If you take a long-term view, then you can see solutions to present issues in the way things were done in the past. That’s not to create golden ages. If you had to pick a year in the last hundred for a golden age in higher education, you wouldn’t pick 1967. There’s reasons why students rioted. But, in these times of concern about information for students (codified in the CMA’s new guidance but also present in the Lord’s Committee report on the OfS) and student support (abundantly evidenced everywhere) here’s a random example from 1967.
‘Gipsy Hill College was founded in 1917 by Miss Belle Rennie and a group of friends as an independent, undemoninational college for the training of teachers of young children’. These are the first words in the description of the college in a booklet produced by Surrey County Council by way of a prospectus. Before the description has been a list of the governing body and the staff – these details are clearly more important.
The prospectus had been issued at a turning point in teacher training. The Robbins Report had recommended changes to the qualification offered; in 1967 students were still prepared for the Teacher’s Certificate Examination of the University of London Institute of Education but it was noted the first examination for the new Bachelor of Education degree would be held in 1969. It would be possible for students to register for this qualification. In 1967 teacher training colleges were still expanding.
The booklet comes with a selection of photos of the College. The black and white images of buildings and rooms are familiar to modern prospectuses, except there are hardly any people in them.
There’s a clear statement of the minimum entry requirements. There are annotations, presumably from the original owner of the booklet, against the mixture of GCE O and A levels. A distinction is made between passes at CSE which count towards admission for teacher training but not towards degrees.
Students get free tuition. They also get free board and lodging. And a grant. And a travelling grant. Although there’s a parental contribution, the booklet owner’s annotations perhaps showing which categories she is in.
For fans of being clear about the hidden costs of university, the booklet sets out the other expenses. Students are expected to spend at least £35 on books during the course, spend money on teaching practice and obtain ‘physical education clothing’ (at a cost of approximately £12). Students need to provide their own ‘sheets, pillow slips, towels, and rug or eiderdown’.
It’s less clear that the booklet would meet the material information that the CMA might expect. There’s a vagueness to the statement: ‘All students attend such courses on the teaching of the subjects of the curriculum as are appropriate … these courses may vary in length and number according to individual requirements’. There’s nothing much on the format of assessment beyond the threat of 3-hour papers and assessment of teaching practices. At least the list of staff would go some way to meet the need to provide ‘details about the general level of experience or status of the staff involved in delivering the different elements of the course’ (CMA, 2023, p29)
The College had been taken over by Surrey County Council in 1946, when local authorities were charged with finding a large increase in teacher training places, and had been moved 9 miles to Kingston Hill to a 40 acre site. In the reorganisation of teacher training in the 1970s Gispy Hill merged with Kingston Polytechnic and the site is still in use.
References
Anon, 1967, Gipsy Hill College, Surrey County Council Education Committee
CMA, 2023, UK higher education providers – advice on consumer protection law Helping you comply with your obligations Competition and Markets Authority
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