) The semi-skilled and unskilled groups can be handled together. From Table 38 it appears that both may be diminishing groups. Table 41A shows that even with their diminished size they would still in prospect be heavily importing ones - mainly from the homes of skilled manual workers (it may seem surprising that this downward movement could be contemplated as a "career ambition": it has to be remembered, however, that relatively few men are involved).


[page 164]

Table 41. Recruit's prospective Occupation after National Service in relation to -
    the Father's Occupation
    Recruit's Occupation before National Service.


[page 165]

The diagonal lines in Table 41B show the prospective proportion of men in the various occupational groups who after National Service would be in the same group as before National Service. As will be seen, the percentages on the diagonal line are generally high (far higher than is found elsewhere in this group of Tables). The exception is the professional and managerial group where only 32 per cent of the recruits after National Service were thus classified before National Service. This particular group is numerically small before National Service and relatively much larger afterwards, so that even though the great majority of men classified as "professional" before National Service remain, in prospect, in the same group (97 per cent in Table 40), the group as a whole still has need of extensive intakes from other groups.

The purpose of this analysis is to gauge the nature and extent of occupational change. It was relevant to the Council's terms of reference because the agencies of further education and training are both means of effecting such change and are themselves strongly influenced by it. It is evident that future occupational groupings cannot always be certainly known in advance even within the broad classifications used and it is also apparent that men over-call their hands in terms of a career just as they sometimes under-call them. This point, however, does not seem of material importance. We are not concerned here to delineate exactly the future demand for labour but rather to see how far the young men have proceeded in terms of skills, and what they themselves consider the future may need. It is what they hope for or expect by way of a career that is important in their own assessment of the needs for skills and in their personal motivation. Three points stand out:

(i) there is a strong indication of extensive occupational change between father and son.
(ii) few men are content to follow their fathers into semi-skilled or unskilled occupations.
(iii) there will be an increase in the proportion of men hoping for professional or managerial status, but a possible decline in the proportions looking for clerical or other non-manual employment.
It seems very probable that this aggregate picture, formed from the individual assessments and hopes of these 9,000 recruits, does in fact build up to a sensible anticipation of what future demands for labour and skills may be. Current studies indicate that a future reduction is likely in the need for semi- or untrained labour and that there will be an appreciable build-up of the skilled and the professional groups.


[page 166]

CHAPTER 4

Leisure Activities

The men were asked about the extent to which they had taken part in youth organisations and games. The information in Tables 42-49 relates only to active membership of those recruits who, having left school at 15 or 16, began National Service at least three years later. The 15 and 16 year-old school-leavers are taken (by contrast with the Tables for vocational part-time further education where every recruit was included who had a three year gap between school and call-up) because the younger and the older school-leaver present very different problems in the field of youth work.

A. YOUTH ORGANISATIONS

In Table 42 is set out the proportion of men who had actively belonged to the different types of youth organisations. Tables 43-45 make the analysis in terms of the type of home from which the recruits came and Table 46 by types of youth organisation and parental occupation. Tables 47 and 48 are concerned with type of school and ability.

Table 42. Proportions of 15 and 16 year-old School-Leavers in active Membership of a Youth Organisation during all or any of the first three years after leaving School.

Thus about 1 in 3 (34 per cent) of boys had been in active membership, and it seems from this bare analysis that the mixed organisations have both a higher attractive and retentive power over their members. In Tables 43 and 44 membership is considered against occupational background.


[page 167]

Table 43. Parental Occupation of Recruits (Members of Youth Organisations as compared with Non-Members).

Table 44. Duration of active Membership of Youth Organisations.

There is relatively little difference perceptible between the non-manual and the skilled manual groups. Compared with these, the poorer showing of men from the homes of semi-skilled and unskilled workers is evident, both in terms of proportion in and duration of membership.

Table 45 analyses the types of organisation which boys from different homes were prone to join. The five columns are not very different, and such contrasts as immediately catch the eye are deceptive - for instance, though the professional/non-manual group shows a lower percentage in uniformed organisations, this is partly because more boys from this group belonged to two or more youth


[page 168]

organisations (and in such cases, the boys usually belonged to a uniformed organisation) though this is not shown in the figures.

Table 45. Proportion of Men in each Type of Organisation in relation to parental Occupation.

*Ten per cent of men in active membership belonged to more than one youth organisation. However, if these men are redistributed between the organisations (i.e. counted more than once) the picture is not changed in its main outline.

As is shown in Table 46 the comparatively long duration of membership between 15 and 18 in mixed organisations contrasts consistently in each occupational group with the poorer showing in the uniformed organisations.

In Table 47 opposite [below] we consider the type of school attended. A cautionary word is necessary: since this group of Tables deals only with the 15 and 16 year-old school-leavers there is a far less complete cover for the selective than for the non-selective schools. Of all these 15 and 16 year-old leavers from selective schools 41 per cent belonged actively to a youth organisation after they left school, 29 per cent for the whole three years. For the non-selective schools the corresponding percentages are 32 per cent and 17 per cent.

It seems evident that, in respect of length of active membership, the boys from selective schools made an appreciably better showing throughout every type of youth organisation than did others.


[page 169]

Table 46. Duration of active Membership in relation to Type of Organisation and parental Occupation.

Table 47. Duration of active Membership in relation to Type of Organisation and School last attended.

*In all 2,167: in certain cases, information about schools was missing.


[page 170]

It seemed desirable to see whether there were any salient differences in membership in terms of the ability (as assessed at the commencement of National Service) of the recruit. Had the apparently more able boys tended to play a more active part in youth organisations than the less able?

From a comparison of columns (2) and (3) of Table 48 it is apparent that throughout every level of ability among the Army recruits those men who had been active members are a minority. With this proviso, there is evidence in the Army survey of a rather higher level of ability among active members than the others, In the R.A.F. with its more selective intake the position is rather different; a majority of men had been in membership and the highest level of ability is under-represented in membership. However, all levels of ability are to be found in both members and non-members and in roughly the same proportions.

Table 48. Active Membership of Youth Organisations during any of the first three Years after leaving School in relation to Ability.


[page 171]

SUMMARY

We are not dealing in these tables with passive membership: with this proviso these seven tables (42-48) suggest the following main points:

(i) almost exactly 1 recruit in 3 (34 per cent) who left school at 15 or 16 was an active member of a youth organisation for some part of the next three years.

(ii) the proportion is less (21 per cent) for those in active membership during the whole three year period.

(iii) among those men in active membership about 1 in 10 had belonged to more than one youth organisation (generally combining a uniformed youth organisation with membership of another type of organisation).

(iv) the occupational background of those in active membership does not reflect exactly that of the whole sampled population, since the non-manual and the skilled manual groups are somewhat over, - and the other groups under-represented.

(v) men from the homes of manual workers tended to remain in active membership for a somewhat shorter period.

(vi) the social composition of the different types of youth organisation is much the same.

(vii) the school-leavers from selective schools make a better showing than leavers from other types of school, both in proportion of men in active membership and duration of such membership.

(viii) The Army survey - which more accurately reflects the national population of young men than does the R.A.F. survey - gives some support to the belief that youth organisations tend to attract the rather more intelligent young men. However the indications of this, though they exist, are not very pronounced, and all levels of intelligence are represented in the youth organisations.

B. GAMES

In further pursuit of information about how far and in what manner leisure is profitably used, the recruits were asked about active playing in games, participation in physical recreation, etc. The word "active" was used to exclude merely passive participation, e.g. as spectators. The following Table analyses this material against three other factors -


[page 172]

Table 49. Men who left School at 15 or 16 who had played Games actively during the first 3 Years after leaving School, in relation to Parental Occupation, School and Membership of Youth Organisations.

*The 31% on p. 171 Vol. I. relates to school leavers of all ages.

The following points appear:

(a) About 4 out of 10 (42 per cent) of these young men had played games actively during one or more of the first three years following school.

(b) Of those who had played games, the majority played during the full period of three years. Only a small minority gave up after one or more years.

(c) Somewhat different pictures appear in terms of the background of these recruits.

(i) A clear majority (52 per cent) of recruits from professional and other non-manual homes had played games. The position is less encouraging among men from the homes of manual workers.
(ii) The showing of men who had attended selective schools is appreciably better than for those from other types of school.
(iii) Two out of 3 boys (65 per cent) who were active members of youth organisations also played games. Among those who played no active part in youth organisations, the proportion of those actively playing games is less than 1 in 3.

[page 173]

From the evidence in this chapter it seems that in all probability about 55 to 60 per cent* of the sampled population had either been active members of youth organisations or, though not members, had played an active part in games, during all or part of the 3 years after leaving school. This picture is perhaps rather more encouraging than would have been expected but it has to be borne in mind that many men exempted from National Service on grounds of health (and thus not appearing in the sampled population) must have played little part in games, so that perhaps the pattern is unduly favourable by comparison with the population as a whole.

C. SPECIAL INTERESTS

Finally we come to a more personal assessment by the interviewer which may be of value despite evident statistical dangers. The interviewer was asked whether the recruit had any well-defined special interest (e.g. amateur transmitting, bird watching) sustained at a reasonably high level. In the following Table the replies are set out in relation to the type of school attended.

Table 50. Recruits with a well-defined special Interest sustained at a reasonably high Level, in relation to the Type of School attended.

The picture in its relative proportions is, perhaps, as may be expected - the men from the independent efficient schools come off best. Even here however, only about 1 in 5 (23 per cent) impressed the interviewer as possessing the level of special interest worth recording.

