Department details

This administrative history covers the following bodies:

• Committee of the Privy Council on Education 1839-1899
• Education Department 1856-1899
• Board of Education 1899-1944
• Ministry of Education 1944-1964
• Department of Education and Science 1964-1992
• Department for Education 1992-1995
• Department for Education and Employment 1995-2001
• Department for Education and Skills 2001-

Parliamentary grants to support the work of voluntary bodies in the area of elementary education began to be made in 1833. In 1839 the application of funds voted by Parliament to support education was placed under the supervision of a Committee of the Privy Council on Education, composed of the Lord President of the Council, the vice-president and principal Ministers. This Committee had oversight of education policy until it was replaced by the Board of Education in 1899. After 1872 it was responsible for education in England and Wales only, with education policy in Scotland being transferred to a separate Committee for Education in Scotland.

The work of the Committee of the Privy Council on Education was carried out through an Education Department established within the Privy Council, under the leadership of the secretary of the Committee. This Department was detached from the Privy Council and constituted as a new Education Department in 1856, under the direction of a salaried vice-president. The Science and Art Department of the Board of Trade (whose responsibilities included grants to art schools, schools of design and technical institutions, plus the administration of the Royal College of Art, the Royal College of Science, the Royal School of Mines and national museums) was transferred to the Education Department, but continued to operate under its own constitution. The two were not fully integrated until the creation of the Board of Education in 1899.

Until the Education Act 1870 local provision of schooling continued to rest in the hands of voluntary bodies such as the British and Foreign Schools Society and the National Society for the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church. The Act allowed for the establishment of publicly funded school boards, operating their own schools, where voluntary schools were insufficient or where the ratepayers demanded it.

The Board of Education Act 1899 replaced the Education Department with a Board of Education, headed by a President and Principal Ministers with responsibility for education policy in England and Wales. The Board never met and its President exercised normal ministerial discretion. The Board's responsibilities were extended by subsequent Education Acts in 1902, 1918 and 1921. The 1902 Act, in particular, replaced the local school boards and bodies of school managers with local education authorities, empowered to provide secondary as well as elementary education. Following the Education Act 1944, the Board of Education was succeeded by a Ministry of Education, headed by a single Minister. Education policy in England and Wales was directed by the Ministry until 1964. In that year the Secretary of State for Education and Science Order 1964 (SI 1964/490) merged the offices of Minister of Education and Minister of Science, to create a Department of Education and Science, in line with the recommendations of the Trend Committee on Civil Science and the Robbins Committee on Higher Education. Over the course of its life the Department of Education and Science acquired the following responsibilities:

• Promoting education in England and post-secondary education in Wales. Most of the functions of the Department in respect of primary and secondary education in Wales were transferred to the Welsh Office by the Transfer of Functions (Wales) Order 1970 (SI 1970/1536). All remaining functions (except in regard to universities) were transferred to the Welsh Office in 1978.
• Relations between the government and universities in England, Wales and Scotland, including relations with the Universities Grants Committee.
• Fostering civil science in Great Britain and in collaboration with other nations. Following the Science and Technology Act 1965, this responsibility was channelled through research councils which were administered with the assistance of a Council on Scientific Policy.
• Support of the arts in Great Britain, including the Arts Council, the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum, the National Theatre, the British Film Institute, the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum, as well as national library policy. The Department's arts responsibilities were inherited from the Treasury in 1965. In 1967 a Minister for the Arts was appointed, and in 1970 this office was vested in the Paymaster General by delegation from the Secretary of State for Education and Science. The arts were brought back under the direct responsibility of the Department in 1974. After 1979 this work was discharged by an Office of Arts and Libraries under the direction of the Minister for the Arts.
• Promoting sports through a Sports Council established in 1965.

