Assessment of the View That The Comprehensive System, By Replacing The Tripartite System, Provided Greater Equality Of Opportunity For All Pupils

Assessment of the View That The Comprehensive System, By Replacing The Tripartite System, Provided Greater Equality Of Opportunity For All Pupils

The comprehensive system was brought in after criticisms of the

Tripartite system were made. In this essay I am going to discuss the

criticisms that were made about the Tripartite system and how the

Comprehensive system attempted to overcome these problems. I will also

outline the problems that the Comprehensive system encountered.

The 11-plus was unreliable in saying how clever a pupil was at the

early age of 11. It became increasingly clear that a young person's

educational future could not be predicted by an IQ test at 11. When

secondary modern pupils were finally allowed to take GCE O levels,

some were getting better results than many grammar school pupils.

In practice, many intelligent students failed the 11-plus and many

less intelligent passed. One of the main reasons for this was that

many less intelligent middle-class children got more family support

for their school work (e.g. a quiet room to do homework in) whereas

many intelligent working class children, lacking such support, lost

interest in school and left as soon as they could.

Because of this, the Tripartite system came to be seen by many as

socially divisive. Most upper and middle-class children (even those of

average intelligence) went to private and grammer schools whilst most

working-class children (including many of high intelligence) went to

secondary modern schools and left at 15 with few, if any

qualifications. This reflected and helped to continue the class

divisions in British society.

The selection process involved was unfair and wasteful on the

students. Selecting pupils at age 11 was unfair because it denied many

the opportunity of continuing their education beyond 15. It was also a

waste of ability, both for the student and for the nation.

There was no parity of esteem in the Tripartite system. Secondary

modern schools were seen as second-rate by parents, pupils and

employers. Grammer schools always had higher status because they

specialised in academic subjects which led to well-paid, high-status