*34 per cent were in youth organisations and about one-third of the remainder (66 per cent) played games.


[page 174]

In the case of the secondary modern school the proportion of men with such special interests is lowest - about 1 in 17. Relatively, therefore, its showing is poor. However, it is still necessary to bear in mind that the modern school provided nearly half the recruits noteworthy for the special interests the interviewers were asked to record, and that the modern, all-age school contribution was half as large again as that from the grammar school.


[page 175]

APPENDIX TO PART TWO

A Technical Note to amplify the Chart on page 125

The Scores in the Service Tests analysed by Fathers' Occupations, Family Sizes, and Position of the Recruit in the Family.

In Table 51 below the army recruits in Ability Groups 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and 6 combined, have been given scores of 4, 3, 2, 1, and 0 respectively. The table shows thirty groups altogether, since there are five main blocks (occupational groups) each divided into six columns (family sizes, with 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 or more children per family). Consequently there are 29 degrees of freedom between groups, which may be divided into 4 between blocks and 5 within each block, while each 5 can be sub-divided into one for linear regression and 4 for deviation from adjusted means. In each block the means, the adjusted means, and the deviations are given in the last 3 rows. The adjusted means lie on the five regression lines, and the analysis of variance on Table 52 was obtained in the course of calculating them. It will be seen that the deviations are remarkably small - indeed, as Table 52 shows, their mean square is not much more than half the mean square between individuals within groups. Consequently the situation can be well represented visually, e.g. by the chart on page 125 in which the vertical intervals between the five regression lines show the effect of parental occupation, and the downward slopes of the lines the effect of family size. To get these effects into focus it should be remembered that the standard deviation for individuals within groups is 1.2 (since the mean square is 1.5). The vertical interval between the two extreme lines, which are practically parallel, is only 1.6, while the vertical interval between the upper end of the highest line and the lower end of the lowest is 2.2, which is not quite double the standard deviation within groups. This means that there is extensive overlapping. For example, in this particular sample the only sons of professional workers divide into 60, 54, 14, 5, 3 scoring 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 against the 1, 22, 27, 42 and 76 for sons of unskilled workers with six children. (Table 51 blocks A and E). But although the extent of the overlap should be kept in mind the group means and the regression lines are very sharply defined, and the mean square column of Table 52 shows this sharpness to be resistant to both sampling fluctuation and the element of arbitrariness in the scoring system and the tests themselves.


[page 176]

Table 51 (Army). Test Scores by Occupation of Father and Number of Children in the Family.

A. Sons of Professional and Managerial Workers.

B. Sons of Clerical and other non-manual Workers.


[page 177]

C. Sons of Skilled manual Workers.

D. Sons of Semi-Skilled manual Workers.


[page 178]

E. Sons of Unskilled manual Workers.

Table 52 shows that the mean square for parental occupation is about four times that for size of family. Parental occupation is the major influence, but family size is far from negligible.

Table 52. Analysis of Variance for Army Test Scores.

The same point may be seen in the chart, (on page 125) where the lower end of the top line is below the upper end of the second, and the lower end of the second is below the upper end not merely of the third and fourth, but of the fifth. The effect of family size is much the same in each group: it is probably least in the first and fifth and greatest in the second. This may be seen from the facts that all the lines are more or less parallel, that the first and last are almost exactly parallel, with the least slope, and that the second line is the steepest.

The short vertical strokes across each line of the chart indicate the position of the group mean. Vertically they give the group mean score in the tests: horizontally the group mean score for family size. The latter is not the same thing as the group mean family size, although it is related to it. It is not the same thing because the chance that a family of n children has a son in a particular age group is proportional to n, so that the number of recruits belonging to families of n must be divided by n to give the number of families. The calculation is shown in Table 53, where A B C D and E have the same meaning as in Table 51.


[page 179]

Table 53. Average Number of Children in the parental Occupation Groups.

In each pair of columns the first column contains the number of recruits, and the second the result of dividing that number by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7 as the case may be. The last divisor is 7 and not 6 because it is applied to families of 6 or more children. The average size of family is obtained by dividing the total of the first column by that of the second.

It will be seen that the average number of children per family rises steadily from group to group. Under the National Service rules the Army was only slightly selected by exemption, deferment, rejection and recruitment to the other services, so that these results should be close approximations to those for the general population of young men. This is by no means true of the R.A.F., which is more highly selected. One effect of selection is to alter the proportions of men from the various parental occupation groups as follows:

Table 54.

The R.A.F. contains 10 per cent more from groups A and B, and 10 per cent fewer from groups C, D and E.


[page 180]

Another effect of selection is to change the proportions of men from families of various sizes, as follows:

Table 55.

The R.A.F. contains nearly twice as many only sons as the Army, and only a third as many men belonging to large families of six or more children.

The consequence of these changes is that the effects on test scores of both occupational group and family size are severely attenuated in the R.A.F. If the scores are put on the same scale, by making the variance for men within groups the unit in each case, the comparison is as follows:-

Table 56. Mean squares.

Thus the effects of parental occupation and of family size are reduced to a tenth of what they are in the Army. In other words the R.A.F. results are evidence about the degree of selection in recruiting, and not about the general population. For this reason the full table, corresponding to Table 51 for the Army, from which the analysis of variance has been derived, has not been printed here. On the other hand, since the Army is only very slightly selected, and since the sample is random (that is, the chance of a recruit being included in the sample can be specified) the Army results are evidence about the general population on an important social question. They show how large, at the present time and in the present


[page 181]

social setting, are the effects of parental occupation and of size of family. What they do not show is how far these effects are genetic and how far environmental, nor the extent to which they may be changed as time goes on by changes in the social and educational systems. In this respect they resemble the life table, which is always (necessarily) out of date and which has undergone changes that might have surprised its original compilers of two hundred years ago, but which nevertheless has always been a useful short-term guide, at any given time, as to what may be expected until new measures or sanitation or public health have had time to take effect.

The scores in the Army tests analysed by the recruit's position in the family.

The test scores also afforded useful evidence on the question of the effect of a child's position in his family. The results are set out in Table 57 below. In each column of the table X stands for the number of men, and Y for their total score. The mean score, Y IX, is given in heavy type below and in the middle in each case. There are in fact no significant differences in the table except in the border column and row, where other factors than order in the family are at work _ Thus in the border column the means fall rapidly because first children come, as the table shows, mainly from small families, and sixth or later children entirely from families of six or more. It has been shown above that small families have on the average a higher score than large ones, in all occupational groups,

Table 57. Army Test Score's by Size of Family and Order in Family.


[page 182]

and this therefore must be true for the occupational groups taken together, as may be seen in the row at the foot. But down each of the six columns that form the body of the table the size of the family remains fixed, and only the order in the family changes. Inspection of the means suggests that none of the differences are significant, but to make sure Table 58 was worked out by condensing Table 51 and calculating the variance per man within each family size, ignoring occupational groups. These variances are given in the last row but one of the table. The last row contains the mean squares for the means in the corresponding columns of Table 57. It is immediately clear from a comparison of the two rows that columns 3 to 6 are non-starters, while in column 2 the mean square is on only one degree of freedom, so that the variance ratio (4 : 1) is hardly significant.

The absence of any clear pattern in the results, taken in conjunction with the fact that none of them reach significance although the sample is quite large, strongly suggests that if any effects of position in the family are general they must be quite small. This is in marked contrast to the effects of family size, shown in the first part of this section to be both large and regular.

Table 58. Significance Tests for the Differences between the Means in Table 57.


[page 183]

Part Three

The Technical Courses Survey






[page 185]

Contents

Page
INTRODUCTION187

CHAPTER 1. THE DESIGN OF THE SURVEY
188
Table A. Various Estimates of the Proportions of Students gaining Higher National Certificates192

CHAPTER 2. NOTES ON THE TABLES
194
Table B. Estimates of Achievements of Students with and without Exemptions196
Table C. Students leaving all National Certificate Courses at each Stage197
Table D. Students repeating as a Percentage of Outflow198
Table E. Proportions of Groups obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate in Engineering201
Implications of the Survey204

CHAPTER 3. THE METHOD OF ESTIMATING AND THE RELIABILITY OF THE ESTIMATES
207
Linking the Rates207
Bias?208
Table F. National Certificate Courses in Engineering.
Students with no Exemptions. Values of wa, pa, qa, etc.
208
Table G ditto. Estimated bias209
Table H. Effect on the H.N.C. Estimates of various Assumptions about the Proportion of Students returning after an Interval210
Sampling Variation211
Table J. Comparison of Estimates of Success in certain City and Guilds courses213


[page 186]

Page
Main Tables

Table 1. All National Certificate Courses (Percentages entering, qualifying and leaving at each stage, and percentages gaining certificates in various times)
214
Table 2. City and Guilds Courses (Percentages entering, qualifying and leaving at each stage, and percentages gaining certificates in various times)216
Table 3. National Certificate Engineering courses in relation to:
    3.1 Age on leaving School218
    3.2 Type of School attended220
    3.3 Type of Technical College attendance222
    3.4 Father's Occupation224
    3.5 Subject difficulty226
    3.6 Participation in Games228
    3.7 Exemptions230
Table 4. City and Guilds Courses by Type of Technical College Attendance231
Table 5. National Certificate Engineering Courses by Five Sub-Samples234
Table 6. Standard Errors236


[page 187]

Introduction

This national survey was carried out to obtain the evidence used in Part Six of Volume I about the rates of success, retardation, and failure in technical courses. It covered all the National Certificate and six of the City and Guilds courses. In designing it the main problems were:

(1) To devise an economical sampling method that would enable an adequate number of colleges and students to be included without imposing an undue burden on the staff of any college.