In 1992 the science functions of the Department of Education and Science were transferred to the Cabinet Office's Office of Public Service by the Transfer of Functions (Science) Order 1992 (SI 1992/1296). Education policy continued to be the responsibility of a renamed Department for Education until 1995. The Department was then merged with the Employment Department, under the Transfer of Functions (Education and Employment) Order 1995 (SI 1995/2986), to create a new Department for Education and Employment (DfEE). The DfEE's remit was defined as being "to promote economic growth and improve the nation's competitiveness and quality of life by raising standards of educational achievement and skill and by promoting an efficient and flexible labour market".1 Following the general election in June 2001 the DfEE's employment responsibilities - including the Employment Service - were transferred to the new Department for Work and Pensions. The education and skills functions of the DfEE became the responsibility of the new Department for Education and Skills (DfES).2

Statistics Branch and successors

One of the functions of Statistics Branch and its successors was to conduct the Schools' Census, an annual survey of schools in England and Wales, for which datasets have been transferred to NDAD: see Records in NDAD. The Schools' Census was part of a wider responsibility for gathering education statistics and preparing them for publication in conjunction with the other education departments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This responsibility is reflected in other dataset series transferred to NDAD which originated from the Branch and its successors: in particular, the Register of Educational Establishments, a general database recording basic data on educational establishments (primarily in England); and Learning and Training at Work, an annual survey of employers in England on work-related learning and training. See Records in NDAD for further details of these datasets.

A Statistics Branch was established within the Ministry of Education in 1960-1961. It was later absorbed into the Planning Branch which was established in the Department of Education and Science in 1967, though by 1971-1972 Statistics Branch had re-emerged as an independent body. For a period during the 1980s Statistics Branch was known as Statistics and Computer Services Branch, with no apparent change in its responsibilities. By 1988 it had reverted to the name of Statistics Branch. By 1992 it had been renamed Analytical Services Branch.3

For most of the period between the 1970s and the 1990s the Branch had three divisions. The responsibilities of each division changed over time, but appear to have included the following:

• Division A: Further and higher education statistics, related social and economic considerations, manpower, science and library statistics, international comparisons, local authority comparisons, first employment, research and development, UK education statistics, and liaison with the Universities Funding Council, the Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council, the Higher Education Funding Council and the Further Education Funding Council.
• Division B: Statistics of schools, teachers, pupils, curriculum, examinations, assessment and school performance indicators, and libraries in schools and further education.
• Division C: Primarily information technology functions, including automatic data processing policy, processing censuses and surveys, data administration and data standards, computer installation, finance statistics, statistical publications, and routine production of statistics.4

Schools 4 Branch and successors

Schools 4 Branch of the Department of Education and Science appears to have been established in 1988-1989. This may have been in response to the Education Reform Act 1988, which created grant maintained (GM) schools and city technology colleges, and placed responsibilities in respect of these on the Department. The 1989 Civil Service Year Book records that the Branch had four divisions:

• Division A: "CTC [city technology colleges] unit, independent schools team, assisted places team and music and ballet schools". Some of this Division's responsibilities may have been transferred from Division B of Schools Branch 1.
• Division B: "grant maintained schools".
• Division C: "school examinations" (possibly transferred from Division D of Schools Branch 3).
• Division D: "testing and assessment, Assessment of Performance Unit, Records of Achievement" (some of these functions may have been transferred from Division C of Schools Branch 3).16

This structure remained stable until around 1992 when the remits of the Branch's divisions were reorganised. Division A became solely responsible for city technology colleges; its other functions were transferred to Division D, which apparently lost its responsibility for assessment and reporting on pupil achievement. Division C became responsible for "legislation and long-term planning for school organisation" (its responsibility for school examinations appears to have passed to Division C of Schools 3 Branch). Division B continued to be responsible for GM schools, though applications for GM status were now one of the functions of Division A of Schools 1 Branch.17

By the following year Schools 4 Branch had gained an additional division, Division E, which dealt with "grant maintained schools: servicing". The 1994 Civil Service Year Book suggests that yet more changes had occurred, possibly as a result of the Education Act 1993 and the Conservative government's policy of promoting GM schools. It lists Schools 4 Branch as having five divisions, most of which were concerned with GM issues:

