I am working on a story with a friend and I am running into problems involving education. I understand that at eleven they would be attending a secondary school and continue to until the age of fourteen. But what about after? I can't find anything about further education or universities and their age guidelines during that time. Also, what was the drafting age for United Kingdom military?
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1 :
There were three options at that time: 1. Technical schools where they were trained in a trade such as plumbing, welding, etc. 2. Private preparatory schools where they would be trained for university entrance. 3. Went off to work. The age for Conscription was 18.
2 :
The average working class boy would leave school at 14 and would have been unlikely to go on to higher education. That didn't happen in large numbers until after the Butler Education Act of 1948. If they were at grammar school, and passed matriculation, the forerunner of GCEs, they might have stayed in the 6th form until 18, but this would only be for a very tiny proportion. However, in my school days in the 1950s, we were told that as 6th formers we were something like 2% of the school age population. After leaving school during the war a lad of 14 would probably have done menial jobs until he reached the age of conscription.
3 :
Most boys of this age would probably leave school and go to work. if they were staying on, they would probably be at a grammar school where they would stay until they had taken their school certificate, or, if they wanted to go to university, their higher school certificate. Or if they were from an upper class or upper middle class family, they might be at one of the public schools (the most famous being Eton, Harrow, Winchester, Rugby, Marlborough etc), probably boarding. The age to go to university would be about 18, like it is now, but during the war years many boys would have postponed going to university in order to go into the services. However, there were many more jobs available in those days for people who did not have educational qualifications, a lot of jobs didn't require them at all, so staying on at school was not the norm for most people. Only a very small number went on to higher education, compared to the numbers who do today. Grammar schools were the only way for boys who didn't have well-off parents to get any educational qualifications. A bright grammar school boy might win a scholarship to university. The English chat show host Michael parkinson once remarked "if I hadn't got into grammar school I'd have gone down the pit" (i.e. he would have been a coal miner. A boy who wanted to follow some practical trade like bein ga plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc, would do an apprenticeship, and he might go to work in an office or a bank at an early age also. 18 was the age at which boys might be conscripted into the services.
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