Page 9 - RNT-C07

The HISTORY of REDDITCH New Town

Redditch is one of the few parts of the country that has a three tier system of education.
This means children attend first school from 4-9; middle school from 9-13, and a high
school from 13 - 18. In most parts of England and Wales education is based on a two tier
system, with children attending primary schools (4-11) and secondary schools (11-16/18).
The three tier system was introduced in Redditch in the early 1970s. During the late 1940s
and 1950s a number of middle-sized schools were built as secondary moderns. This was
to meet the requirement that all children had to attend a primary school and then, at 11,
a secondary school. These new schools accommodated between 400 and 600 pupils.
However, the change to comprehensive secondary education during the 1960s and 1970s
meant that these schools were too small to become comprehensive schools. It was also
not possible to extend most of them to accommodate 800 – 1000 or more pupils. The
decision was made to change to a three tier system of education, using the newly built
secondary moderns as middle schools. It also meant that some new first schools would
need to be built.
The decision to have a three tier system was revisited during the Education Review of
1998 when parents, teachers and governors were consulted about the way education was
organised in Redditch. Although the main purpose of the Review was to identify ways to
cut the number of surplus places in the system, the Local Education Authority did take
the opportunity to find out people’s views on the three tier system. The options put in
the May 1998 consultation document were:

● Retain the 3 tier system

This system could be retained with some first, some middle and some high schools closing or
merging with pupils relocating.

● Change to a 2 tier system

Schools in the Redditch area could become 4-11 primary and 11-18 secondary. This system
would mean closing some first schools, all the middle schools and possibly a high school, with
new primary and secondary schools opening and the transfer of pupils to these.

The document claimed that analysis of data both locally and nationally showed that neither
system was better than the other, and that standards were broadly similar in both
systems. “Other LEAs with similar systems to our own have conducted analysis comparing
performance in two tier and three tier systems but have found no obvious pattern of
difference.” It was also claimed that research into what makes a school successful was
more to do with factors such as the quality of leadership and clarity of aims than simply
the organisational structure. It was accepted that the three tier system was more
expensive to run with the need for ‘more resourcing and maintenance in the way of
specialist facilities such as laboratories’. However, the change from a three to a two tier
system would have capital costs with some first and high schools having to expand and
some middle schools having to be converted to primary.
Following the May 1998 consultation a further document was produced in October to
announce the decision on this issue. Not surprisingly, the decision was made to retain
the three tier system.

Page: 179