(2) To devise a method of linking the rates obtained from the survey, for all stages in a single year, into continuous chains such as would be obtained by the direct method of following the same students through each course for as many years as would be needed (i.e. ten or more).

(3) To devise a method of testing this linkage to see whether the results were seriously biased (i.e. markedly different from those that would be obtained by the direct method).

(4) To find a sufficiently simple but adequate formula to estimate the amount of sampling variation to which the results were subject, taking into account both the method of sampling and the method of linking the rates.

In the account that follows Chapter 1 describes the methods of sampling and linking. Chapter 2 gives the tables of the rates obtained with a commentary on them. Chapter 3 deals with the more technical matters summarised in (3) and (4) above.


[page 188]

CHAPTER 1

The Design of the Survey

1. The fifteen National Certificate Courses in existence were grouped as follows:

(i)
Engineering
(ii)(iii)
Science
(iv)(v)
Others
(1) Chemical
(2) Civil
(3) Electrical
(4) Mechanical
(5) Production
(6) Building(7) Chemistry
(8)   "   Applied
(9) Metallurgy
(10) Physics,
  Applied
(11) Commerce(12) Mining
(13)   "   Surveying
(14) Naval
  Architecture
(15) Textiles

It should be remarked that of the 15 courses only 11 exist below the level of the Ordinary National Certificate. Those numbered (1), (2), (5) and (13) are advanced courses for students who have obtained their Ordinary National Certificate in a relevant course, and should therefore be counted as part of the successful outflow of that course. From the much larger numbers of City and Guilds courses six were selected for survey, namely Electrical Installation, Machine Shop Engineering, Motor Vehicle Mechanics, Carpentry and Joinery, Plumbing, and Brickwork.

2. Most of the students pursuing these courses are to be found in Major Establishments for Further Education, which are defined in the annual report of the Ministry of Education as "those with substantial day work". The remaining students are in Evening Institutes, where they take the first, or sometimes the first two, stages of the course. It is unlikely, however, that the success rates in Evening Institutes are so different from those among evening students in Major Establishments as to affect the average (for evening work) seriously, and it was decided to confine the sampling to Major Establishments, of which there are 458, ranging from the Colleges or Advanced Technology to quite small local and branch colleges.

3. The following points, among others, governed the choice of a sampling design. It is well known that there is a very large range in the rates of success in technical college courses between apprentices from different firms, and this range is reflected to some extent in the range between colleges, although it is also partly averaged out. Consequently it was desirable to have an adequate number of colleges in the sample - indeed the major uncertainty about the representa-


[page 189]

tiveness of previous estimates of success rates arose from the fact that they were based on only a few colleges. On the other hand the cost of obtaining, coding, punching, and analysing information increases with the total size of the sample, and while sampling variation diminishes as the sample size increases the other errors arising in an enquiry do not, even when the enquiry becomes a complete count like the census. Consequently there is no gain in pushing the total sample size up beyond the point at which it seems likely that sampling variation will begin to be swamped by errors in the information supplied. Another consideration was that if the same fraction of students were taken from all selected colleges, collecting the information would be a formidable task in a large college and uneconomical in a small one. On the balance of these considerations it was decided to divide the 458 Major Establishments into three classes - large, middling, and small - and to include in the sample all the colleges in the first class, half those in the second, and a fifth of those in the third. To keep the final sampling fraction constant one student in four was to be included from selected colleges in the third class, one in ten from the second, and one in twenty from the first, which gives a final sampling fraction of 1 in 20 throughout. With this design a sample of 120 colleges was drawn, divided into five interpenetrating sub-samples each of 24 colleges. The reason for the sub-sampling is that the more important tabulations can be made for each sub-sample separately, thus giving five independent estimates for each variable, and hence an estimate for its standard error. A sufficient number of such estimates can be used to test a general formula, suggested by the nature of the sampling design and the method of estimating the variables, which, if it proves satisfactory, can then be used for other variables. Such a formula was found, and is tabulated in Table 6 below, from which the standard error of any estimate in Tables 1-4 can be obtained immediately. It should be noted that the well known simple random sampling formula is wholly inapplicable here, partly because the sampling design was complex, but chiefly because the estimates are the product of several ratios, and each student appeared in only one of those ratios.

4. The selection of students within selected colleges was made by the college staffs, who were asked to take every twentieth (or tenth, or fourth) student, reckoning from a random start in the register. In any one college the same sampling fraction was used for all courses. This was at the expense of obtaining estimates of a very modest precision for the smaller courses. The alternative was to ask the college staff to use a variable sampling fraction, such as would have enabled the estimates for the smaller courses to be as precise as those


[page 190]

for the large Engineering group, but it seemed likely that this would complicate their task too much. Six of the 120 colleges selected had to fall out for various reasons. The Council is much indebted to the staffs and students of the 114 colleges that took part in the survey.

5. The sampling design, and the draw for colleges, were common to the National Certificate and the City and Guilds enquiries, and in both enquiries the same information about what happened to each student in the sample at the end of the session was obtained from the college staffs. On this information each student could be assigned to one of five classes - (a) those who qualified and went on to the next stage, (b) those who qualified but gave up, (c) those who did not qualify and gave up. (d) those who did not qualify but enrolled to repeat the stage next session, and (e) those who transferred to another course. From this classification the estimates in Tables 1-4 were obtained, by the method described in detail in Chapter 3, where various complications receive attention. In principle the method is quite simple. Class (e) is excluded altogether from the reckoning. Classes (a), (b) and (c) together form the outflow from the stage, and Class (a) the onflow. The onflow from one stage is the inflow to the next. Consequently the proportion of the original entrants who reach any stage can be found by expressing each onflow up to that stage as a proportion of the corresponding outflow, and multiplying these proportions together. So far the process gives the flow without regard to retardation. but this can be found directly from the sample, since the information about each student included the length of time he had taken to reach his present stage. It is shown in Chapter 3 that of the two principal complications one is harmless and the other positively beneficial, in the sense that it makes the estimates more up to date than those that would be obtained by following the same students through the whole course. This is even simpler in principle, but unfortunately requires ten years to complete, whereas the Council's surveys had to be carried out in a much shorter time. The National Certificate survey deals with the 1956-7 enrolment, and the City and Guilds survey with the following year.

6. The selected National Certificate students completed a questionnaire. From their answers Table 3 has been compiled to show the association of various factors with success, failure, or retardation. For the City and Guilds students, to some of whom the completion of a similar questionnaire might have presented difficulties, the only factor of which the college had records was the type or part-time attendance, and this has been used to compile Table 4.

7. The next chapter contains a commentary on the estimates obtained from the survey described above. It also contains various comparisons


[page 191]

and collations with the estimates from earlier surveys by Dr. Ethel C. Venables (1), and by the National Institute of Industrial Psychology (2) for the National Certificates in Engineering, by H.M. Inspectors (3) for the National Certificate in Chemistry, and by Professor Lady Williams (4) for various City and Guilds courses. It should however, be remarked at this point that in every case the estimates for the later stages of the courses are rather pessimistic, unless they are adjusted. The reason for this is that none of them can take full account of the remarkable persistence of some students, shown by the fact that in the Council's sample 9 per cent of all National Certificate students, and 18 per cent of the students in A2, from which the examination for the Higher National Certificate is taken, were aged thirty or more. One indeed had attained the respectable age of fifty-three. Successes finally obtained after intervals of the order implied by these figures must escape the notice of surveys where the method is to follow a band of students who begin the course at the same time, since the account must be closed before they have occurred. Similarly, the N.I.I.P. survey was concerned with the apprentice stage, not with successes obtained beyond that stage. For a different reason some, though not all, of these later successes also escape the notice of a survey like the Council's. If a student's attendance at his course is continuous then his final success, however long delayed, is brought into the Council's reckoning, but this is not so if he leaves the course temporarily (e.g. for National Service) and resumes his studies later. It cannot be known, at the time he leaves the course, that he will later resume, and consequently he will be entered in either Class (b) or Class (c) as the case may be, whereas if he continued without an interval he would appear in Class (a) or Class (d). Since National Service has been the most probable cause of an interval, and since apprentices have been deferred, the estimates for the O.N.C. are not likely to have been much affected. It is the proportion gaining the H.N.C. that may be underestimated, and for this the annual report of the Ministry of Education supplies a check. The annual report contains a table headed "Joint Examination Schemes" which gives a complete count each year of the entrants and the successful candidates for both the Ordinary and the Higher National Certificate. From this table there can be found the ratio of the number of students gaining the H.N.C. in one year to the

(1) Placement Problems in Part-Time Engineering Courses - Institute of Education, University of Birmingham, 1957. (not published).
(2) Tests for Engineering Apprentices - Frisby, Vincent and Lancashire, N.I.I.P., 1959.
(3) Wastage in National Certificate Courses in Chemistry - Journal of the Royal Institute of Chemistry, April, 1959.
(4) "Recruitment to Skilled Trades", Professor Lady G. Williams - Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1957.


[page 192]

number who gained the O.N.C. two years earlier. These ratios vary from subject to subject, but only fluctuate slightly from year to year. In the table below the averages of the three pairs of years 1954-6, 1955-7, 1956-8, have been applied, in the fifth row, to the Council's estimates for O.N.C. The resulting estimates will be too high, since the figures in the annual report cover students with two exemptions or with direct entry to H.N.C., so that the ratio will be optimistic for students with one exemption or none.

