1904 Secondary Regulations

The Board of Education was created as a result of the 1899 Board of Education Act and so had only been in existence for four years when this document was published.

Regulations for Secondary Schools (as reprinted in The Tablet 2 July 1904) set out a four-year subject-based course for secondary schools.

The text of the 1904 Secondary Regulations was prepared by Derek Gillard and uploaded on 18 September 2016.

Regulations for Secondary Schools (1904)

For the purpose of these regulations the term scondary school means a day or boarding school which offers to each of its scholars, up to and beyond the age of 16, a general education, physical, mental, and moral, given through a complete graded course of instruction, of wider scope and more advanced degree than that given in elementary schools.

Where the same school comprises more than one department the Board have power to decide whether a department is, or is not, a separate school for the purpose of these regulations.

1. The curriculum of the school must include an approved course of general instruction extending over at least four years.

2. In classes in the school below those taking the course the curriculum must be such as will prepare the scholars fully for entering on the course. It must include English, geography, history, arithmetic, writing, drawing, and physical exercises. It should also make provision for work to develop accuracy of observation and skill.of hand, and for singing.

3. The average age of the scholars in any class commencing the course must be not less than 12 years, and the inspector must be satisfied that the class as a whole is qualified to commence the course.

4. The course should provide for instruction in the English language and literature, at least one language other than English, geography, history, mathematics, science and drawing, with due provision for manual work and physical exercises; and, in a girls' school, for housewifery. Not less than 4½ hours per week must be allotted to English, geography and history; not less than 3½ hours to the language where only one is taken or less than 6 hours where two are taken; and not less than 7½ hours to science and mathematics, of which at least 3 must be for science. The instruction in science must be both theoretical and practical. Where two languages other than English are taken, and Latin is not one of them, the Board will require to be satisfied that the omission of Latin is for the advantage of the school.

5. In a girls' school in which the total number of hours of instruction is less than 22 per week, the time given to science and mathematics may be reduced to one-third of that total, provided that at least 3 hours are give to science.

6. By special permission of the Board, languages other than English may be omitted in a school which can satisfy the Board that its English course provides adequate linguistic and literary training, and that the staff is specially qualified to give such instruction. In this case not less than 7½ hours per week must be allotted to English, geography and history.

7. The curriculum for scholars who continue in the school after completing the course may provide for specialisation in a subject or a group of subjects to such extent only as may be approved by the Board in any case.

8. The curriculum for each year of the course must be taken in the prescribed sequence; but scholars may, with the sanction of the inspector, commence with that year of course for which they are qualified by previous instruction. The retention of a scholar in one year of the course for more than a session must be approved by the inspector.

9. Scholars in the first or second year of the course may not, except by the express permission of the Board, sit for any external examination except one which comprises the whole school, or one held solely for the award of scholarships or exhibitions.

10. The school year will be held to begin on August 1 and end on July 31. On special application, however, from the governors, the Board will be prepared to recognise a school year beginning on January 1 and ending on December 31.

11. A school may provide a course which includes special instruction in science of an advanced character, if the Board are satisfied that such a course is specially suitable for the requirements of the locality.

12. For recognition of a special course under the foregoing paragraph, the following conditions must be fulfilled:

(a) The average age of scholars commencing the course must be not less than 13 years.

(b) Instruction must be given in at least two distinct branches of science, for each of which adequate laboratory accommodation, equipment, and appliances must be provided. It is not necessary that the same branches of science should be studied in each year of the course, but the selection should be such as to secure continuous and progressive instruction in science suited to the special circumstances of the school. Where subjects other than chemistry and physics are taken in the first and second year of the course, the instruction in these years should include such instruction in chemistry and physics as may be necessary for the proper study of the selected subjects. In the third and fourth year of the course the instruction in mathematics and science should be of a standard equivalent to that indicated by the Board's Syllabus in Stage 2. This requirement may, however, be relaxed in the case of a branch of science commenced in the third or fourth year.

(c) Not less than 13 hours per week must be given to mathematics (including theoretical and practical geometry), science and drawing, of which at least 5 hours must be given to science. Practical work in science, including work in each of the two selected branches, must be taken for not less than 3 hours per week.

(d) Unless special exemption is given by the Board, manual instruction must form part of the first and second year of the course for each scholar, and a minimum period of 1½ hours per week must be given to it. For boys, manual instruction must be in the use of the ordinary tools used in handicrafts in wood or iron; for girls the instruction may take the form of cookery, laundry work, dairy work, or needlework, or of a practical course of housewifery including one or more of these subjects.

13. Where local circumstances render such an arrangement desirable a school may submit for approval a curriculum providing, for the third and fourth years of the course, two different schemes of instruction, one of which is a special course as defined in the preceding paragraph. The general course for the first and second years must provide such instruction in science as will be an adequate preparation for the more advanced science to be taken by these scholars. The average age of a class commencing the special course at the beginning of the third year must not be less than 15 years.

14. The school must be efficient; must not compete unduly with a neighbouring school; and from its character and financial position must be eligible to receive aid from public funds.

15. No scholar shall be required, as a condition of being admitted into or remaining in the school as a scholar, to attend or abstain from attending any Sunday school, place of religious worship, religious observance, or instruction in religious subjects in the school or elsewhere; and the times for religious worship or for any lesson on a religious subject shall be conveniently arranged for the purpose of allowing the withdrawal of any day scholar therefrom.

16. The school must be conducted by a body of governors The constitution and functions of the governing body, and the relation to the teaching staff and the local education authority must be such as the Board can approve. They must appoint a person to act as correspondent for the school with the Board.