• Division A: dealing with city technology colleges "and related initiatives", independent schools, assisted places, and music and ballet schemes.
• Division B: funding policy for GM schools and the establishment of the Funding Agency for Schools (an agency created by the Education Act 1993 to administer and monitor grant payments to GM schools).
• Division C: "schools requiring special measures/education associations", groups of GM schools, quality assurance and financial monitoring of GM schools.
• Division D: information on GM schools and the acquisition of GM status.
• Division E: "services/grant payments" to GM schools.18

Schools 4 Branch disappears from view after the 1994 Civil Service Year Book, and appears to have been abolished as part of a wider reorganisation within the Department for Education. Most of its functions in regard to GM schools were transferred to a new School Funding Branch which had three divisions: one dealing with the local management of schools, GM schools and the Funding Agency for Schools; another concerned with "under-performing and failing schools, Education Associations, performance measurement, liaison with OFSTED [the Office for Standards in Education], [and] financial performance indicators"; and a third division dealing with city technology colleges, technology colleges, "diversity and specialisation", and school governors. However, GM special schools (created under the 1993 Act) were the responsibility of Special Educational Needs Division within Pupils and Parents Branch, while Division A of Schools 1 Branch continued to have "applications for GM status" as one of its responsibilities.19 This structure also proved to be ephemeral and did not survive the creation of the Department for Education and Employment in 1995.

By 1997 responsibility for GM schools appears to have passed to School Places, Buildings and Governance Group within the DfEE's Schools Directorate. The Group later became School Places and Buildings Group (1998), School Organisations and Buildings Group (1998-1999), and School Organisation and Funding Group (1999). Its internal structure was equally unstable. In 1997 it had the following divisions: GM Schools Policy, Supply of School Places, Specialist Schools and School Governance, Capital and Schools, and Under 5s. GM Schools Policy appears to have been the main division dealing with GM issues, being responsible for "general briefing, policy and co-ordination", information for prospective GM schools, GM ballots, and liaison with the Grant Maintained Schools Foundation and the Grant Maintained Schools Advisory Committee. However, GM-related functions were also distributed through some of the Group's other divisions. Specialist Schools and School Governance dealt with the "governance policy for GM schools", "GM school Instruments and Articles", "GM school curriculum complaints procedures", and "GM governor training"; Capital and Schools Division dealt with the "Nursery Education and GM Schools Bill, GM Capital Policy", and issues connected with the transfer of property and liabilities of schools becoming GM and the disposal of assets by GM schools; while Under 5s Division is also recorded in the 1997 Civil Service Year Book as being involved with "GM issues".20

By 1998 GM Schools Policy Division had been replaced by School Framework Division, which is not recorded as having any GM duties, presumably reflecting the abolition of GM schools by the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998. School Framework Division's function was "to design, implement and keep under review a framework for the organisation of schools and LEAs which will best promote higher standards in schools". By 1999 School Framework Division had been renamed School Framework and Governance Division; it later became School Admissions Organisation and Governance Division when it merged with Organisation of School Places Division.21

NDAD has received a dataset from a version of the GM Schools Database which was implemented in 1996 on behalf of School Places, Buildings and Governance Group by the DfEE's Information Systems Division (see "Information Technology Branch and successors", above). The dataset contains data on GM schools and GM conferences, which was gathered and used by Schools 4 Branch and its various successors. For further details, see Records in NDAD.

Schools' Census (Form 7): reference CRDA/13

The Schools' Census was an annual survey of schools in England and Wales, which gathered information on topics such as pupil numbers, class sizes, numbers and types of staff, and courses of study. The data was gathered and analysed by Statistics Branch and its successors (see Subdivisions). Information Systems Branch and its successors were involved in archiving data from the Schools' Census in the 1990s, and provided a temporary home for the data collection unit which prepared and validated Schools' Census data (see Subdivisions). Datasets and related documents have been transferred to NDAD: see the Series Catalogue for further details.