8. Another check may be obtained, as in the sixth row of the table below, by reckoning Class (b) as Class (a) - that is, by assuming that all the students who retire undefeated subsequently resume their studies with the same degree of success as those who have no gap. This is an optimistic assumption. It is sufficiently optimistic to do more than offset the fact that some students who retire defeated will resume later, and therefore these estimates will also be too high. Consequently it may be said of the three sets of estimates given below from the Council's survey that the direct estimates (i) are somewhat too low, but that the indirect estimates (ii) and (iii) are decidedly too high.

Table A. Various Estimates of the Proportions of Students gaining Higher National Certificates.

(1) Students with no exemption
(2) Students exempt from first stage

9. This excursus seemed necessary to do justice to the persistence shown by some students in resuming their studies after a gap that is often prolonged. On the other hand it may be held that to take such long range successes into account is doing more than justice if the object is to assess the effectiveness of the part-time system, and that for this purpose it is enough to take account only of those delayed successes that have been obtained by a continuous, though prolonged, attendance. From this standpoint the H.N.C. estimates given in Tables 1 and 3 need no adjustment. The adjustment to the


[page 193]

O.N.C. estimates would in any case be slight. The adjustment to cover the long range successes obtained after a break in the course is shown in Chapter 3 (paragraphs 8 and 9) to be probably about 2 per cent.


[page 194]

CHAPTER 2

Notes on the Tables

1. In what follows standard errors are frequently attached to the estimates quoted - e.g. (26 ± 1.1) per cent. The general reader may find it helpful to know that the chance (arising from the luck of the draw in sampling) that an estimate exceeds the true value by one standard error or more is about the same as the chance of throwing a six in a game of dice, and that the chance of an excess of twice the standard error or more is about that of throwing two sixes in succession, or that of England winning the toss in all five matches of the next Test series. The chance of an underestimate is the same as that of an equal overestimate. By the "true" value here is meant the value that would be obtained if the sample included the whole population. This value will not be "true" in a wider sense, if the questions are badly framed, misunderstood, or inaccurately answered for other reasons. Subject to this it may be said that about two-thirds of all the estimates in Tables 1-4 are within one standard error of the truth, and about 95 per cent within two standard errors. Where the standard error is not given in these notes it may be obtained by reference to Table 6.

Table 1. National Certificate Courses.

2. In Table 1, National Certificate students have been divided into those with no exemption, who start in S1 and have a 5 stage course to the Higher National Certificate, and those exempt from the first stage, who start in S2 and have a 4 stage course. There is a third class, with two exemptions, but this is rather small, and the tables for it have not been printed, though they have been used for combined estimates, as in the comparison with the evidence of the National Institute of Industrial Psychology in the next paragraph. For methods of securing exemption, and a comparison of the results, see paragraph 21 below and Table 3.7.

3. Table 1 (i) gives the estimates of the proportions entering and qualifying at each stage. For all National Certificate Courses taken together the proportions of students with no exemption who gain the Ordinary and the Higher National Certificate are estimated as (26 ± 1.1) per cent and (10 ± 0.9) per cent. These are very close to the estimates for the Engineering courses, since the latter include over 80 per cent of the students with no exemption. The estimates for


[page 195]

Engineering are (25 ± 1.2) per cent and (9 ± 0.9) per cent. The first of these may be compared with Dr. E. C. Venables' estimate of 18 per cent, based on 4 colleges, and also with the estimate of 51 per cent in the Memorandum of Evidence submitted to the Council by the National Institute of Industrial Psychology. Dr. Venables' estimate is not incompatible with that from the Council's sample, when regard is paid to the number of colleges. If the two estimates are combined the joint result is 24 per cent. Details are given in Chapter 3 paragraph 14 below. The N.I.I.P. estimate is incompatible, but this is because, as the Memorandum points out, it is derived from only part of the National Certificate population. The N.I.I.P. sample consisted of 1,180 craft apprentices employed by firms who had co-operated with the N.I.I.P. in studying the value of certain psychological tests as aids to the selection of boys for engineering apprenticeships. It is well known, as has been remarked above (Chapter 1, paragraph 3), that there is a very wide range between the achievements of apprentices from different firms, and consequently it is not surprising that the students from these firms, whose presence in the N.I.I.P. sample is itself evidence of unusual interest in the recruitment and encouragement of their apprentices, should do markedly better than the average. When students with no exemption, one exemption, and two exemptions are combined the Council's sample gives an estimate of (31 ± 1.1) per cent for the general average, and it may be surmised that the very striking difference of 20 per cent between this and the N.I.I.P. estimate of 51 per cent is due partly to the presence of a higher proportion of students with one or more exemption among the apprentices of the co-operating firms, but partly also to an unusual amount of encouragement given to their apprentices by most of the firms in this group. The N.I.I.P. figure is even slightly above the Council's figure of (49 ± 2.7) per cent for students with one exemption. For the Higher National Certificate the Council's figure (for students with and without exemption) is (12 ± 0.9) per cent, and the N.I.I.P. gives 16 per cent, This closer approximation at the higher level is to be expected, since the N.I.I.P. survey ends when the apprentice completes his time and so excludes later H.N.C.

4. The Ordinary National Certificate estimates for Science may be compared with those obtained by H.M. Inspectors in a survey of the Chemistry course in 11 colleges, since the bulk of the students grouped under "Science" are in fact in the Chemistry course. The survey figures for students with no exemption are (26 ± 3.4) per cent and the Council's (39 ± 4.7) per cent, suggesting that there may have been some improvement in the two years between the mid point of the survey and the date of the Council's information (see Chapter 3,


[page 196]

paragraph 15). Whether an improvement has taken place or not the two estimates give a combined estimate of (31 ± 2.8) per cent for 1956. For students with one exemption the survey gives (57 ± 4.6) per cent and the Council's figure is (70 ± 5.4) per cent. These figures also suggest some improvement, and give a combined estimate of (63 ± 3.5) per cent for 1956. (See Chapter 3, paragraph 15 for details.) A comparison at the level of the Higher National Certificate will not be possible until all the students in the Chemistry survey have completed their courses. So far as is known no other estimates are available for comparison in the National Certificate field. Lady Williams' estimates relate to City and Guilds courses (see paragraph 11 below).

5. At first sight the contrast between the achievements of students with and without exemption is very striking. For all the courses combined the estimates are:

Table B

This is however an unfair comparison: a better comparison is between the record of students who entered S2 by exemption and that of those who entered it by S1, who comprise 59 per cent of the original entry to S1. On this basis the 26 per cent and the 10 per cent above become 44 per cent and 17 per cent, which are much closer to the 51 per cent and 26 per cent for students exempt from S1. Of the 11,658 students who obtained Ordinary National Certificates in 1957, 633 appeared in the sample. Of these 633 no fewer than 397 (63 per cent) were students with no exemption, which gives about 7,350 as the corresponding part of the total. or these nearly 4,000 had left school at 15. Although the yield from this group is relatively low the group accounts for a third of all successful students owing to its large size.

G. The gradual melting away of a body of students as it moves through the stages of a course is rather like the progress of a glacier. Table 1 (i) shows the amount of the hard core at each stage, while Table 1 (ii) is a rearrangement to show more explicitly what has


[page 197]

become of the melted portions. The short diagonal lines,

in this table and the corresponding tables that follow, separate students who have obtained at least the Ordinary National Certificate from those who have not. The most striking thing about Table 1 (ii) is the relatively large proportion of students who leave the course not after failing but after qualifying at the last stage they attended. For students with no exemption, in all the courses combined, this proportion is shown by the lowest row in the table to be (23 ± 1.1) per cent. It is true that this includes the 8 per cent who left the course after obtaining an Ordinary National Certificate, which is a considerable achievement, and a reasonable goal for many students. But this leaves 15 per cent who gave up at a point where no certificate is awarded, although they had been successful up to that point, presumably because they had decided that the game was not worth the candle. This fact may be juxtaposed with the fact noted above, that 51 per cent of the students from firms who are particularly interested in the progress of their apprentices obtain at least Ordinary National Certificates, against a general average of 31 per cent.

7. Table 1 (ii) shows the fall-out as a percentage of the original entry. It may also be shown as a percentage of the entry to each stage, thus:

Table C

The second form brings out the fact that the fall-out is considerable at every stage, and not merely at the first stage. though it becomes lighter at the Advanced level. The maximum (relative) fall-out is after S3, because many students regard the Ordinary National Certificate as an adequate goal.


[page 198]

8. Table 1 (iii) shows that only about half the successful students who start in S1 obtain their certificates (whether Ordinary or Higher) in the minimum time. The proportion is decidedly higher among those who start in S2. The table may be supplemented by the following figures showing where the repetition takes place. They express the number of repeaters as a proportion of the annual outflow from each stage (and not of the enrolment, which consists of the outflow together with the repeaters).

Table D. Repeaters as a Percentage of Outflow.

There is most repetition in Engineering, which links with the facts shown in Table 1 (iii) that this is the course in which successful students take the longest average time. Bruce's spider was, of course, a kind of engineer.

9. The stage at which there is most repetition is uniformly S3: students who have only one more hurdle to clear are more inclined to persevere than those who have more obstacles in front of them. The highest rate of all is for S3 Engineering, where, among students with no exemption, 60 per cent of the outflow (or 37½ per cent of the enrolment) are repeating the stage. Beyond S3 success rates are higher and repeating rates lower. Among all students who started in S1 the qualifying rates at A1 and A2 are 76 per cent and 83 per cent: among those starting in S2 they are 87 per cent and 83 per cent. The corresponding repeating rates are 23 per cent and 28 per cent, and 23 per cent and 22 per cent. The average times to the Ordinary and to the Higher Certificate are 3.8 and 5.8 years, and 2.5 and 4.7 years. The first pair do not of course imply that the average time for the Ordinary to the Higher Certificate is exactly two years; a good many of the slower students who raise the Ordinary National Certificate average to 3.8 years stop at that point.

