A number of factors brought about the development of the CPVE namely:

• The rise in youth unemployment in the late1970 and early1980s
• Students entering FE colleges who were unqualified for, or uncommitted to, the coursed offered by these institutions
• The increased number of students staying on at school 6th forms
• Issues associated with what were the relevant courses to offer to this increasing number of students with unfocussed intentions whether for study or career
• The apparent wish by successive governments to link education more to the world of work.

The basic aims of CPVE were:

• To assist the transition from school to adulthood by further equipping young people with the basic skills, experiences, attitudes, knowledge and personal and social competence required for success in adult life including work
• To provide individually-relevant educational experience which encourages learning and achievement
• To provide young people with recognition of their attainments through a qualification which embodies national standards
• To provide opportunities for progression to continuing education, training and/or work.

(A typical set of worthy aims but as always the devil was in the detail, interpretation and ultimately in its implementation).

The development of pre-vocational frameworks and full-time qualifications such as the Certificate of Pre-Vocational Education (CPVE) was part of the Technical Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) –see biography on this website. The Further Education Unit (FEU) was instrumental in the creation and subsequent development of CPVE through its seminal publication of 1979 ‘A Basis for Choice,’ now often referred to as the ABC study. CPVE grew out of the FEU-devised framework for a year pre-vocational courses. The FEU proposed that such courses should be based on a common core, designed around 12 broad aims to be achieved through a range of ‘observable performances to be expected of students and learning experiences which they should be offered’. The programme comprised the core, that occupied 60% of the course and the remaining 40% was taken up by vocational and job specific studies. The essential features were:

• The curriculum was a framework as opposed to a syllabus
• A set of ten core areas (with 200-plus core competences to be satisfied): personal and career development, industrial, social and environmental studies, communication,
• social skills, numeracy, science and technology, information and technology, creative development, practical skills and problem solving
• Vocational studies from five broad areas – to be taken in modules in ascending levels-introductory, exploratory, and preparatory. Vocational studies and the core to occupy 74% of the time and are to be integrated for 20% of the time
• Additional studies-to occupy no more than 25% of the time. Students may supplement their CPVE course here in any way they wish. Many students used this time for traditional examinations such as GCSE
• Work experience- real or simulated. An evaluation conducted in 1988 of student perceptions showed this element to be the most popular element of the course but the other core skills were heavily criticised particularly the science and technology*
• Formative and summative profiling (of the core competences)
• Experiential learning
• Negotiation
• Counselling

*causes cited poor teaching, teachers found it difficult to find material that interested the students, the students themselves could not see the purpose of these subjects

The City and Guilds (CGLI) developed the proposal and created the CGLI 365 course which closely followed the ABC framework. The DES in 1980 published a policy statement Examinations 16-18:A Consultative Paper, (Macfarlane Report), when they announced their preference for the CGLI/FEU framework as a national 17+ examination over the Certificate of Extended Education (CEE)* that had been proposed by the earlier Keohane report. At the time CEE was strongly supported by teachers and 6th formers.

After this endorsement the new qualification was developed jointly by CGLI and BTEC and became known as the CPVE. The course was quickly taken up by schools and colleges many of which had offered the CGLI 365 course. Sadly BTEC had other ideas about pre-vocational qualifications and within a year of the launch of CPVE in 1985 were offering they own vocationally specific ‘First Certificates/Awards’. These awards were seen by many 16+ students as more attractive because, rightly or wrongly, they thought that better progression routes existed via the BTEC Nationals when compared with the broadly based CPVE courses. This was a classic example of destructive competition that so often happens when there is an absence of a common foundation framework for one year courses which creates duplication of certification and problems associated with progression at 17+.

CPVE and TVEI were specific programmes to more easily facilitate collaboration between colleges and schools through provision of link courses and shared resources. The CPVE was introduced for students who were undecided about which vocational area they should study and were perceived as being unready to enter employment and were labelled in typically disparaging English cultural fashion as low achieving. These latter comments again highlight the way successive governments perceive learners who are outside the academic qualifications! In March 1984 the Joint Board had tried to define the CPVE target population in more civilised terms namely:

• Young people who after completing compulsory schooling, will benefit from further education as a preparation for adult life, including the world of work
• Do not wish at this stage to proceed to GCE ‘A’ level study
• Are interested in vocational training or work but are not yet committed to, or qualified for, a particular occupation.

In 1985/86 CPVE student numbers were 18,000 and in 1987/88 the numbers were 36,000 with 70% from comprehensive schools. However CPVE began to decline in popularity in 1990 with less than 30,000 registrations out of a year cohort of 400,000 (7.5%), the decline being most marked in colleges and less so in schools. Colleges preferred to opt for BTEC First Awards capitalising on the progression opportunities that BTEC National and Higher Awards offered. Schools offered the CPVE to bolster their 6th form numbers!

The demise of the CPVE was caused by a number of competing forces. Sadly division and stratification were manifest from its inception. Initially all the participating bodies bought into the development and the need to create a rationalisation of provision at 17+ but cracks soon appeared which reflected the weaknesses inherent in a voluntary philosophy so prevalent in the English education and training system. The RSA was the first to withdraw stating educational and financial reasons and then went on to produce its own pre-vocational and vocational qualifications. BTEC developed as mentioned above their own First Awards in direct competition to the CPVE. The FEU was left in the middle and voiced their concerns about the behaviour and so-called entrepreneurial role of the awarding bodies (1). As so often happens in education and training developments the problems are both educational and economic especially when the market is introduced into the landscape and this applies to the awarding bodies’ and their markets, as much as with the other key players. (I fear that the awarding bodies are even more market orientated now and some seem to equate education and training and its assessment to a hardnosed business!)

One fact that the CPVE highlighted was the important issue of progression. It did not offer clear opportunities as say other vocational awards did whether prevocational or vocational e.g. BTEC Firsts or CGLI foundation qualifications, and this represented a fundamental weakness. Also employers were reluctant to endorse the qualification or to employ students who had gained the CPVE as well as college admission tutors. But even so it was a brave and worthy attempt to offer a broad based qualification which was supported by many teachers in schools and colleges who enthusiastically tried to make the CPVE gain credibility and be recognised.

References:
‘CPVE- Confusion or Deception.’ FEU 1985
Green. P. ‘The History and Development of CPVE.’ In Chitty.C. ‘Post-16 Education.’ISBN 0-7494 0097 8. Kogan Page Ltd. 1991.
‘CPVE in Action.’ FEU. 1985.
‘Progression from CPVE.’ FEU 1987
The Certificate of Extended Education (CEE) was basically a teacher-devised sequel to the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE) and was a subject-based course and lacked any real vocational focus.

(GNVQs were introduced in September 1993 after a one year pilot).