Grant Maintained Schools Database: reference CRDA/36

The Grant Maintained Schools Database contains information on schools which obtained grant-maintained status following the Education Reform Act 1988. It also contains information on conferences on grant-maintained issues. The data in the database was gathered and used by Schools 4 Branch and its successors (see Subdivisions). NDAD has received a single dataset, from a version of the database which was created in 1996 for School Places, Buildings and Governance Group, by the DfEE's Information Systems Division (see Subdivisions). The dataset which NDAD has received is a snapshot of the system at March 2000, and is effectively the final form of the database, as grant maintained schools were abolished by the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. Further information is provided by the Series Catalogue.

Register of Educational Establishments: reference CRDA/47/DS/1

The Register of Educational Establishments (REE) database recorded basic data about schools and similar educational bodies, primarily in England. NDAD holds one dataset consisting of a snapshot of the REE database, produced in December 2000. It includes a record of changes to database since the database was established in 1996. When the dataset was transferred to NDAD, the REE database was the responsibility of a team within Schools, Teachers and Resources Division within the DfEE's Analytical Services Directorate (see Subdivisions).

EduBase: reference CRDA/47/DS/2

NDAD also holds a copy of EduBase, the successor system to the REE. EduBase recorded much the same sort of data about schools and educational bodies, although it also included Higher Education bodies (which REE did not). It was intended to consolidate the Department's databases for school level information into one centralised system. One of its other significant improvements was that, after 2003, it could be used and amended online by school managers, a situation which prevails at time of writing (2007). EduBase went live in 2002; the NDAD snapshot contains data up to 2006.

For further information on the REE and EduBase, see the Series Catalogue.

Learning and Training at Work: reference CRDA/52

An annual survey of employers in England, conducted since 1999 by a contractor on behalf of the DfEE and DfES. NDAD holds datasets for the 1999-2002 surveys, which gathered information on on-the-job and off-the-job training, learning opportunities, employers' awareness of and participation in training initiatives, the training of young employees, and the costs of training. These surveys were the responsibility of the Employability and Adult Learning Division of Analytical Services Directorate (see Subdivisions). For further information on the surveys, see the Series Catalogue.

Learning Partnerships: reference CRDA/53

The dataset contains information on the 101 Learning Partnerships set up across England. It includes data on the structure and membership of the Learning Partnerships, their links with other bodies, key activities and funding. The network of 101 Learning Partnerships was established by the Secretary of State for Education in 1999. The aim was to provide a single strategic body in each area, to bring together all the existing local partnership arrangements covering post 16 education and lifelong learning. The aim of the the Partnerships is to develop more coherent learning provision to meet the needs of young people and adults and the skill requirements of employers. They support action to widen participation, increase attainment, raise standards, developing a framework for the new student support arrangements in further education, providing guidance on careers advice and development.and initiating work on basic skills. At the time of transfer to NDAD the dataset was the responsibility of the Learning Partnerships Team within the Lifelong Learning Directorate of DfES. Since April 2003 responsibility for the Learning Partnerships has passed to the Learning and Skills Council. For further information on the dataset, see the Series Catalogue.

The National Archives holds records of the various education departments in classes with the prefixes ED and NV.

Further information on the work of the Department for Education and Skills is available via the Department's web site.

1. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1997, 2nd ed. (London: Stationery Office, 1997), column 18. On the general history of education departments in the UK, see Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide (Kew: Public Record Office, 1996), part 1, sections 901/1/1-901/1/5, 901/2/15-901/2/16; Society of Archivists Records Management Group, School Records: Their Management and Retention (London: Society of Archivists, 1995), pp. 4-8; Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone, ed, Halsbury's Laws of England, 4th edition reissue (London: Butterworths, 1996), vol 8(2) pp. 291, 302-305; Civil Service Department, Civil Service Year Book 1974 (London: HMSO, 1974), column 235.

2. Department for Work and Pensions web site, "Questions" page (http://www.dwp.gov.uk/faq.htm) consulted on 25 October 2001.

3. Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide (Kew: Public Record Office, 1996), part 1, sections 901/2/15 and 901/2/16; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1985 (London: HMSO, 1985), column 218; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1986 (London: HMSO, 1986), column 215; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1992 (London: HMSO, 1992), column 200.