Table 2. City and Guilds Courses.

10. In Table 2 the six City and Guilds courses have been listed as 5 Stage and 4 Stage courses. This corresponds, but only roughly, to


[page 199]

the arrangement of Table 1 by "Students with no exemption" and "Students exempt from first stage". To the extent that the 5 Stage courses have three stages to the Intermediate examination, and the 4 Stage courses two, the correspondence is exact. But whereas there are well settled rules, covering the whole country, about exemptions from stages of the National Certificate courses, the rules governing admission to City and Guilds courses are of a local and variable character. There are also 4 Stage courses with three stages to the Intermediate and one to the Final, but the numbers of students in these were rather small, and they have been omitted from Table 2.

11. It will be seen that there is no course which occupies in Table 2 the predominant position taken by the Engineering group in Table 1, and that the largest number of students in the sample from any one course is 1,207 from Machine Shop Engineering. This gives (28 ± 2.3) per cent for the proportion obtaining the Intermediate Certificate. Lady Williams' result, for 125 students in two colleges, is (9 ± 5.0) per cent. The difference of 19 per cent is about 3½ times its standard error, which suggests that there has been an improvement. This is the most acute disagreement between Lady Williams' estimates and the Council's. Her means are more widely scattered, owing to the fact that they are all based on a small number of colleges, but when her estimates and the Council's are combined the average difference between the combined and the Council's estimate is less than 1 per cent, and the largest individual difference is 6 per cent for Brickwork (5 Stage course), where the Council's estimate has the unusually large standard error of 5.2 per cent owing to the small number of students. (See Chapter 3, paragraph 16, for details).

12. For the six 5 Stage courses combined the Council's sample gives (28 ± 1.4) per cent as the proportion gaining the Intermediate Certificate, with (6 ± 0.9) per cent for the Final. For the four 4 Stage courses the corresponding estimates are (53 ± 2.3) per cent and (20 ± 3.4) per cent. These estimates agree rather closely with those for the 5 Stage and 4 Stage National Certificate courses, for which the corresponding figures are (26 ± 1.1) per cent, (10 ± 0.9) per cent, (51 ± 2.7) per cent and (26 ± 2.3) per cent. It was remarked in Volume 1* that this agreement was striking and odd, because of the very different character of the National Certificate and the City and Guilds courses. The explanation perhaps lies in the nature of any process of educational or vocational selection, such as the admission of students to courses. Such a process is necessarily an attempt to forecast the future - to estimate the student's future progress from what is known of him at present and from past experience of more or less similar students. Present knowledge and past experience are

*Vol. I page 355.


[page 200]

the only guides to the future that we have, and up to a point they work well, since to some extent the future repeats the past, and factors that are variable for the individual tend to average out for the group. This means that it is possible, in making a selection, to know fairly accurately how many wrong decisions are being made, without knowing which they are. As in the General Confession there are two kinds of wrong decision - to leave out a student who ought to be admitted, and to admit one who ought to be left out. A preponderance of the first kind ensures a high rate of success, at the expense of a low total yield. A preponderance of the second kind ensures a high total yield at the expense of a low rate of success (i.e. a high rate of "wastage"). Either policy pushed very far would be disastrous: the first would empty the colleges, and the second would swamp the good students. In practice a compromise is reached, by which the colleges are not altogether emptied, nor the good students altogether swamped, and this applies to both kinds of 5 Stage courses and, at a somewhat higher level in each case, to both kinds of 4 Stage courses, and so produces the remarkable similarities in yield.

13. Another similarity lies in the fact that for the City and Guilds courses, just as for the National Certificate courses, the population sampled by the National Institute of Industrial Psychology produces a much higher yield than the general population. For all 5 Stage courses Table 2 shows 28 per cent reaching the Intermediate level and 6 per cent reaching the Final. The N.I.I.P. sample gives 50 per cent and 16 per cent, again showing the effect of encouragement by the firm.

14. Table 2 (ii) shows much the same features as the corresponding Table 1 (ii) for the National Certificate, the main difference being that a somewhat smaller proportion of successful students think the game not worth the candle.

15. Table 2 (iii) however shows a different pattern in the 5 Stage courses, where the most common time in which to pass the Intermediate examination is 4 years, whereas in the 5 Stage course in 1 (iii) the most common time was 3 years. In the 4 Stage courses the minimum time is commonest in both tables. Lady Williams' results also show these features, for which the explanation may be the fact that most of the abler students are in either National Certificate or 4 Stage City and Guilds courses.

Tables 3 and 4. Factors associated with success, retardation and failure.

16. The seven parts of Table 3 show the influence of various circumstances on the student's progress. In Table 3.1 the students are


[page 201]

grouped by Age of Leaving School, in Table 3.2 by Type of School, in Table 3.3 by Type of Part-Time Attendance, and so on. The key figures in these tables, to which the others are closely related, are the proportions obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate. For ease of reference these key figures are repeated below:

Table E (Summary of Table 3). Proportions of Groups obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate in Engineering.

The figures in brackets give the proportions in which the original group was divided.
*These occupational groups are defined in Part Two on page 114.

17. From Table 3.1 it is clear that the student does well to stay at school until he has secured an exemption, or, failing that, has reached the age of 17. Students from modern schools who secure exemptions do better (Table 3.2) than students from technical or grammar schools who do not, (although most students with exemption come from grammar and technical schools). In Table 3.3 the value of day release appears: attendance in the evening only is a fairly severe handicap.

18. Table 3.4 is interesting, because it supports the view that home background has more effect at the school stage than during further education. Students with fathers in groups A and B are much more strongly represented among those with one exemption than among


[page 202]

those without exemption. Exemption is earned by success at school. It was shown in "Early Leaving"* that success at school is highly correlated with parental occupation, even when ability as measured at the age of eleven is held constant. Boys in the lowest selection group at eleven but with parents in Group A occupations were more successful in the secondary school than those in the highest selection group at eleven but with parents in Group E occupations. The proportions from different occupational groups among students with and without exemptions reflect this fact, though not at full strength since the most successful boys stay at school until they go on to the university, and are not to be found in part-time courses. But little further effect of parental occupation can be seen once the student has entered employment and begun a part-time course. Those who have secured exemption do better than those who have not, and there is a larger proportion from Group A among those with exemption. But once the question of exemption has been settled parental occupation exerts no further influence on success rates: from that point the student is moving under his own steam, or at any rate is more nearly independent than before. More nearly independent, that is to say, of parental influence, for the N.I.I.P. evidence suggests that to some extent the influence of the parent is replaced by that of the firm. The effect of differing parental occupation appears only in the differing proportions of students with exemption: the effect of differing standards in the employing firms appears in the fact that among apprentices of the N.I.I.P. firms the proportion of beginners who obtain at least the O.N.C. is 51 per cent, whereas in the general population it is 31 per cent (when students with and without exemption are pooled). The evidence, that is to say, supports the expectation from common sense that as the apprentice grows older the firm has more, and his home less, effect on his progress.

19. Table 3.5 supports the view that weakness in mathematics is the most important single cause of failure in the engineering courses. Mathematics is the key subject, in the sense that progress in the other subjects of the course can hardly be made without a certain proficiency in the relevant mathematics. Moreover learning a new piece of mathematics is rather like learning a new stroke in swimming. What is gained today can be consolidated and extended tomorrow, but may have been largely lost by the end of a week if there has been no intervening practice. In both cases progress depends on forming a number of new sets of good habits, and for any particular set this needs concentrated effort at frequent intervals until the new set is established. This is recognised in schools in the general practice of

*"Early Leaving", Report of The Central Advisory Council for Education (England), H,M.S.O., 1954, Tables K (p. 18) and 7 (p, 77).


[page 203]

having daily lessons in mathematics. If the lessons were longer and less frequent the pupil would find it hard, on the one hand, to keep up the necessary concentration through the lesson, and on the other hand he would lose most of what he had gained during the interval. The professional mathematician recognises that concentration cannot be kept up for long, but can be frequently repeated. So does the student who has already made substantial progress. They can arrange their efforts accordingly, but the beginner, unless he has great natural aptitude for the subject, can hardly be expected to have this insight. The arrangement will not be done by him, and must be done for him if it is to be done at all. If this is agreed, and if it is also agreed that the mathematical ingredient of the course is more likely to increase than to diminish, as time goes on, there is a strong argument in favour of block release and sandwich courses rather than day release.

20. Table 3.6 shows that as many as two out of five students are able to play games regularly. It is perhaps surprising, as well as gratifying, that the proportion is so high. On the other hand there is nothing surprising about the fact, shown by the table, that those who have the opportunity and the vigour to play games do better, on the whole, than those who have not. Both common sense and Juvenal point to this expectation.

21. Table 3.7 relates to the various modes of securing exemption from the first stage. It will be seen that students who secure it by the G.C.E. examination are by far the most successful, perhaps mainly because it is these students, on the whole, who have had the best grounding in mathematics. (See the note on Table 3.5 above). The relatively poor showing of the second method - technical school record and interview - needs consideration. It does not, of course, include all students who attended technical schools and secured exemption; indeed it only accounts for about a third of them. Technical students exempt from S1 show as a class a yield of 44 per cent at O.N.C. The discrepancy between this and the 30 per cent for students exempt on their record arises from the fact that many technical school pupils secure their exemption on the G.C.E.