GNVQs developed as a result of a complex set of industrial and political interactions and it was triggered by the CBIs concerns about the effectiveness of NVQs. The government picked up these concerns and accepted that vocational education and training needed reform and improvement. The White Paper Education and Training in the 21st Century, published in May of 1991, expressed an intention to establish ‘parity of esteem’ between academic and vocational education and training (how many times have we heard that intention!). The National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) in 1991 were given the remit to commission the development of the General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQ) which were to be unit based qualifications. In addition they were to be a broad- based vocational education relevant to a wide range of occupational areas of work. GNVQs derived from NVQs and built upon approaches to learning brought about by the vocational initiatives of the 1980s e.g. BTEC and TVEI. They were to be initially based on ten knowledge areas and introduced into schools and colleges, with another five areas of development to be included later. They were to be taught mainly full- time alongside GCSEs and GCE ‘A’ levels. Unfortunately the specifications made the assumption that there would be limited work experience and any active modes of learning would be through projects, assignments and where opportunities existed limited work experience.

The initial consultation documents stated the purpose of the GNVQ qualifications as follows:

• Support the establishment of a coherent, flexible and fair qualifications framework that promotes individual development and national targets;
• Ensure assessment is valid, reliable and free from avoidable barriers;
• Promote purposeful qualifications which meet the full range of needs while avoiding unnecessary duplication and overlap;
• Clarify the relationships between qualifications in different families.

Their creation gave rise to the three track system in England and Wales i.e. based on the so-called academic ‘A’ levels, the GNVQs (mainly full-time) and the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) mainly studied in the workplace by employees and trainees. Scotland had a similar system e.g. Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs), General Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVVQs) and the Highers. The qualifications were developed to be an alternative pathway of progression both to Further/Higher Education and work.

GNVQs were designed to incorporate the essential features of NVQs and could be seen as an extension of the NVQ model. In addition they were influenced by earlier and existing qualifications CPVE and BTEC. The student outcomes were given in terms of ‘statement of achievement’ similar in nature to the NVQ ‘statement of competence.’ GNVQS drew heavily on the theory and practice of competence-based education and training and hence was an assessment led-innovation.

The basic design model was configured on six elements namely: assessment outcomes and procedures, core skills development, grouping of units, knowledge acquisition and portfolio compilation. Therefore in summary they would provide the basic skills and an understanding of the underlying principles in a vocational area and the award was achieved with a range of core skills. There were three levels namely Foundation (level 1), Intermediate (level 2 – equivalent to GCSE) and Advanced (level 3 – equivalent to GCE ‘A’ level). All the GNVQs were based on a number of units which were assessed separately and awarded credits towards the achievement of the qualification. GNVQ unlike NVQs did not attempt to develop directly occupational competence but rather to achieve a foundation of skills, knowledge and understanding that would underpin a range of occupations. The intention together with the work place NVQs would become the primary provision for vocational education and training.

During 1991 the NCVQ worked with the major vocational awarding bodies e.g. CGLI, BTEC and RSA the national education agencies and government departments drafting the criteria for the GNVQs and the specifications for the first five broad vocational areas. The frameworks allowed considerable flexibility of delivery as the specifications did not pre-define a syllabus or learning programme but only the expected outcomes. There was no fixed time period for the award as individual differences between students was recognised and this as was particularly helpful to adult learners who could study part-time at a college whilst working and also undertake open or private study. The ideal was that GNVQs would offer a genuine alternative to ‘A’ levels for students who preferred the more flexible and active modes of learning and that the programmes had a more vocational relevant focus. A number of commentators observed that GNVQ allowed the students to take greater responsibility for their own learning. This contrasted with the more traditional approach which favoured a much narrower focus on learning and emphasised ‘learning about rather than learning how to. They further argued that these approaches were valued by employers and FE/HE institutions and allowed the use of flexible and efficient learning modes and made effective use of teacher time and physical resources.

Advanced GNVQ (level 3) provided access to HE as well as a foundation for further education or training and employment. The standard was comparable to GCE ‘A’ and ‘AS’ level. One vocational unit was equivalent to one sixth of an ‘A’ or one third of an ‘AS’. Therefore a GNVQ level 3 was awarded on 12 vocational units that was equivalent to 2 GCE ‘A’ levels. Also the students were required to achieve three core skills. The 12 vocational units comprised eight mandatory units in a chosen vocational area plus four optional units chosen from a given list which extended the depth of the mandatory units and could involve more specialised applications. The mandatory units covered the basic fundamental skills, principles and processes that reflected the student’s particular chosen vocational area but also offered the opportunity to gain an insight into related occupations.

Intermediate GNVQ (level) mirrored the Advanced GNVQ but based on six units and obviously less demanding and was usually offered as a one year full-time course. Core skills and additional units were also available at this level. Progression from the Intermediate GNVQ was to Advanced GNVQ, NVQ at level 2 or 3 (depending on the occupational area) and employment.

Core Skills was a new and important feature of the GNVQs and presented many challenges to the designers, teachers and students throughout the development of the GNVQs. There were to be six core skills namely: application of number more often referred to as numeracy, communication, information technology, personal skills, problem solving and competence in a modern foreign language. The core skills of application of number, communication and information technology were introduced in September 1992 and those of a modern foreign language during the 1992/93 session. The other core skills were not introduced but were piloted for introduction in 1993. Work was also underway to extend the framework to the higher levels e.g. 4 and 5 but this did not materialise but taken over by other developments with the qualification and curriculum framework QCF) which interestingly continues even today.

The Labour government announced in 1990 that GNVQs would be discontinued and replaced by so-called vocational GCSEs and ‘A’ levels. It seemed to many of us that GNVQs were airbrushed out of history and yet again a worthy and potentially promising programme to establish parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications and to raise the profile of vocational education and training was lost. Again it was undermined by political interference and the continuing obsession of the gold standard of GCE ‘A’ level (see pen portrait on this website). Many politicians and academics constantly criticised the GNVQs particularly the assessment regimes, wishing for the more formal and traditional forms of examining. Also it should be noted that GNVQs were designed exclusively by the NCVQ (a government agency) who had a strong commitment to a particular assessment methodology which was against formal examinations and required very comprehensive outcome specifications.

GNVQs were taken up relatively rapidly by schools and colleges and demonstrated the need for an alternative to traditional qualifications e.g. GCSE and GCE ‘A’ levels. In 1994/95 there were 250,000 students registered on GNVQ programmes. Their introduction did increase the staying on rate post 16 and did increase progression rates e.g. many students progressed from foundation to intermediate and then onto the advanced GNVQ. The numbers were never great when compared with the traditional offering but nevertheless could have been, if they had been more fully supported by government and academics could have created a broader more enlightened curriculum and engendered parity of esteem between academic and vocational qualifications.

Many who had attempted to make the programmes work in spite of their complexity and additional workload particularly associated with their management still felt GNVQ could ultimately develop into a valuable qualification but it was not to be. I chaired the national advisory committee for the GNVQ science awards and presided over an influential group of employers from scientifically based companies, industrialists, teachers and representatives from scientific professional bodies. At one meeting totally unannounced we were informed by a very senior person from the Qualification Curriculum Authority (QCA) that he felt such advisory groups served little or no purpose and were to be disbanded! Surely if one is attempting to create a respected new qualification one needs the support and guidance of employers and professional bodies but obviously the powers at the time were not committed to the success of GNVQ. Right from the beginning the development of GNVQs looked and worked with industry, external organisations and the local community that were related to their vocational area of study as a source of reference and ongoing support and guidance. (It is important to note that QCA was created by the merger of the NCVQ and the SAA and was very much focussed on the academic qualifications and their management of the GNVQs reflected that bias).

