Registered files of the Board of Education and successors Technical Branch and Further Education Branch concerning the policy and administration of schemes relating to the provision of further education, including juvenile unemployment centres, by Local Education Authorities under the Education Acts 1918, 1921 and 1944.
The problems of supply, finance and organisation of further education services are reflected in the files which indicate the cooperation which existed between the Board of Education, other government departments and representative educational, professional and industrial bodies. Later papers record the continuous review, by the National Advisory Council on Education for Industry and Commerce, of the national policy necessary for the full development of further education in relation to industry and commerce, particularly as regards planning, expansion and research, and also the consultation with appropriate bodies on matters concerning education of university standard.
The documents of the Second World War period reflect the difficulties of wartime administration, problems connected with training ex-servicemen, modifications in the award of national certificates, and planning for postwar reconstruction. The ministry's role in the education, training, and general rehabilitation of manpower to meet postwar needs is reflected in the subsequent papers.
The post 1955 records focus on the expansion and development which took place in further education during the 1960s following the Robbins Report, and notably on the changes which occurred in the field of grants; in raising the standard of qualifications, and in altering the content of courses in order to provide a suitably trained and qualified workforce to meet the needs of the technological advances of the period.
Some files contain indexes.