4. Public Record Office, Public Record Office Current Guide (Kew: Public Record Office, 1996), part 1, section 901/2/15; Civil Service Department, Civil Service Year Book 1974 (London: HMSO, 1974), columns 238-239; Civil Service Department, Civil Service Year Book 1980 (London: HMSO, 1980), columns 242-243; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1985 (London: HMSO, 1985), column 218; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1986 (London: HMSO, 1986), column 215; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1988 (London: HMSO, 1988), columns 230-231; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1989 (London: HMSO, 1989), column 238; Civil Service Year Book 1990 (London: HMSO, 1990), columns 245-246.

5. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1992 (London: HMSO, 1992), columns 200-201.

6. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1990 (London: HMSO, 1990), column 246; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1991 (London: HMSO, 1991), column 249; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1992 (London: HMSO, 1992), columns 200-201; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1994 (London: HMSO, 1994), column 212.

7. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1995 (London: HMSO, 1995), columns 178-179.

8. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1997, 2nd ed (London: HMSO, 1997), columns 191-193; Cabinet Office, The 34th Civil Service Year Book 2000 (London: Stationery Office, 2000), columns 246-249.

9. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1997, 2nd ed (London: HMSO, 1997), columns 193-195; Civil Service Year Book 1998 (London: Stationery Office, 1998), columns 213-215; Cabinet Office, The 31st Civil Service Year Book 1998/99 (London: Stationery Office, 1998), columns 200-201; Cabinet Office, The 33rd Civil Service Year Book 1999/2000 (London: Stationery Office, 1999), columns 202-203; Cabinet Office, The 34th Civil Service Year Book 2000 (London: Stationery Office, 2000), column 248.

10. Cabinet Office, The 34th Civil Service Year Book 2000 (London: Stationery Office, 2000), column 248; note of telephone conversation between NDAD and the DfEE on 11 December 2000; notes of communications between NDAD and the Department for Education and Skills on 25-26 October 2001.

11. Cabinet Office, The 32nd Civil Service Year Book 1999 (London: Stationery Office, 1999), p. 84; Cabinet Office, The 37th Civil Service Year Book 2002 (London: Stationery Office, 2002), p. 103; Cabinet Office, The 39th Civil Service Year Book (London: Stationery Office, 2003), p. 143; note of telephone conversation between NDAD and the DfES on 14 April 2003.

12. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1989 (London: HMSO, 1989), column 237; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1990 (London: HMSO, 1990), column 245; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1991 (London: HMSO, 1991), column 248; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1992 (London: HMSO, 1992), column 200; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1992: August Edition (London: HMSO, 1992), column 200.

13. Notes of telephone conversations between NDAD and the DfEE on 30 January 1998 and 11 December 2000; papers passed to NDAD by the Public Record Office; note of communication from the Department for Education and Skills to NDAD on 25 October 2001.

14. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1998 (London: Stationery Office, 1998), column 211.

15. Cabinet Office, The 32nd Civil Service Year Book 1999 (London: Stationery Office, 1999), column 199; Cabinet Office, The 35th Civil Service Year Book 2000/2001 (London: Stationery Office, 2000), column 104.

16. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1988 (London: HMSO, 1988), columns 237-240; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1989 (London: HMSO, 1989), column 230. On the Education Reform Act 1988, see Martin Rogers, Opting Out: Choice and the Future of Schools (London: Lawrence and Wishart, 1992), p. 11.

17. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1992, August Edition (London: HMSO, 1992), columns 194, 196.

18. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1993 (London: HMSO, 1993), column 197; Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1994 (London: HMSO, 1994), columns 207-208. On the Education Act 1993, see the Series Catalogue of the Grant Maintained Schools Database.

19. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1995 (London: HMSO, 1995), columns 173-175.

20. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1997 (London: Stationery Office, 1997), columns 201-202.

21. Cabinet Office, Civil Service Year Book 1998 (London: Stationery Office, 1998), columns 221-222; Cabinet Office, The 32nd Civil Service Year Book 1999 (London: Stationery Office, 1999), column 209-210; Cabinet Office, The 34th Civil Service Year Book 2000 (London: Stationery Office, 2000), column 260.