The awards were eventually phased out completely in 2007 and were replaced by vocational GCSEs and ‘A’ levels – that will be another interesting development to look at in a couple of years!

The Technical and Vocational Initiative (TVEI) represented a dramatic departure from the education policy conducted by successive governments in Britain since the Second World War. It tried to address the deficiency in the school curriculum namely the absence of any meaningful vocational content. This particularly was a major concern with the high level of youth unemployment in the 1880s which has heightened the debate about the growing irrelevance school education for many young people who felt the curriculum did not prepare them for work. Employers too had over many years argued that the school curriculum should be more about employability and preparing young people for work. The debate included the need to introduce vocational subjects into the curriculum. The initiative aimed to influence and encourage schools to adopt a more vocationally orientated curriculum through a system of financial and other incentives operated through ‘categorical funding’ (i.e. a funding regime conducted under well-defined guidelines).

Interesting to note that the extra funding was not sought by the government from the two main spending departments namely the DES and DoE and this was at a time when the education and training budgets were experiencing massive cuts! (No doubt the government resorted to their usual creative accounting methods conjuring money from unspecified sources!) The target age range for the initiative was 14 to 18 year olds and so embraced the then emerging national curriculum and GCE ‘A’ levels. The TVEI was very much a broad based curriculum-led development in contrast to the development of GNVQs which was assessment-led.

The guide lines issued in the spring of 1983 provide an insight into how the government wanted the initiative to development namely:

TVEI Policy:
Sponsors: HM Government
Agency: Manpower Services Commission (MSC)
Managers/designers: Local Education Authorities (LEAs)
Users: Teachers/students
Purpose: To explore and test methods of organising, delivering, managing and resourcing replicable programmes of technical/vocational education.

Stated aims:

• To widen and enrich the curriculum.
• To prepare students for the world of work.
• To help students lead a fuller life.
• To enable students to contribute to the life of the community
• To enable students to adapt to a changing occupational environment
• To help students to ‘learn how to learn’.

Agency operational principles:

• LEAs should be direct line managers, designers and responsible parties of schemes, following centrally devised general criteria with specific design features developed locally.
• Funding of all extra costs incurred in educating the cohort within a scheme will be met by the agency under strict financial account procedures.
• Participants and all the involved parties should be consulted during the development of project proposals.
• The agency will accept a variety of approaches in order to meet the purposes and aims above.

Features of the ‘designated ‘programme: agency guidelines:

Target population:

• A scheme should include 1,000 students during its life time.
• Two cohorts of students should complete the course in the 14-18 age range.
• Participation by students in the scheme should be voluntary.
• Students should be attracted from the full ability range.
• Both sexes should be represented.
• Mixed sex classes should be the norm.
• Some provision for students with special educational needs should be provided.

Curricular features:

• Curricular designs should be for four years in the 14-18 age range.
• Designs should state specific objectives, including attitudinal objectives.
• Designs should link to subsequent training or vocational opportunities.
• Designs should include a ‘work experience’ component.
• Designs should be responsive to local and national shifts in ‘employment opportunities’.
• Designs should consist of both general and technical/vocational education (i.e. the provision of
• Courses which lead to students’ acquisition of generic or specific skills with a view to employment).

Assessment:

• Courses should lead to nationally recognised qualifications.
• Negotiation of assessment of Performance should take place continuously and on completion, with records of achievement or ‘profiles’ which should express student achievements not readily deducible from formal qualifications.

Management and Staffing:

• Each LEA scheme should appoint a coordinator.
• Each participating institution should appoint a coordinator.
• Local management should be by a ‘support arrangement’, i.e. committee of interested persons.

(Interesting to note the use of the non-mandatory word should!)

At this stage many questions remained unanswered e.g. the precise role of the Local Education Authorities (LEAs), its relationship with the DES, its relationship to the then emerging national curriculum and how schools who did not wish to participate would be dealt with. Many commentators have since argued that the initiative was non-consultative, non-participative and presidential. In many ways it was deliberately provocatively confrontational in by passing so many key groups including the Department of Education and Science (DES). The initiative was seen by many to be driven by ideology and increased the already existing significant tensions between Ministries and their Ministers and the whole landscape at this time was dominated by the tensions between the role and power struggles between the MSC and the DES which were at times articulating contradictory messages about the purpose of education and training. Add to this personality clashes between senior politicians and their advisers and we had an initiative that was sadly doomed.

The then Secretary of State of Education stated the TVEI was just a case of narrow vocationalism and was highly critical of the initiative and its supporters. The initiative most certainly exposed the deep divisions that existed at the time between differing political and indeed ideological beliefs in regard to education and training particularly introducing technical and vocational elements into the school curriculum. These fundamental divisions have plagued British education and training policies for over a century as explained in the history of technical education on this website. A later initiative GNVQ also experienced criticism and ultimately was wound up mainly because of political dogma. Even today debates rage about introducing vocational subjects into the school curriculum e.g. the so-called vocational diplomas.

Personal aside:
I worked on the TVEI in Cornwall and actively supported the LEA and the support committees representing the FE college element within the consortium. It was a very rewarding experience and the initiative developed strong partnerships between the college and the consortium schools and the LEA. Extra courses and resources both in the schools and the college added value to the learning experience of the students and teachers. Specialised accommodation and facilities were created in the participating institutions in such subjects as biotechnology, office/business studies and computer suites and facilities. Staff from participating institutions attended joint in-service sessions that helped to improve their knowledge of teaching technical and vocational subjects. Meetings with other consortia from around the country highlighted good practice and a real commitment to the aims and objectives of the initiative. The initiative promised much both for the county and across the country but because of its politicisation especially at the launch and the uncertainties about long term funding it ultimately failed and represented yet another false dawn dogged by short- termism, inadequate resources and political divisions. In many ways much of the success and examples of good practice remain localised but I would argue that these elements still merit further analysis and evaluation.

Final comments:
TVEI was at its peak between 1983 and 1987 when it most certainly drove the 14-18/19 agenda but from around 1988 its influence waned as the DES reasserted itself and the National Curriculum gained increased momentum. The initiative was increasingly marginalised and eventually ended in 1997. TVEI was ultimately the biggest curriculum development programme ever in British -estimated around £900 million! It most certainly had both strengths and weaknesses which were never really evaluated. Throughout its existence the majority of LEAs were fundamentally against it and the continuing concerns about the role of the MSC and DoE all contributed to its ultimate demise. Also the emerging National Curriculum helped to kill off the initiative. I believe that the lessons learnt from the TVEI development could provide a rich harvest for future projects in 14 to 19 education and training and merit further exploitation.

