1957

The school leaving age is raised to 15 years, 10 years after it was first advocated in the 1947 Act. This is indicative of the logistical problems of implementing such far-reaching reforms. It literally means building a new education system and the 1950s and the early part of the 1960s are taken up with implementing the recommendations of the 1947 Act.

In 1947, for example, there are only 2 non-grammar secondary schools in Northern Ireland. By 1957 this has risen to 56 and by 1964 the number is 129. In all there are some 250 new schools from 1947 to 1964 with a corresponding rise in the school population from 213 211 to 295 855.

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