17. Application for recognition of the school, and for continuance of recognition in each year thereafter, must be made to the Board by the Governors at least one month before the beginning of the school session. The Board before granting the application will consult the local education authority, and have regard to the suitability of the instruction to the circumstances of the locality, and to the relation of the school to other schools and places of education in the area of the local education authority. Where Part II. of the Education Act, 1902, is not in operation, the council of any county or county borough will be treated as the local education authority for the purpose of this paragraph.

18. When applying for recognition, the school must submit for approval its whole curriculum, set forth in such detail as the Board may require.

19. The time-table of that part of the school which is to be eligible for grants must be fowarded in duplicate to the Board, on the forms supplied for that purpose, not later than the first week of the school session. The time-table must not be departed from without due notice to the Board except in a case of special emergency.

30. The school must not be conducted for private profit or farmed out to the headmaster or headmistress; and the scale of salary of the teaching staff must not be subject to variation according to the amount of grant received.

21. The teachers may not undertake any other duties which, in the opinion of the Governors, would interfere with the efficient discharge of their duties in the school.

22. A full account of the income and expenditure of the school must be furnished annually, and any grants made must be expended to the satisfaction of the Board.

23. The school fees must be approved by the Board as suitable. Unless local circumstances can be proved to require exceptional treatment the Board will not recognise a school in which no fees are charged. They will, however, be prepared to sanction the remission of fees to individual scholars on sufficient grounds. Holders of scholarships, exhibitions, and studentships may be exempted from payment of fees.

24. The teaching staff must be sufficient in number and qualification for providing adequate instruction in each subject of the approved curriculum.

25. The school premises must be sanitary, convenient for teaching purposes, adapted to the circumstances of the school, and provided with adequate equipment and appliances for the approved course of instruction. The plans of both site and buildings for new schools or enlargement of existing school must be submitted to the Board for approval.

26. The school must meet regularly (except in the case of closure under order of a medical authority or for other unavoidable cause approved as such by the Board) during not less than 36 weeks in the course of the school year.

27. The minimum duration of a school meeting must be two hours, except that when the morning meeting exceeds three hours the afternoon meeting may be reduced to one and a half hours.

28. No school will be recognised in which there are less than 20 qualified scholars taking the approved course.

29. A school which has been working for four years under these regulations, or as a school under Division A or Division B of previous regulations, will not continue to be recognised unless the Board are satisfied that an adequate proportion of the scholars are taking the third and fourth years of the course. In determining this proportion, the Board may take into account cases in which scholars have left the school after passing through the second year of the course, and are pursuing their studies in some other approved day school which provides for them a general education of a similar or more advanced character.

30. Records must be kept of the admission and attendance of all scholars and the fees paid by them. The admission record must show the full name and address, date of entry, age (in years and months), parents' occupation, and place of previous education of each scholar. The attendance of all scholars in respect of whom grants are claimed must be registered in the special registers provided by the Board and in accordance with the instructions printed thereon. The governors are responsible for the accuracy of these records.

31. The school must be open at all times to inspection by the Board. A meeting of the governors, of which sufficient notice will be given, must be held, if required, when the school is inspected, and the accounts, and any other papers necessary for inquiry into the control and conduct of the school, must be produced when required by the Board or by the inspector. Any school applying for and receiving recognition under these regulations in respect of any of its work will be liable to inspection of the school as a whole and will be inspected accordingly (without charge) at such periods as the Board shall determine.

32. Subject to the conditions laid down in the following paragraphs, grant will be paid on account of each scholar attending the approved course in accordance with these regulations on the following scale:

(a) In the first year of the course 40s [£2].
(b) in the second year of the course 60s [£3].
(b) in the third year of the course 80s [£4].
(b) in the fourth year of the course 100s [£5].

33. No grant is payable for more than four years in all on account of any one scholar; and no scholar is eligible for grant who is reported by the inspector as unfit to attend the course. A scholar promoted during the school year is regarded for the purposes of grant as a scholar of the year from which he or she was promoted.

34. No scholar is eligible for grant whose attendance has not been registered at 80 per cent of the meetings of the school during the year; but where a scholar has been prevented from attending through illness or risk of infection, a medical certificate to that effect may be accepted in lieu of an attendance.

35. In addition to the above grant, a special grant will be paid on account of each scholar attending a special course under the conditions laid down in paragraphs 11 to 13, at such rate as may be determined in the case of each school by the Board, but not in any case exceeding the amounts named in paragraph 32.

36. For scholars not attending a special course who receive instruction in art as part of their course, additional grant may be paid in respect of such instruction for the school year 1904-5 under the conditions laid down in paragraphs 34-45 of the regulations for secondary schools, 1903-4.

37. A school which under the regulations for 1903-4 received grant as a Division A school to an amount which gave a higher rate per head than the maximum payable under paragraphs 32 and 35 may, if the Board see fit, receive grant up to that rate per head for the years 1904-5 and 1905-6.

38. Where grants are made on a variable scale, the rate of grant is assessed annually until the school has been recognised for five consecutive years, after which the assessment will ordinarily be at intervals of three years.

39. The Board may continue to pay grants for science and art day classes for the school years 1904-5 and 1905-6 in schools which received such grants for the school year 1903-4. The allowance of these grants will be governed by the conditions of [paragraphs] 34-35 of the regulations for 1903-4, and after the school year 1904-5 will apply only to schools which can satisfy the Board that they have a reasonable prospect of becoming able to qualify for recognition as secondary schools under these regulations, or for recognition under other regulations of the Board.

40. If there has been failure to fulfil any of the conditions of grant, the Board have power either to withhold the grant or, if they think fit, to pay it with or without deduction.