322 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 
The normal age of entry is 11, but many schools have a preparatory department 
which boys may enter at 7 or 8. Pupils may remain to the age of 18 or 19. 
Brief particulars of most of these schools can be found in the ‘ Schoolmasters’ 
Year Book.’ 
3. County and Municipal Secondary Schools. 
Most of these schools have been established since 1902, when the Education Act 
enabled local authorities to make provision for secondary education within their 
areas. They have been erected at the public expense, and are maintained and 
controlled by public bodies. A few of them are of older foundation, but owing to 
financial difficulties have been taken over entirely by the local authorities. Their 
pupils come mainly from the elementary schools at the age of 11 or 12. These schools 
are destined to play an increasingly important part in the secondary education of 
the future. They tend to model their policy and practice on those of the grammar 
schools, but in some areas their development is hampered by an excessive amount 
of control imposed upon them by the local authority. Many of them are co- 
educational. A few of them are entirely free, and where fees are charged they vary 
between £9 and £20 a year. The only boarding schools among them are a few which 
were originally endowed schools but have now been taken over. All schools which 
receive State aid must admit a certain proportion of non-fee-paying pupils, normally 
25 per cent. 
Their names and brief particulars of them all appear in List 60 and in the ‘ School- 
masters’ Year Book.’ 
4, Welsh Intermediate Schools. 
These schools were set up under the Welsh Intermediate Act of 1889, and are 
comparable to the newer endowed schools of England. They receive both rate and 
State aid, and are inspected by the Welsh Department of the Board of Education. 
Information regarding them is given in List 60 (Wales) and in the ‘ Schoolmasters’ 
Year Book.’ 
5. Preparatory Schools. 
The majority of preparatory schools are under private ownership, some few being 
managed by corporations, but all are independent of State control and receive no 
money from public sources. Consequently they have to charge substantial fees. 
They deal only with young boys who will go on, not later than the age of 14, to other 
schools. In their most characteristic form they are boarding schools, although in 
large towns preparatory day schools also exist. The number of these schools which 
have a just claim to the title ‘ Preparatory ’ is estimated at over 700, and they are 
practically the only gateway by which boys may enter the public schools. They 
show a good deal of variety in the ages and number of their pupils, in their buildings 
and equipment, and in their fees. The education they provide is partly elementary 
but largely secondary, and they endeavour to supply a training in full sympathy with 
public school ideals for boys under the age of 13. Some few have sought inspection 
by the Board of Education, and appear as efficient schools in List 60. The fees vary 
between £100 and £200 a year. 
A list of preparatory schools which prepare boys for the public schools is given 
in the ‘ Public Schools’ Year Book,’ but the list is not exhaustive. Fuller details 
of many of them are given in Paton’s List of Schools and in ‘ Schools,’ published by 
Messrs. Truman & Knightley. 
6. Private Schools. 
These schools number many thousands and are of all grades of efficiency. They 
are subject to no external control or inspection, and although some of them compare 
favourably with good secondary schools, many are undoubtedly inefficient, judged 
by modern standards. A few are on List 60. 
7. Junior Technical Schools, &c. 
While these schools are not administratively classed as secondary, they fill a 
definite place in the system of secondary education. They have a minimum age limi 
for entrance, generally 13 or 14, and they provide full-time education for two o 
three years which is partly general and partly a preparation for industrial or com 
mercial employment. Similar courses are provided in Art Schools or in Junio 
Art Departments attached to Art Schools. In the former, pupils may enter at 1 
and take full-time courses providing instruction in Drawing, Artistic Handicraft an 