22. Table 4 for the City and Guilds courses corresponds to Table 3.3 for the National Certificate, and like Table 3.3 it shows a much higher rate of survivors among students with day release than among those attending in the evening only. The numbers in the blocks on the left of this table are larger than corresponding numbers in Table 2 because Table 4 covers all courses with 3 stages to the Intermediate level, whereas Table 2 includes only those for which the 3 stages to the Intermediate were said to be followed by 2 stages to the Final.


[page 204]

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE SURVEY

23. The main object of this enquiry was to establish the broad facts about the efficiency of the part-time process. At first sight a five stage course that sheds about 35 per cent of the survivors at every stage appears to be extremely inefficient, like the ordinary steam locomotive, which has a thermodynamic efficiency of about 5 per cent. None the less the steam locomotive in its palmy [OED: triumphant, flourishing] days supported the prosperity of this country. It survived for more than a century because its commercial efficiency was quite high. It supplied what the customer thought he needed and was prepared to pay for, and the fact that thermodynamic efficiencies nearer the theoretical limit could be obtained by different design and much greater capital expenditure was for a long time irrelevant. This is roughly analogous to the development of part-time courses. The first National Certificate course began in 1923. In 1958, 18,028 Ordinary National Certificates were awarded, of which about a third went to students who had left school at the minimum statutory age. This is a large achievement, whose absolute magnitude is not diminished by the fact that the eighteen thousand were the survivors of a much larger band of beginners. Neither should the wastefulness of the process be exaggerated. The shedding has taken place pretty steadily along the route, and it is not a fact that all those who have not reached the end of the road have wasted many hundreds of hours of their own and their teachers' time in fruitless endeavour. Nor should it be thought that more stringent selection at the outset is all that is needed. The course itself is a kind of selective process, and all that may be hoped of a more stringent and deliberate process is that it would be somewhat, but not a great deal, more efficient. This is exemplified in Tables 3.1-3.7, in which the students are grouped in different ways. There is no group in which the probability of success approaches 100 per cent, and none for which it is zero. It may be argued that in any actual process of selection the groups would not be formed on such crude factors as are used in the tables, and this of course is true: other groupings would be available, and notably those based on knowledge of what the student had done at school. But all the very extensive following up of selective processes, whether for secondary education, or for the university, or for employment, that has been done in the last quarter of a century shows them to be only moderately efficient. To say this is very far from saying that they are useless. It is merely to call attention to the fact that whatever groupings are used, and whatever probability of success is thought satisfactory for selection, there will always, in any non-trivial case, be a large proportion of candidates whose probability is close to it. This fact, in the guise of "the borderline problem", has received some


[page 205]

attention in the press in recent years, and the width of the borderline (borderland would be a more appropriate word) seems to have occasioned some surprise, though it has been well known to investigators for a very long time. In a case like that of the National Certificate course, where there is already a fairly high degree of pre-selection, the borderland is bound to be relatively wider than it is at the stage of transfer to secondary education: the range of the probability is initially restricted by the fact that neither weak pupils nor the hitherto ablest pupils come into the field at all. The borderland problem cannot be evaded by raising or lowering the probability limit, but raising it will ensure a low rate of wastage, at the cost of a lower total yield, while lowering it will give a higher total yield at the expense of a high wastage rate. In this matter fortune can never come with both hands full.

24. More might be gained by multiple selection, for courses of different pace. The probability that a student will succeed over a three stage course is not the same as the probability that he will succeed over a four stage course of the same content: the latter will be greater or less according to whether the easier gradient or the need for longer persistence is the more potent factor. If, but only if, there is enough incentive to keep going many students would succeed in a more gently graded course who would fail in the steeper one. A gentler gradient may be secured not only by increasing the number of stages but also, additionally or alternatively, by altering the pattern of release. Day release has proved more effective than evening work (Table 3.3), and block release and sandwich courses are likely to prove more effective still, partly because of the point about mathematics made in paragraph 19 above. On the other hand it would be a mistake to close the older routes entirely so long as any students are prepared to set out on them who cannot set out on the new.

25. With a more varied provision of courses the probabilities set out in the tables should be of some use in steering the student into a fast or a slow course, provided it is remembered that they can be sharpened by local knowledge. Thus a student's ability in mathematics is of the first importance as a guide, but it should be assessed in relation to the opportunities he has had - that is by comparison with other students from the same or a similar school. Similarly knowledge of the firm to which a student is apprenticed affects the probability, as is shown by the much higher success rates among the apprentices of the firms in the N.I.I.P. sample. It should also be remembered that the probabilities are likely to continue to change with time, as they have done in the past. The growth in the number of National Certificates over almost forty years, and of university degrees over


[page 206]

a longer period, are only two of very many examples that could be chosen to illustrate this point, which would be a platitude were it not sometimes obscured by the notion of the pool of ability. It may well be that there is a pool of ability that imposes an upper limit on what can be done by education at any given time. But if so it is sufficiently clear that the limit has not been reached and will not even be approached without much more in the way of inducement and opportunity. Moreover the changes that make it practically important that something should be learnt also make the tasks of teaching and learning it easier, by increasing the scope of ostensive definition - the process by which we are taught in infancy the meaning of the word "cat". That mathematics should be the student's chief stumbling block is at first sight depressing in an increasingly mathematical world. It is less so when it is realised that in such a world the teaching of mathematics will become easier. In one sense it is the most highly linguistic of all subjects, and the difficulty of learning it arises from the fact that the language resembles Mr. Weller's knowledge of London in being extensive and peculiar[*]. But though its extensiveness increases its peculiarity diminishes as the objects of application become more familiar. It is this that makes it possible to reduce the original highly devious and laborious discussion of some topic to the cursory but more readily intelligible form found in text books.

26. What this amounts to is that what is extracted from the pool of ability depends much less on the content of the pool than on the effectiveness of the pump. This has been improving for many years, and is likely to continue to do so, but the rate of improvement can be accelerated by incurring the cost of providing more time, in larger blocks, more variation in the pace of courses, and closer contact between school and college and between firm and college so that there is a better chance of the student getting into the right course for him at the outset, and continuing in it thereafter.

[*Mr Weller - a character in Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers.]


[page 207]

CHAPTER 3

The Method of Estimating and the Reliability of the Estimates

LINKING THE RATES

1. The sample data were first used to calculate Pr and Qr for each category of student. Pr is the proportion of the outflow from the rth stage at the end of the session who entered the next stage at the beginning of the next session. Qr is the proportion of the outflow who qualified. Consequently (Qr - Pr) is the proportion of the outflow who left the course after qualifying at the rth stage and (1 - Qr) the proportion who left the course after failing to qualify at the rth stage. It should be noted that these proportions are all proportions of the outflow, and not of the enrolment for the stage, which consists of the outflow plus the repeaters.

2. The first part of each table was then written down as

The second part was obtained from the first by taking differences and the third part by ascertaining from the sample the proportion of students obtaining each certificate who were not retarded, or retarded by one, two, or three or more years.

3. It will be seen that this process, based on the passage of several cohorts through one session, would give the same results as following one cohort through several sessions, if a steady state existed - that is to say, if each cohort were the same size as its predecessor, and had the same history. For each P and Q is a weighted average, of the form,

where wa, wb ... etc. are the proportions in which the outflow from the stage is divided between students with no retardation, one year's retardation, ... etc., and pa pb ... etc. (or qa, qb etc.) are the proportions continuing (or qualifying). A steady state means a state in which the p q and w do not change, either from session to session or from cohort to cohort. Consequently in a steady state (1) and (2) can represent either the passage of the survivors of a single cohort through the stage in different years, or the passage of the survivors of different cohorts in the same year. Thus if a single cohort were


[page 208]

being followed, and wd pd represented the transit in 1957 of survivors retarded 3 years, then wc pc, wb pb, wa pa, would represent the transits in 1956, 1955 and 1954 of survivors retarded 2, 1, and 0 years. But if the reckoning were by the session and wd pd related to the cohort starting in 1952, then wc pc, wb pb and wa pa would relate to the cohorts starting in 1953, 1954, and 1955.

BIAS?

4. The actual state is not steady: the cohorts in some categories are known to be increasing in size, and there may be changes with time in p and q. Consequently, (1) and (2) cannot in practice stand for both the reckoning by the session and the reckoning by the cohort. If we allot them to the session we need

for the cohorts. The equations we can actually use are (1) and (2), because the sample gives the values of the p, q, w, and not of the p' q' and w'. So far as the difference between the first pair and the second pair of equations resides in the differences between the w and the w' this is a disadvantage: it means that the estimates are biased, though it is shown below that the bias is not serious. But, so far as the difference resides in the differences between the p, q and the p', q' it is a gain, since the p, q are all recent while the p' q' are obsolescent, and in particular the pa', qa' to which the largest weights attach, are obsolete.

5. The rate of increase in the size of cohorts varies from category to category, but is unlikely to exceed 10 per cent yearly for any well established course. This enables an upper limit to the bias to be calculated. Thus for one category we have the following table:

Table F. National Certificate. Engineering. Students with no Exemption. Values of wa, pa, qa, etc.


[page 209]

It is clear that p and q do not vary enough from row to row for small changes in the weights to produce much effect. If P'' and Q'' are calculated by adjusting the weights to offset an annual increase of 10 per cent in the size of cohorts the ratios in the last row of the table are obtained (when enough figures are kept throughout the computation).