Reference:
Dale. R. ‘The TVEI.’ Esland. G. (Ed) ‘Education, Training and Employment.’ Volume 2.The Educational Response. ISBN 0-201-54430-X. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company/OU. 1991.

H. Armstrong (1848-1937), W.Ayrton (1847-1908), J. Perry (1850-1920) and S. Thompson (1851-1926).

Two pioneering technical institutions namely Finsbury Technical College (Leonard Street) and the Central Institution (South Kensington) – (see this website for pen portraits) attracted some remarkable individuals. Both these institutions were the result of the creation of the City and Guilds Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education (CGLI). Finsbury Technical College came to be seen as the feeder to the Central Institution which had a focus on higher education provision. The practical work developed at Finsbury was later expanded and enhanced at the Central Institution because of its well equipped and modern laboratories.

The brief biographies of four of the teachers involved at the two institutions are given below. These four remarkable individuals all ahead of their time and their ideas on how to teach mathematics, science and technical subjects was truly amazing and still have relevance today. If only their ideas had been implemented on a larger scale the parlous state of technical and scientific education and training could have been dramatically improved. They all had to deal at times with traditional and entrenched attitudes associated with the supposed superiority of academic studies and subjects over technical ones.

Henry E Armstrong
Born in Lewisham in 1848 and educated at the Royal College of Chemistry, (now the department of Chemistry at Imperial College). Between 1865 and 1867 studying under Edward Frankland who had succeeded Hofmann as Professor of Chemistry. During this time he attended lectures by such notable scientists as Thomas Huxley, William Ramsay and John Tyndall. These experiences established an independent thinking, confident and brilliant chemist. Frankland suggested that Armstrong continued his studies and research with Hermann Kolbe another famous chemist based at the University of Leipzig, Germany. During this period he visited and worked at Berlin and Dresden Universities and completed his studies and dissertation in 1870. After three years in Germany, (1867 to 1870), he returned to England and was appointed lecturer in chemistry at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in 1870. Henry was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the London Institution in 1871. He worked with William Ayrton at the Cowper Street Schools which later became the Finsbury Technical College and then Professor of Chemistry at the Central Technical College which later became the City and Guilds College between 1884 and 1913 (see biographies on this website).

Amongst other achievements he established a three- year diploma programme in chemical engineering arguing as did his other enlightened colleagues ‘that there was an urgent need for a more scientific attitude of mind among British industrialists.’ When he was appointed with William Ayrton, as the first professors at Finsbury Technical College they both shared the same view that examinations must not drive the teaching and learning process. This view was also held by other teachers such as John Perry and Philip Magnus. They all believed that teachers must have liberty of action and fortunately they were at that time supported by the committees of CGLI.

(Comment: Sadly currently examinations and continuous assessment regimes dominate the education system in many countries and particularly in England. This culture has made the awarding bodies become businesses driven by the market and are now more interested in implementing questionable government education policies and making money. Education and all the associated elements e.g. examinations should not be a hardnosed business enterprise based on market forces.)

In addition to being a notable chemist Henry was also an outstanding person in the teaching of science particularly active in this field during the last two decades of the 19th century. He was dis-satisfied with science teaching methods in schools. He strongly argued that pupils should be allowed to discover things for themselves and in a sense be in the position of the original experimenter and observer. His particular method of teaching became known as the heuristic method and was introduced at St. Dunstan’s College where he was a governor. This method has influenced science ever since, although the inevitable constraints of time modified its basic premises. His criticisms also helped to motivate science teachers and reduced the possibility of them becoming complacent. His ideas of on science teaching closely parallels those of John Perry on mathematics teaching. The Nuffield programmes in science were greatly influenced by their ideas. He was president of the Chemical Society from 1893 to 1895 and Emeritus Professor at Imperial College, London.

His obituary stated he was the major figure in chemistry and science education during two generations possessing a rare gift of expression and writing. He died in 1937.

References:
Praagh. G. Van. (Ed) ‘Henry Armstrong and Science Education.’ Selection from the Teaching of Scientific Method by Armstrong. H. E. John Murray. ISBN 0 7195 2893 3. 1973.Eyre. J. V. ‘Henry Armstrong, 1848-1937. Butterworth Scientific Publications. London. 1958

William E Ayton
William Edward Ayrton was born in London in 1847 and studied at University College School and University College London where he passed with honours the first ever Bachelor of Arts at the University of London in 1867. After this he studied in Glasgow during the late 1860s with Lord Kelvin. He later worked for the Indian Government Telegraphic Service between 1868 and 1873 after gaining the highest grade in their examinations. Between 1873 and 1878 he was Professor of Natural Philosophy and Instructor in the Imperial College of Engineering in Tokyo, Japan. In both these appointments he made fundamental discoveries in fault detection systems in high tension electrical transmission lines and introduced electric lighting to Japan in 1878. He was a brilliant physicist, electrical engineer, pioneer of electrical engineering and teacher making many important discoveries and inventions both with joint collaborators and alone. He published extensively again alone and jointly on engineering and scientific disciplines particularly in their application in such areas as electrical technology and its measurement e.g. inventing with John Perry the dynamometer, the first electric tricycle, railway electrification, various ammeters and the wattmeter. He was the first to advocate high power electricity transmission. His career often crossed with that if John Perry (see below). He and Perry published 70 important scientific and technical papers between 1876 and 1891. He worked with Perry in Japan, Finsbury College, Central College and Imperial College.

On his return from Japan he took up a number of key appointments at the City and Guilds of London Institute in 1879, professor of applied physics at the Finsbury Technical College in 1881 and in 1884 professor of electrical engineering at the Central Institution at Kensington. In addition he was an outstanding teacher often using his own apparatus and inventions in the classes to demonstrate the concepts and processes. Both he and John Perry (see below) believed that teaching must be accessible to students and equally importantly with an emphasis on practical work. He believed that a machines workshop/facility was essential to effective teaching and learning and that an emphasis on practical work linked to lectures was crucial. The first year course comprised the core subjects of chemistry, mechanics, mathematics and physics and was offered both at the Finsbury Technical College and the Central Institution in order to lay strong foundations to students’ technical studies.

While teaching at Finsbury College he met and later married in 1885 Hertha (Sarah) Marks (see her biography on this website). In 1892 he became President of the institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE) and in 1896 was a member of the editorial committee of the Science Abstracts of the IEE. He died in 1908.

References:
Chisholm. H. (ed). ‘William Edward Ayrton.’ Encyclopaedia Britannica. 11th Edition. CUP. 1911
Institute of Engineering and Technology Archives Biographies.
The National Archives and various Dictionaries and Encyclopaedia of Science and Technologies.

