page_title: History of education in England
section_title: Nineteenth century
hierarchical_section_title: History of education in England / Nineteenth century
caption_attribution_description: English: Somerville College, Oxford University (Darbishire quad)
context_page_description: The history of education in England is documented from Saxon settlement of England, and the setting up of the first cathedral schools in 597 and 604.
  Education in England remained closely linked to religious institutions until the nineteenth century, although charity schools and "free grammar schools", which were open to children of any religious beliefs, became more common in the early modern period. Nineteenth century reforms expanded education provision and introduced widespread state-funded schools. By the 1880s education was compulsory for children aged 5 to 10, with the school leaving age progressively raised since then, most recently to 18 in 2015.
  The education system was expanded and reorganised multiple times throughout the 20th century, with a Tripartite System introduced in the 1940s, splitting secondary education into grammar schools, secondary technical schools and secondary modern schools. In the 1960s this began to be phased out in favour of comprehensive schools. Further reforms in the 1980s introduced the National Curriculum and allowed parents to choose which school their children went to.
context_section_description: In the 19th century the Church of England sponsored most formal education until the government established  free, compulsory education towards the end of that century. University College London was established as the first secular college in England, open to students of all religions (or none), followed by King's College London; the two institutions formed the University of London. Durham University was also established in the early nineteenth century. Towards the end of the century, the "redbrick" universities, new public universities, were founded.
  Since the establishment of Lady Margaret Hall (Oxford) Bedford College (London), Girton College (Cambridge) and Somerville College (Oxford) in the 19th century, women also can obtain a university degree.
caption: Somerville College, part of the University of Oxford, one of the first women's colleges in England (1879)
exif: {}