Board of Education, Technical Branch, and Ministry of Education, Further Education...

ED 82

1912-1947

Files of correspondence and papers of the Board of Education, Technical Branch, and Ministry of Education, Further Education Branch concerning the provision in England, Wales and the Isle of Man, under the 1904 Regulations for Technical Schools and subsequent regulations, of technical instruction.

The residue of technical school files comprises interview memoranda; minutes and correspondence establishing the need and subsequent provision of technical classes; and approval of proposed National Certificate courses.

Material appearing during the second world war included applications to the General Nursing Council for approval of pre-nursing courses, the building of new or extended canteens to cater for war time emergency feeding demands and records relating to problems arising from evacuation or the use of premises for other than educational purposes. However, the outbreak of war resulted in a diminution of material on these files.

Alphabetically in county or county borough order for England and Wales; papers relating to the acquisition of sites and buildings and like matter are given separate piece numbers.

After 1945 Technical Schools and Technical Colleges papers come together as 'Major Establishments' files. Much overlap exists in respect of provision at Technical Colleges, Junior Technical Schools, Evening Schools, Evening Institutes, Day Continuation Schools and Technical Schools.

T file series and WT file series

Public Record(s)

English

• Board of Education, Technical Branch, 1902-1944
• Ministry of Education, Further Education Branch, 1944-1963

363 file(s)

Subject to 30 year closure

Topics

Nursing

Conflict

Education

Operations, battles and campaigns

Technical School files suffered destruction and records relating to the early formation of classes and to general policy have not survived.

The 1904 Regulations for Technical Schools made provision for grants to be paid for attendance at "courses of organised instruction in science or science and art of students who had completed a three years' course in a recognised secondary school or had reached the age of sixteen and were qualified by their previous general education to benefit from them".

The 1905 regulations provided aid for "day technical classes" and by 1912 there were 111 institutions conducting day technical classes, some of which were recognised in 1913 under separate regulations as junior technical schools. Technical day classes were subsequently defined in the schedule to the Regulations for Further Education, 1926, as "mainly vocational or domestic and normally in part-time or full-time courses" and some classes known as trade schools provided part-time courses related to particular trades for school leavers.

The provision of technical education by means of day or evening classes, or part-time or full-time vocational courses were regarded for the purpose of the Regulations for Technical Schools, 1905 and subsequently the Regulations for Further Education, 1926, as constituting a "school". Following the definition in Section 114(1) of the Education Act, 1944, of a "school" as relating to the provision of primary or secondary education, technical schools ceased to be so known.

In the period immediately following the first world war the Board of Education took the lead in co-operation with professional institutions in initiating National Certificate Schemes for technical work such as mechanical engineering, chemistry, and building.

As a result of the outbreak of war in 1939 building projects were cancelled and the expansion of technical education generally curtailed, although in some cases workshop blocks were allowed to be completed. As the need for increased production became apparent many technical schools, through their workshop facilities, became actively engaged in war production and some engineering and aircraft companies formed their own technical schools and classes.