John Perry
Born in Londonderry, Ireland and studied at Queens College, Belfast. He left school early to support himself and worked as an apprentice at the Lagan Foundry from 1864 to 1870. During the last three years of his apprenticeship he studied Engineering at Queen’s College on what we would now call a sandwich course. In 1870 he took up a teaching post in mathematics and science at the boys’ laboratory and workshop. Whilst studying and as a result of all this pressure he began to lose his sight. However his sister used to read text books with him and he became fascinated with the electrical sciences. Later he became interested in steam power and a book he wrote became the seminal text for the US navy. He became a gifted mathematician and pioneering engineer. He taught at Clifton College, Bristol leaving in 1874 to study a year under William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) in a small laboratory in Glasgow. He then emigrated to Japan and took an appointment as Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the newly established Imperial College of Engineering, Tokyo, (then the largest technical institution in the world), where he worked with William Ayrton. They collaborated very successfully on problems associated with applied electricity. They also introduced some novel methods of teaching mathematics and engineering. One often cited technique was the use of graph (or squared) paper as a method of teaching and analysing functional innovations relationships in mechanics and electricity. They used this technique in Tokyo and at Finsbury Technical College. This teaching technique was to become one of the defining features and innovations at the Finsbury College which are now referred to as the ‘Finsbury Method’.

On his return to England he was appointed Professor of Engineering and Mathematics at Finsbury Technical College in 1879, again joining William Ayrton and then in 1896 became Professor of Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering at the Central Institution. He retired from the Central Institution in 1914 but continued his work advising the British military on gyroscopic compasses. Mathematics to Perry was a branch of science being ’merely an inductive science based on experience’. One of his guiding rules was ‘that we ought to use, as illustrations, those things with which the pupils have most to do (and) must begin in the middle of the subject, working backwards and forwards. He was elected President of the Institute of Electrical Engineering in 1900 and was President of the Physical Society (later the Institute of Physics) from 1906 to 1908. Like Ayrton is believed in teaching science and engineering from a practical point of view. John Perry was a remarkable teacher who encouraged his students to develop a wider set of interests such as reading novels, taking an interest in literature and especially a greater emphasis in mathematics in order to move away from the rather narrow technically training and instruction that was dominant at the time. He attracted controversy and criticism from the academic mathematics community by publishing a book entitled ‘Calculus for Engineers’, It treated the subject as a purely practical tool e.g. there as an absence of abstract reasoning and presented a simplistic set of rules on differentiation and integration. The book maintained a focus on practical applications to electricity, mechanics and thermodynamics. He used the same approach to such subjects as algebra, arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry etc. He reinforced his ideas by publishing extensively from 1880 arguing strongly for major reform of teaching mathematics – sadly we are still waiting for such reforms considering the parlous state of mathematics teaching in England and some of the home countries! Indeed a man well ahead of his time.

However his ideas were picked up by the newly created Board of Education (BoE) that had succeeded the Science and Art Department in 1899 and it incorporated some of his ideas and techniques into an examination called ‘Practical Mathematics’. Following the creation of an educational section within the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) in 1900 Perry organised a series of discussions groups at the 1901 Glasgow meeting on themes associated with the teaching of elementary mathematics in military, secondary and technical education. The meeting highlighted the massive divisions between the academic approach of teaching i.e. the formal study of mathematics for its own sake as opposed to its practical applications and the essential importance of its utility that Perry was advocating. Interesting that one of the major themes identified in the history of technical education on this website mirrors this tension that has produced the so-called academic- vocational divide – nothing changes! Perry’s ideas are still very relevant and valid today and sadly await recognition and implementation and what little progress has been achieved since his time has been painfully slow. Many of his Irish predecessors, and he and others since, have been progressive thinkers and innovators in astronomy, mathematics, science and technical education. Their pioneering work has so often been overlooked or marginalised by the English. Perhaps it is another example of the inability of the English to recognise and celebrate the achievements of the other home countries? John Perry has not been given the recognition that he deserves and was truly a very remarkable individual well ahead of his time.

He was elected president of the Institution of Electrical Engineers and was president of the Physical Society, (now the Institute of Physics), from 1906 to 1908. He died in 1920.

References:
Nudds. R. N., McMillan N. D., Weaire. D. L and McKenna Lawlor. S. M. P. ‘Science in Ireland 1800-1930. Tradition and Reform.’ ISBN 0:9513586 1 8. Dublin.1988.
John Perry. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Silvanus P Thompson
Born in York in 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition, he started teaching science at Bootham School in 1873. He was greatly influenced by a lecture given by William Crookes which inspired him to become interested in electromagnetism and optics. In 1876 he was appointed lecturer in physics at University College, Bristol and was made a professor in 1878 at the age of 27 and he stayed at Bristol for nine years. He was very interested in technical education and made a number of fact finding trips to Europe and presented a seminal paper at the (R) Society of Arts in 1879 entitled ‘Apprenticeships, Scientific and Unscientific’ (see chronology on this website) which again like others, (Huxley, Playfair, Magnus et.al – see biographies on this website), highlighted the deficiencies in technical education in England. He recognised that technical education was critical in transferring and translating scientific knowledge into action and practical application and enhancing technical and technological innovation. He was totally committed to this endeavour and spent the rest of his life working to improve technical education and training. Following the creation of the City and Guilds of London Institute for the Advancement of Technical Education, the Finsbury College was founded and Thompson was appointed its Principal and Professor of Physics. Thompson organised classes in optics at Finsbury Technical College which was then at the centre of the spectacle making district in Clerkenwell, He held those positions for 30 years and in 1907 the City and Guilds of London College along with other institutions merged to create Imperial College, London.

Thompson was a recognised authority on acoustics, electricity, magnetism and optics writing a number of seminal text books some of which went through innumerable editions. He later became a widely respected biographer and historian of science writing a biography of Lord Kelvin. He was a very gifted speaker, a skilful artist, and linguist and greatly interested in literary, antiquarian and artistic subjects. His range of interests and vision was truly remarkable and he bridged the scientific and artistic divide – C. P Snow, (Two Cultures), would be impressed with such an individual!
In 1882 he was elected a member of the Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians and in 1886 a member of the Royal institution where he delivered some excellent lectures. He became the first president of the Rontgen Society, (Rontgen discovered x-rays), between 1897 and 1898. He died in 1916.

References:
Thompson. J. S. And Thompson. H. G. ‘Silvanus Phillips Thompson, His Life and Letters,’ T. Fisher Unwin. London 1920. New edition published with and edited by Martin Gardner.
Lynch. A. C. ‘Silvanus Thompson: teacher, researcher, and historian.’ IEE Proceedings. 1989.

Born in Portsea, Hampshire, England and named Phoebe Sarah Marks – she later adopted the first name Hertha after the Teutonic earth goodness. Her father who had emigrated from Poland died when she was only seven and left the family heavily in debt, and who then struggled financially to survive. At the age of nine she went to live with her maternal aunt in London and attended the school that her uncle and aunt ran for their children. Both influenced the young Sarah her aunt teaching her mathematics and uncle philosophy. She supported herself and her family by tutoring and doing needle crafts. Her ambition of going to university was realised by the generosity of Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon* one of the founders of Girton College, (Girton was the first residential college for women established at Cambridge), and this allowed her to enter the college in 1876 after passing the Cambridge University Examination for women in 1874, with honours in English and Mathematics. In spite of problems with bouts of illness and consequent poor examination results she eventually completed the Mathematical Tripos with a relatively poor grade 3rd class from Cambridge in 1880. It is important to note that women were not eligible for the university degree at this time and were only granted certificates. However she then successfully completed an external examination and received a BSc degree from the University of London in 1881. She was greatly helped during this difficult period by Richard Glazebrook who provided extra coaching. So in spite of immense prejudice and resultant negative attitudes created by the male dominated education system towards women, she survived and triumphed – a remarkable achievement at the time.