Table G.

6. The results of the complete calculation, for an annual expansion of 10 per cent, are


[page 210]

Thus if the annual increase has been 10 per cent the O.N.C. and H.N.C. estimates are too large by amounts ranging from 0.3 per cent to 0.9 per cent. The actual increase, and therefore the bias, is probably somewhat less than this. In any case a comparison with the standard errors (Table 5 and 6) shows that this bias is not a serious contributor to the risk of large error.

7. There is a small systematic error, already considered in paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 of Chapter 1, arising from the fact that a success gained by a student who has resumed the course after leaving it for an interval is not taken into account by the method of estimating. No direct evidence as to the number of such students can be obtained from the survey, but they are known to be very rare among part-time day students, and quite rare among evening students, up to the O.N.C. stage. Consequently, so far as the O.N.C. estimates are concerned, it seems unlikely that this error can do much more than cancel the bias in the opposite sense arising from the annual growth in the size of cohorts.

8. For the H.N.C. estimates upper limits have already been given, in Table A in Chapter 1, first by using the H.N.C./O.N.C. ratio from the Annual Report*, and secondly by assuming that all students who left the course after qualifying at a stage subsequently returned. This is a grossly optimistic assumption. A more realistic procedure is to suppose first that the proportion of students who return after leaving the course before they have reached the O.N.C. stage is negligibly small, and that of those who leave after qualifying at the O.N.C. or a later stage, a half return. The corresponding estimates are given in the third line in Table H below. The second line contains the estimates when the half is reduced to a third. Neither of these assumptions makes any allowance for students who have left after failing to qualify returning after an interval. However, the assumption that a third of the qualifiers and also a third of the non-qualifiers return after an interval produced much the same estimate as the assumption that half the qualifiers (and no non-qualifiers) do so.

Table H. Effect on the H.N.C. Estimates of various Assumptions about the Proportion of Students returning after an Interval

(1) Students with no exemption (2) Students exempt from first stage
*Annual Report by the Minister of Education


[page 211]

All the estimates in this table are a good deal higher than those reached by the method of following a cohort (Cf. Table A, p. 192), but this is to be expected, since the difference represents delayed successes. The estimates in the fourth row, and particularly those for students with no exemption, are too high, for the reason given in paragraph 7 of Chapter 1.

9. The bias arising from the growth of the cohorts, and estimated in paragraph 6 above, has not been laid off in calculating Table H. Taking both kinds of bias together it seems reasonable to hold that the O.N.C. estimates, as given in the main tables, are unbiased, and that the H.N.C. estimates need a small upward adjustment of about 2 per cent.

SAMPLING VARIATION

10. The first step in estimating the sampling variation was to use the division of the sample into five independent subsamples and obtain some of the principal tables in five-fold form. Table 5 is an example. This gives five independent estimates for the content of each cell in the tables, from which the corresponding standard errors can be estimated on four degrees of freedom, either by the usual process or, more simply and with sufficient accuracy, by dividing the range by 5.2.

11. Unless this process is supplemented it suffers from two disadvantages. In the first place some of the estimates on four degrees of freedom will be much too large, and others much too small. This risk is discounted in the table of t, but at the expense of having a wide spread in the tails. In the second place it would hardly be practicable to produce all the tables in quintuplicate, while to increase the number of degrees of freedom by having more subsamples would involve an impossible mass of calculation.

12. A way out is to look for a simple general formula, suggested by the nature of the sampling design and the method of estimating the variables, and to test it against the estimates of error provided by the subsamples, with due regard to the fact that these are on only four degrees of freedom. Any such simple formula has some initial probability of giving a proper representation of the sampling errors: if it agrees well with a large number of estimates from the subsamples its final probability becomes very high.

13. It is clear from the nature of the sampling design and the estimating process that there is a fair initial probability that good estimates of the standard errors will be given by

where n is the number of students in a category, m the number of


[page 212]

colleges, σ2 the variance between colleges, and k a constant to allow for the facts that each student who is not a repeater appears in only one of the ratios that are multiplied to produce the estimates, and that repeaters appear in none of the ratios. If the items in the "Enter" rows of the tables are summed and multiplied by (1 + x) where x is the ratio of repeaters to outflow the result is never very far from 3, which may therefore be adopted tentatively as the value of k. Experience suggests 6 per cent as a suitable value for σ. With these values inserted the formula gives very close agreement with the estimates of standard error on 4 degrees of freedom in Table 5 and several similar tables for both the National Certificate and the City and Guilds. For example, Table 5 provides 34 comparisons altogether. The averages are almost equal, the formula values being larger by 0.06 per cent, and the largest disparity is between 2.1, the last figure but one in the lowest row of Table 5 (ii), and 1.4 given by the formula. This gives F = 2.25 which is below the 5 per cent point, 2.45, for 4 and 113 degrees or freedom. The agreement between the formula and the subsample tables makes the final probability very much higher than the initial probability, so that the formula may reasonably be adopted outside the range for which it has been tested against the subsamples, and in particular to cover all the remaining results in Tables 1-4. For this purpose it has been tabulated for suitable values of p, q, and n in Table 6.

14. It may also be applied to Dr. E. C. Venables' results and to those in the survey of the National Certificate in Chemistry mentioned in Chapter 1, though it must be remembered that in these cases k is 1, because the cohort method was followed. Of Dr. Venables' 214 students 11 transferred, and 34 obtained the O.N.C. in 5 years or less. This is 17 per cent, or say 18 per cent when allowance is made for those who take 6 years or more. With k = 1 and 4 colleges in the sample the standard error is 4.0 per cent which brings the result well within the range of the Council's 24.6 per cent. Combining the results, with weights inversely as their variances, gives a joint estimate of 24.1 per cent, with a standard error of 1.1 per cent.

15. The Chemistry survey gives 26 per cent as the proportion of students with no exemption who obtain the O.N.C. This is on 230 students followed through in eleven colleges. Consequently k = 1, m = 11 and the standard error is 3.4 per cent. The corresponding estimate from the Council's sample is 39 per cent with a standard error of 4.7 per cent, on 329 students in 114 colleges with k = 3. The differences between the two estimates is 2¼ times its standard error, which suggests that there may have been some improvement between 1955, the middle point of the Chemistry survey, and 1957 when the Council's survey took place. If the two estimates are combined, with weights inversely as the variances, they give a joint estimate of 31


[page 213]

per cent, with a standard error of 2.8 per cent, for 1956, whether or not an improvement has occurred. For students with one exemption the survey estimate is 57 per cent, on 11 colleges and 135 students, which gives a standard error of 4.6 per cent. The Council's estimate is (70 ± 5.4) per cent. The difference of 13 per cent is just under twice its standard error of 7.1 per cent, which also suggests that an improvement may have taken place. The combined estimate for 1956 is (63 ± 3.5) per cent.

16. A similar comparison with Lady Williams' results* for City and Guilds courses may be set out as follows:

Table J.

In Lady Williams' column the first bracket gives the number of students, followed by the number of colleges, in her sample. In the Council's column the first bracket gives the number of students, the number of colleges being 114 throughout. For Lady Williams' k is 1, for the Council it is 3. The "Combined Estimate" column is obtained by weighting the results inversely as their variances. It will be seen that the average difference between the Council's and the combined estimates is less than 1 per cent, and that the largest individual difference is 6 per cent for Brickwork, where the Council's result has an unusually large standard error (5.3 per cent) owing to the small number of students taking the 3 year course. Lady Williams' estimates by themselves are considerably lower on the average than the combined estimates, which suggests that there may have been an improvement over the intervening period. The estimates of the National Institute of Industrial Psychology are much higher than the Council's, but they are based on a different population - the population of students from firms with an unusual interest in the progress of their apprentices.

*See page 191


[page 214]

Main Tables

Table 1. All National Certificate Courses.

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage whether retarded or not.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 215]

Table 1 (continued)

(iii) Percentages obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate and the Higher National Certificate in the minimum time, and in longer times, and the average time taken by students who are ultimately successful.


[page 216]

Table 2. Six City and Guilds Courses.

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage, whether retarded or not.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 217]

Table 2 (continued)

(iii) Percentages obtaining the Intermediate Certificate in the minimum time, and in longer times, and the average time taken by students who are ultimately successful.


[page 218]

Table 3. National Certificate Engineering Courses by various Factors.

Table 3.1

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage, whether retarded or not, by Age of Leaving School.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 219]

Table 3.1 (continued)

(iii) Percentages obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate and the Higher National Certificate in the minimum time, and in longer times, and the average time taken by students who are ultimately successful.


[page 220]

National Certificate Engineering Courses

Table 3.2

(i) Percentage entering and qualifying at each stage, whether retarded or not, by Type of School.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 221]

Table 3.2 (continued)

(iii) Percentages obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate and the Higher National Certificate in the minimum time, and in longer times, and the average time taken by students who are ultimately successful.


[page 222]

National Certificate Engineering Courses.

Table 3.3

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage, whether retarded or not, by Type of Attendance.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 223]

Table 3.3 (continued)

(iii) Percentages obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate and the Higher National Certificate in the minimum time, and in longer times, and the average time taken by students who are ultimately successful.


[page 224]

National Certificate Engineering Courses.

Table 3.4

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage whether retarded or not, by Father's Occupation.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.

*See page 201 for symbols and page 114 for definition.


[page 225]

Table 3.4 (continued)

(iii) There are no appreciable differences between these groups in the time taken by successful candidates.





