Raising the school-leaving age has had momentous implications, not only for education but also in terms of broader social, economic and political transformations. Investigating in-depth the progressive raising of the school-leaving age in Britain, particularly since 1944, and placing issues and debates in an international context, the authors reveal the impacts of these contested policies on the development of secondary education on changing conceptions of childhood and youth and on social and educational inequality. They also draw out important connections to the contemporary extension of compulsory participation in education.

The progressive raising of the school-leaving age has had momentous repercussions for our understanding of childhood and youth, for secondary education, and for social and educational inequality. This book assesses secondary education and the raising of the school-leaving age in the UK and places issues and debates in an international context.