Very few women were involved in such subjects as engineering, mathematics and science whether in teaching or research. Hertha began to violate and break down this deplorable situation. Between 1881 and 1884 she continued to support herself by tutoring in mathematics and other related subjects. Up to then her main interest was mathematics but she inherited from her father a practical ability, (he was a clockmaker and jeweller), and started patenting scientific and mathematical instruments such as a line divider for drafting. She also wrote and set problems in mathematics that were published in the ‘Educational Times’ and became acknowledged as a gifted mathematician particularly in spatial and geometrical reasoning. Her main interest then began to switch to science and she attended physics classes at Finsbury Technical College and was tutored by William Ayrton, (see biographies on this website), who she married in 1885. William Ayrton was a widower with a young daughter and besides being an outstanding teacher and physicist was supportive of women’s education and legal rights.

Hertha then began to work with her husband on electricity and other aspects of physics but developed her own research interests especially on electrical arc lighting and soon became an acknowledged expert in this rapidly emerging technology. She published extensively in such journals as the ‘Proceedings of the Royal Society’ and the ‘Electrician’ and wrote a seminal book on The Electric Arc which received international acclaim. She became recognised as a respected and renowned researcher in electricity and is now seen as a pioneer of plasma physics. Again it must be remembered that very few women were active in science and mathematics.

She was elected as the first female member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) in 1899 which possesses a commendable record in encouraging and recognising women in their discipline. Sadly the same cannot be said of the Royal Society for when she was nominated as the first woman for a fellowship she was refused on the excuse that she was married. The charter excluding women from fellowship was reversed in 1923 but it was another twenty years before a woman was elected. The Royal Society has a very poor record in recognising the achievements of women scientists and mathematics. However she did present a paper to the Royal Society in 1904 – the first women to do so and she later received the Society’s Hughes medal, an achievement yet to repeated by a woman. She was an amazing trail blazer!

Hertha had to reduce her research activities to look after her ailing husband and even during this period when at the seaside with William carried detailed analysis of the formation of sand ripples which later formed part of the recognition in the Hughes Medal, along with her pioneering work on electric arcs. William died in 1908 and she continued her research in such areas of hydrodynamics and invented a fan for ventilating the trenches in the First World War and also improved the design and efficiency of search lights. She was an active member of the Women’s Social and Political Unions and was a founding member of the International Federation of University Women and the National Union of Scientific Workers (1920). She served on a number of national and international committees associated with women’s rights. After WW1 she improved the design of the fan and continued her research on vortices. She died in 1923 leaving her not inconsiderable estate to The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), the organisation that had encouraged and recognised her achievements throughout her career without prejudice or reservation. She is now recognised and accepted as an exceptional woman in her own right. Her approach to research was pragmatic and founded on engineering traditions; not for her were the theoretical physical models and concepts. Her background and education created this unique and productive individual. An example of this approach was her seminal work on sand ripples which initially was based solely on observation. Quite rightly she subsequently became a role model for future generations of women wishing to enter the scientific and engineering professions. Below she is delivering a lecture in 1899 to the Society of Electrical Engineers note the majority of males in audience and the visual aids she is using – a very remarkable lady.

In 1925 her lifelong friend Ottilie Hancock endowed the Hertha Ayrton Research Fellowship at Girton College.

References:
The Institution of Engineering and Technology Archives Biographies. www.theiet.org
Mason. J. ‘Hertha Ayrton.’ In ‘Out of the Shadows: Contributions of 20th Century Women to Physics.’ By Byers. N and Williams. G. (Eds). CUP, 2006.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

*Extra note:
Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon wrote a pamphlet ‘Women and Work’ in 1857; She and Emily Davies were founders of Girton College and were both closely associated with the origins of, and active supporters of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women (SPEW) – founded in 1859. Emily Davies served on the Committee of SPEW between 1865 and 1873. Emily Davies had been Mistress of Girton College since and in 1873 and in 1878 urged SPEW to apply for funding from various City Companies of London (see biographies on this website). This started an associated with the Clothworkers’ Company and later the City and Guilds of London Institute (CGLI) after SPEW became incorporated by licence from the Board of Trade.

Although the history of technical and commercial education did not directly relate to Higher Education (HE) it might be of value to describe some aspects and examples of the creation and development of HE institutions. Since the mid 19th century a succession of Royal Commissions and other inquiries have recommended the urgent need to promote technological institutions at Higher Education level. From 1945, the situation began to improve with the Percy Report– ‘Higher Technological Education’, 1945 and Barlow Reports ‘Scientific Manpower’. Cmd 6824. 1946 and the 1956 White Paper ‘Technical Education.’ Cmd 9703. To accelerate progress two complementary policies were adopted, namely to expand the provision of technological education in the existing universities and to recognise leading technological institutions outside the university sector. Two developments whichreflect this approach werethe selection of the Imperial College for special development and in 1956 the designation of Colleges of Advanced Technology (CAT).

The list is by no means complete but I have tried to trace the development of the universities in Britain. A number of the current universities had roots in scientific and technological disciplines e.g. Colleges of Art and Design, Commerce, Technology, CATs, the National Colleges and Polytechnics and many of these can be traced back to Mechanics’ Institutions and other earlier technical institutes. More detail is given in the history of technical education on this website.

Foundation dates of some Universities and University Colleges

Note: the Polytechnics in London were created out of a range of many existing institutions representing the National Colleges, the earlier Polytechnics, Colleges of Technology, Art, Commerce etc.

Extra notes:
A very important development after 1945 was the creation of the National Colleges. Some were based on existing technical colleges with high percentages of higher level work whilst others were new foundations. All were direct-grant institutions under the Ministry of Education (MoE). They are listed below.

Date of Foundation/Discipline/Location:
1946 Aeronautics (Cranfield)
1947 Horology and Instrument Technology (Northampton Polytechnic)
1948 Rubber Technology (Northern Polytechnic)
1948 Heating, Ventilation, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering (Borough Polytechnic)
1948 Foundry (Wolverhampton)
1949 Royal College of Art* (South Kensington)
1951 Leathersellers’ (London)
1952 Food Technology (Weybridge)
1962 Agricultural Engineering (Silsoe, Bedfordshire)

* The Royal College of Art was in different category of these technological colleges but was designated a national colleges in 1949 and became a University in 1967. National Colleges later became part of the university sector.