[page 226]

National Certificate Engineering Courses.

Table 3.5

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage, whether retarded or not, by subject found very difficult.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 227]

Table 3.5 (continued)

(iii) Percentages obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate and the Higher National Certificate in the minimum time, and in longer times, and the average time taken by students who are ultimately successful.


[page 228]

National Certificate Engineering Courses.

Table 3.6

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage, whether retarded or not, by Games versus No Games.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 229]

Table 3.6 (continued)

(iii) Percentages obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate and the Higher National Certificate in the minimum time, and in longer times, and the average time taken by students who are ultimately successful.


[page 230]

National Certificate Engineering Courses.

Table 3.7

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage, whether retarded or not, by method of securing exemption from the first stage.

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 231]

Table 4. City and Guilds Courses by Type of Attendance.

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage.


[page 232]

Table 4 (continued)

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 233]

Table 4 (continued)


[page 234]

Table 5. National Certificate Engineering Courses.

(i) Percentages entering and qualifying at each stage, whether retarded or not, by Subsamples.


[page 235]

Table 5 (continued)

(ii) Percentages

(a) leaving the course at each stage after qualifying at that stage
(b) entering each stage
(c) leaving the course at each stage after failing to qualify at that stage.


[page 236]

Table 6. Standard Errors.

The standard error or any or the estimates in Tables 1-4 can be round in this table by interpolation. The cell entries are the values of

throughout.

For the justification of the rule see paragraph 13 in Chapter 3.

Example: Table 1 gives the number n of Engineering students with no exemption as 4,757, and the proportion obtaining the Ordinary National Certificate as 25 per cent. The relevant items in Table 7 are:

and interpolation gives 1.2 per cent as the standard error of the 25 per cent, on 113 degrees of freedom.


[page 237]

Index

1. References are generally to Tables on the pages indicated.

2. The Roman number preceding the page number indicates the Survey.

I - The Social Survey.
II - The National Service Survey.
III - The Technical Courses Survey.
3. II and III give information only on boys: "I" generally covers boys and girls in separate tables. It follows that if information is sought on girls, it will be found only in references prefixed by "I".

Subject, Part and Page Number

Ability/Ability Group
  defined, II, 113
  age on leaving school, II, 118, 119, 135
  apprenticeships, II, 148-149
  educational level, II, 122, 123
  family size, II, 125, 126, 176-178, 182
  levels of ability, II, 113
  part-time further education. II, 144
  General Certificate of Education, II, 122-124
  types of secondary school, II, 120-121

Apprentices, II. 146-153
  ability, II, 148-149
  earnings, I, 43. II, 155, 157
  parental occupation, II, 151
  school background, II, 150

Board and Lodging
  payment by young workers, I, 28-29

Boy Scouts
  (see Uniformed Organisations)

Cadets
  (see Uniformed Organisations)

Careers, I, 42-43

Cinema, I, 92-95

City and Guilds of London Institute I. 65, 75. III. 213, 216, 217, 231-233

Clubs, I, 81-91
  ages of club members, I, 90-91
  part-time further education, I, 82, 84, 88
  membership by rural and urban areas, I, 89
  type of organisations, I, 87
  types of club activity, I, 84, 86 et pass
  (see also Games, Youth Organisations)

Commercial Colleges/Courses, I, 62, 65, 66. II. 140-142

Craft Apprentices
  (see Apprentices)

Dancing, I, 84, 86, 87, 91-94, 96-97

Day Release
  (see Part-time Day Release)

Earnings
  (see under Parents, Employment, Educational level)

Educational Level
  defined, II, 115
  ability, II, 122, 123
  earnings, II, 155-157


[page 238]

Subject, Part and Page Number

Employment, I, 34 ff. II, 154 ff
  earnings
    age on leaving school, II, 155, 157
    apprentices, I, 43. II, 155, 157
    educational level, II, 155, 157
    parental occupation, II, 155, 157
    school attended, I, 42, 43. II, 155, 157
  further education
    compulsory attendance, I, 71-72, 76
    inducements offered, I, 73
  jobs
    number held by school-leavers, I, 46 et pass
    reasons for taking particular job, I, 42-43
    travel time, I, 44
  levels of occupation
    age on leaving school, I, 37
    G.C.E. performance, I, 39
    occupation of father, I, 36. II, 159-160

Evening Classes, I, 76, 78. II, 143. III, 201, 222, 223, 231-233

Further Education,
  full-time courses
    age on leaving school, I, 37, 56
    area, I, 60
    duration of attendance, I, 63
    home back ground of students, I, 36, 57. II, 138
    student's occupation, I, 59
    institution attended, I, 62. II, 138
  part-time further education courses, I. 56-80. II, 139-146. III, 188 et pass
    age on leaving school, I, 56
    area, I, 60. II, 144
    part-time further education abandoned/continued courses, I, 66 et pass. U, 142, 145
    duration of part-time education, I, 68. II, 141-142, 145
    non-vocational courses, II, 145
    parental occupation of student, I, 57. II, 140
    reasons for giving up part-time classes, I, 80
    suggested by, I, 70
    types of course, I, 65, 66. II, 140-142, 145
    type of school, I, 9, 56 ff
    voluntary/compulsory attendance, I, 71-72
    (see also: City and Guilds, National Certificate Courses)
  club membership, I, 82, 84, 88
  examinations, I. 65 et pass
  (see also: City and Guilds, General Certificate of Education, National Certificate Courses)

Games, I, 84, 86-87, 91, 93, 94, 96-97. II, 172. III, 201, 228

General Certificate of Education
  ability, II, 122-124
  National Certificate Engineering Courses, III, 230
  part-time courses, I, 65-66. II, 140,142
  present occupation, I, 39

Girl Guides (see under Uniformed Organisations)

Hobbies, I, 84, 86, 91. II, 173

Leisure activities, I, 81 ff. II, 166 ff
  (see Clubs, Youth Organisations)

Libraries, I, 98


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Subject, Part and Page Number

National Certificate Courses, I, 66, 75. III, 188 et pass
  age on leaving school, III, 218-219
  difficult subjects, III, 226-227
  exemptions, III, 196-197, 201, 230-231
  games, III, 228-229
  occupation of student's father, III, 224-225
  part-time day release, I, 75. III, 222, 223
  success and progress rates, III, 192, 196-197, 201, 214-215 et pass
  type of school attended, III, 220-221

Non-Vocational education, II, 145

Occupational Group
  defined, I, 11. II, 114
  parental occupation, I, 12, 13, 17, 36, 57, 62. II, 111, 118-123, 127, 129, 130, 132, 133, 138, 140, 151, 152, 153, 155, 157, 159, 160, 162, 164, 167, 168, 169, 172, 176 ff, 179. III, 201, 224-225
  child's age on leaving school, I, 17. II, 132, 133
  full-time further education, I,57, 59, 62. II, 138
  games, II, 172
  parent's income, I, 13, 57
  part-time further education, II, 140
  size of family, II, 127, 129, 176-178, 179
  type of school attended by child, II, 130
  training in industry, II, 151-153
  youth organisations, II, 167-169
  son/daughter's occupation, I, 36-37, 39, 42-43, 48, 50-53. II, 159-164

Parents
  age on leaving school, I, 14
  attitude to child's leaving school, I, 20-21
  income, I, 13, 19
  (see also Occupational Group (a))

Part-Time Classes (see under Further Education, Part-time courses)

Part-Time Day Release, I, 72, 73, 75 et pass. II, 142, 145. III, 201, 222, 223
  employer's inducements, I, 73
  length of working week, I, 77, 79
  loss of earnings, I, 76
  non-vocational courses, II, 145, 146
  type of course, I, 75. II, 142

Part-Time Jobs (see under Secondary Schools, paid jobs)

Red Cross (see Uniformed Organisations)

Rural Areas
  club membership, I, 89
  further education, I, 60. II, 144
  travel to and from work, I, 44

Secondary Schools
  ability, II, 120-121
  age on leaving school
    ability, II, 118-119
    attitude of parents, I, 20-21
    present occupation by age on leaving school, I, 37
    earnings, II, 155, 157
    income of father, I, 19, 28
    occupation of father, I, 17. II, 127, 132-133
    parents' leaving age, I, 14, 16
    school attended, I, 9. II, 131-133
    selective schools, I, 15-17. II, 131-133
    size of family, II, 128-129
    technical courses, III, 201- 218
  attitude to leaving school, I, 23-24, II, 136-137


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Subject, Part and Page Number

Secondary Schools - continued
  employment, I, 36-37, 48 et pass
  paid jobs held while at school, I, 30-33
  parental occupation of pupils, I, 9, 12-13. II, 112, 130
  reasons for leaving school, I, 25, 28. II, 135
  industrial training, II, 150, 155- 157
  youth organisations, I, 82 et pass. II, 169
  Sixth Forms, II, 132

Sports (see Games)

Teacher Training Colleges, I, 62

Training in Industry, II, 146-153
  (see also Apprentices)

Travel to and from work, I. 44

Uniformed Organisations, I, 84 et pass. II, 166 et pass

University, I, 62. II, 138

Urban Areas
  youth club membership, I, 89
  further education, I, 60. II, 144
  travel to and from work, I, 44

Youth Employment Officer, I, 70

Youth Organisations, I, 81-91. II, 166-171
  ability, II, 170
  parental occupation of members II, 167-169
  type of school, II, 169
  (see also Clubs)

Youth Service (see Youth Organisations, Clubs, Uniformed Organisations)