80 SCIENTIFIC SURVEY OF LEICESTER AND DISTRICT 
IX. 
EDUCATION IN LEICESTER 
BY 
F, PP) ARMITAGE,’ C:B‘E.,"M.A:, 
DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION. 
Early History—Thomas Wyggeston—Collegiate School—Technical Classes— 
College of Art and Technology—School of Cookery—Wyggeston Boys’ and 
Girls’ Schools and Alderman Newton’s—Mary Royce’s Night Classes— 
Canon Vaughan and the Vaughan Working Men’s College—Adult School 
Union—Workers’ Educational Association—Leicester Education Authority 
and the 1918 Act—Schools Grouping Scheme—Provision of Playing Field 
Facilities—‘ Experimental’ School—Special Schools—Medical Inspection— 
After-school Employment—Additional Secondary Schools—Growth of- the 
Colleges of Art and Technology—Founding of the University College— 
Vaughan College becomes the Extra-mural Department of the University 
College. 
IN the sixteenth century Thomas Wyggeston founded a free school in 
High Cross Street, and for 150 years there was no other place of public 
education in the town. Then, in 1708, a school was built in East Bond 
Street by members of the Great Meeting. In 1761 Alderman Newton 
founded his Green Coat School; St. Mary’s, the first parochial school, 
was built in 1783; St. Martin’s in 1790, St. Margaret’s in 1807. The 
County National School, built by subscriptidn in 1814 on a piece of land 
provided by the Crown, was intended to be a central model school for 
town and county; here young masters received. their first lesson in 
the art of teaching. The population of Leicester was then 24,000. 
Between 1814 and 1870 more schools were built by the Established and 
Free Churches and by the Roman Catholics. Private enterprise provided 
the Collegiate School—at first a private secondary school for boys, among 
whom was Wallace the naturalist—and the Proprietory School, the 
buildings of which were taken over by the Corporation for the purposes 
of a museum in 1848. 
By 1870 Leicester’s population had grown to 96,000. In the various 
schools in the town providing an elementary school education there 
were 10,053 pupils; the accommodation required under the 1870 
Education Act was 17,903. During the next five years eight schools were 
built accommodating over 7,000 children. 
At this time the leaving age was 13, but total exemption could be 
attained at the age of 10. The percentage of attendance was sometimes 
as low as 70. By 1892 it was 81—but 818 cases were heard by the 
magistrates. ‘To-day the percentage of attendance is almost go, and 
scarcely a case ever comes before the magistrates. In 1892 there were 
1,588 half-timers on the school rolls—two years later there were none.” 