Foundation of Colleges of Advanced Technology (CAT)
Colleges with a significant amount of advanced and post graduate work and some research were designated CATs. Their degrees were validated by the National Council for Academic Awards (CNNA). Eight in England: Battersea. (Became University of Surrey), Aston. (Became Aston University), Bradford. (Became Bradford University), Bristol. (Became University of Bath), Brunel, (Became Brunel University).Loughborough. (Became Loughborough University), Northampton. (Became City University), Salford. (Became University of Salford) and Chelsea became part of the University of London.
In Scotland Heriot-Watt. (Became Heriot-Watt University)
In Wales the Cardiff CAT became part of the University of Wales as the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology (UWIST)

Note: In 1965 following the Robbins report these CATs were established as universities in their own right with titles as shown above.

Believe or not more universities were created after 2001 than at any other time; 31 so far bringing the total to 115! I fear in the current period of massive cuts and increases in student fees many universities will close or merge with others. No doubt the coalition government will encourage more private universities to be created like Buckinghamshire. Sadly in spite of this massive expansion of universities and other HE institutions the number of undergraduates and post-graduates in key subjects like engineering, built environment, mathematics, manufacturing sciences and technologies, physical science, statistics and other disciplines that require mathematics and science is still woefully poor when compared with our competitors. For example in 1971 the applications to HE for the whole of the UK reflected this sad state of affairs i.e. 1,240 applicants for 1,962 places in Engineering, 2,700 applicants for 3,571 places in the Sciences and not surprisingly 10,000 applicants for 2,200 places in Arts and Social Sciences This is a classic example academic drift which did not encourage participation in these strategically important subjects. Instead the universities are currently producing large numbers of graduates in such subjects such as media studies and overall the graduate output is not addressing the imbalance between the supply and demand equations.
Blair’s dream of 50% of young graduates also did not help the situation but did encourage the establishment of many more universities offering in the main, subjects that did little to solve the country’s problems with mathematics, science and technology and how these relate to industry and economic growth and the regeneration of society.
The hopes and ideals presented in the Percy and Barlow Reports and many reports before and since failed to solve this problem.

It is also fair to say that a number of colleges that were created as specialist institutions of science and technology when they eventually became universities inevitably lost those specialisms and it some cases their monotechnic status and became broad and generic.

The need for preliminary technical education and instruction for young people before entering employment in particular trades and occupations had slowly evolved and was finally accepted by the end of the 19th century. A whole variety of forms of continuative education existed whether part-time, adult or further and technical education and was provided by an equally wide variety of institutions. These included day-release, evening school, mechanics’ institutions, polytechnics (in London), schools of art, university extension lectures, tutorial classes and a range of working men’s colleges and courses. The passing of the 1902 Education Act encouraged the development of technical education and continuative education and became the responsibility of the LEAs who took over most of the evening continuation schools.

A whole series of Education Acts and new Codes were enacted throughout the first two decades of the 20th century which attempted to tidy up the secondary and technical education landscape. Even so a multitude of institutional titles persisted. The most numerous type of school that could be recognised as Further Education were known as Night Schools and later as Evening Schools, then Evening Continuation Schools and then as Evening Institutes. These were different from Day Continuation Schools because they were held after 5 p.m. and from full-time vocationally biased day schools because they were part-time schools. Eventually throughout the 20th century these schools/institutes evolved into Colleges of Further Education.

Schools proving technical and continuative education , (see below for the designations), provided courses for boys and girls over two or three years after leaving elementary schools and these had been recognised by the BoE in 1913 which resulted in the Regulations for Junior Technical Schools. The 1918 Education Act extended educational provision and gave all young workers the right to access day release from the age of 12 to 14. It further required every county and county borough to develop and provide a progressive and comprehensive organisation of education in their area. LEAs were required to ensure amongst other things:

That public elementary schools included ‘practical instruction’ in the curriculum and offered advanced instruction ‘for the older and more intelligent children’
That they co-operated with other LEAs to prepare children for further education in schools other than elementary—‘
LEAs were also required to maintain ‘a sufficient supply of continuation schools’. Note the wording: ‘required to ensure’ and ‘sufficient supply’.

As mentioned in the biography for Junior Technical Schools there were other forms of institutions that provided technical and commercial education and instruction. These could be broadly categorised as:

• Junior Technical Schools (see biography of this website)
• Technical Day Classes
• Day Continuation Schools
• Institutions in which evening instruction was given
• Senior full-time courses in Colleges for Further Education (CFE)

It must be remembered that the majority of the institutions for further education were composite in nature in that they offered mixtures of different elements. A good example of this was the Shoreditch Technical Institution which comprised Junior Technical Schools (JTS), one for boys and the other for girls, a senior full-time course in cabinet making and evening classes in furniture and allied subjects. To help the presentation I will consider institutions offering courses for juniors less than 16 years of age and seniors over 16 years of age.

To help the presentation I will consider institutions offering courses for juniors less than 16 years of age and seniors over 16 years of age.

Junior

Full-time provision:

• Junior Technical Schools (JTS)
• Technical Day Classes (see more detail later under Senior)

Part-time provision:

• Day Continuation and Work Schools
• Evening Continuation Schools (Junior Evening Classes).
• Juvenile/Junior Instruction Centres
• Technical day Classes

Senior

Full-time provision:

• Senior Courses in Colleges
• Technical day Classes

Part-time provision:

• Evening classes in Colleges and Institutions
• Technical Day Classes

I will provide a brief description of each of the schools and institutions. I have already described the Junior Technical School movement in another biography.

Junior Courses

Day Continuation and Work Schools
Under the 1918 Education Act every child over 14 not in full-time education was supposed attend a day Continuation School for 320 hours per year. These schools provided a part-time general education with or without vocational or domestic instruction for students from exception age up to 18. Attendance was voluntary, or took place by permission from employers. Some of the schools became known as ‘Works Schools’ because they were provided and supported by business firms for their own employees. The 1918 Education Act made provision for compulsory day Continuation Schools but following an orchestrated mainly political campaign against their introduction coupled with a fair degree of misunderstanding the proposal was abandoned and only one was actually established in Rugby. The ones that did continue were operated and maintained on a voluntary basis following agreements and cooperation between Local Authorities and a number of companies that agreed to enforce attendance on their employees. Examples of companies who operated part-time day continuation schools were Boots, British Westinghouse, Cadbury, Metropolitan, Rowntree and Tootal Broadhurst.

In London some students would attend up to five half days while in the provinces the normal attendance was one full day a week. The curriculum was a mixture of general and vocational subjects.

Evening Continuation Schools (Junior Evening Classes)
The classes were staged in elementary school accommodation or in technical institutions. The courses were divided into Commercial, Domestic, General, Industrial and Rural. The drop out was extremely high 35% after the first year and 40% after the second year. Classes were held on average for six hours per week on three evenings. Industrial courses comprised technical drawing, workshop calculations, use of tools and communication skills. Commercial courses comprised arithmetic and English with an emphasis on commercial subjects e.g. commerce and shorthand. Rural courses comprised basic agricultural and horticultural elements and animal husbandry whilst the domestic courses comprised domestic science, cooking and housewifery. The primary aims of these courses were to progress the pupils’ elementary education and hopefully to prepare them for more advanced courses in technical schools/colleges. However the high dropout rate and general attitude of the pupils precipitated the Board of Education (BoE) to state ‘no high efficiency can be claimed for junior evening schools as an educational system’.

Juvenile/Junior Instruction Centres
These were not strictly part of the educational the system being administered by the Ministry of Labour and delivered by the Local Authorities. Their purpose was to offer provision to unemployed juveniles. The attendance was often low and varied wildly and as a result no continuous instruction/courses were possible. Subjects offered included handicrafts, organised games and physical education – it was basically about instilling discipline in young people who were perceived as being potential offenders.

Senior Courses

Senior Full-time Courses in Colleges
Junior Technical Schools were for post-elementary pupils and their courses were for post-secondary school pupils over the age of 16 years. The pupils wanted to prepare for specific occupations and/or for further studies and examinations e.g. College and National Certificates and Diplomas, professional body examinations or degrees. The courses lasted between one to three and four years and were organisated in close cooperation with commerce and industry. Sadly the numbers were low and too often employers were reluctant to employ the students leaving the senior full-time courses. Here again is a British paradox; ever since the Great Exhibition the country knew it needed to create more qualified people in commerce, engineering, science and technology and yet when it attempted to the employers did not want to recruit them – so the paradox is that although the country produced fewer scientifically and technically qualified people than its competitors the few that were produced turned out to be too many for the employers! So not only was there a general hostility to scientific, mathematical and technical education, even the employers were reluctant or suspicious of the graduates from these institutions and similar ones. Employers at that time preferred to recruit people who had learnt by ‘sitting next to Nellie’ or employ members of their own family (see more detail history of technical education on this website).
The courses were provided in such colleges as Polytechnics and Technical Colleges /Institutes. These institutions were as mentioned above composite containing in addition Day Technical and Evening Classes and even Junior Technical Schools which seldom had their own buildings (see biography on JTS on this website). From this complex mix eventually emerged Colleges of Further Education that we can recognise today.

Part-time Senior Evening Classes
In the mid-1930s the majority of technical education was provided via these classes. Students worked during the week in commercial and industrial companies and attended the courses usually three times a week for 25/30 weeks a year. These employees wished to advance their theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding of their work. The instruction could vary considerably e.g. in quality and content and was in general of a higher quality, wider in scope and level than that found in evening institutions/classes. More facilities were available to the students in these classes and in addition to laboratory work and lectures students were expected to undertake private study, writing up practical reports and assignments and complete home work tasks. The system no doubt was favoured and welcomed by the employers but did not recognise the pressures on the students and/or their life and other responsibilities in general. The strain after several years of intensive study often proved too much for many students.

Technical Day Classes
Instruction in these classes usually in domestic and technical subjects were delivered to junior and senior students in two possible attendance modes i.e. on an in-fill basis into full-time courses or in special dedicated courses depending on student number and course availability. In 1934 there were 2,589 students in 96 full-time courses and 25,427 in 1,335 part-time courses. The most popular subjects were construction, engineering, photography and printing where the employers were very supportive of this form of education i.e. day release. Typically the students attended for one or two afternoons a week. Sadly these were in the minority as most other employers were reluctant or argued they were unable to release their employees for a number of reasons but mainly the cost and the perceived disruption to their businesses.

Table below shows the number of part-time male students attending Day-Time Classes during session 1931/32 and the subjects studied:

The numbers include students admitted to some aspects of full-time courses and those attending special classes made available to them.

The Grouped Course System
The group system was introduced after being trailed in Manchester in 1890, St Helens and Halifax in 1911. After 1907 the BoE urged all LEAs to adopt the system. The reason was very logical as in earlier times the student could make a choice and say elect to study engineering but soon realised that decision required a working knowledge of mathematics, physics and technical drawing and a greater proficiency in English. The group system recognised two categories of students e.g. those who wanted to enter a technical college or those who would enter an evening continuation school. The group system for the first category comprised five main groups: commercial, domestic, general, industrial and rural. The majority of students opted for commercial and industrial but eventually the general group became more popular and inevitably the domestic was popular with women.

Evening courses were composed of a balanced combination of subjects, (i.e. the grouped system), organised as follows:

• Preparatory, when planned for pupils who required a repeat of elementary school work.
• Junior, adapted to the needs of pupils from 14 to 16 who had just left the elementary school.
• Senior, usually lasting three years, for students over 16 who had left junior course or had the equivalent of a secondary education
• Advanced, arranged for students of about 19, who wished to reach university standard.

Commercial Education
Commercial education was run very much like technical education and was aimed at meeting the demands of two categories of workers namely: people who carry out commercial and business transactions and those who record transactions. The first group represented such occupations as accountancy, banking, insurance, law – these usually had professional Institutions to oversee them. The second group represented such occupations as book-keepers, secretaries, typists etc. Inevitably the majority of the pupils in some of the subjects were girls and women. As with technical education the provision was offered in:

• Junior Commercial Schools (in 1934, 44 schools with 5,259 pupils) courses gave instruction in commercial subjects and ‘office arts’ with general education.
• Senior full-time courses (in 1934, 44 with 1,447 pupils) for post-certificate students. Four types of courses could be identified namely: those providing general training for senior positions in commerce; secretarial courses for girls and women; Intermediate B. Comm. and B.Sc. (Economics) degrees and courses for specialised areas of employment such as merchandising e.g. textiles.
• Part-time day release courses
• Number of students released very small.
• Evening Classes in Colleges and Institutions

In the junior courses main subjects were accounts, arithmetic, English, geography, shorthand and with an option to study a foreign language. The senior courses lasted over three years with ‘commerce’ as a compulsory subject with options on three of the following subjects: book-keeping, commercial arithmetic, correspondence, foreign language, geography, shorthand, typing and a trade subject. Advanced courses found usually in the larger schools could lead to professional qualifications offered by their relevant professional body e.g. accountancy, banking etc. London in 1934b had 23 Senior Commercial Institutes and an increasing number of private venture schools.

Examinations
Examinations have always been important in the organisation and development of technical and commercial education and training and after 1920 Joint Committees comprising representatives from technical institutions, professional bodies, teachers’ organisations and the Board of Education (BoE) were created to oversee curricula and the award of National Certificates and Diplomas in vocational subjects (see history of technical and commercial examinations on this website). There were also Local Examining Unions supported by advisory committees that drafted curricula and syllabuses of examinations for their own areas and set the examinations. Finally examinations were available from external examining bodies such as City and Guilds of London Institute, the (Royal) Society of Arts and the London Chamber of Commerce.

Footnote
The total number of young people leaving elementary school in 1934 for employment in commercial, domestic and industrial occupations was 268,000. The university sector was small compared with other European countries and America representing approximately 1.6% of an age group. Even more depressing statistic is that in the 1920s and 1930s only about 12% of university students were studying technology.

References:
Most of the detail for the above account taken from a number of Board of Education (BoE) pamphlets published throughout the 1930s.

Glossary:
Continuative education – a commonly used term by Board of Education (Bo) and education writers at the time. Education beyond the school leaving age at the time unless exemptions were in place.