“Much more than just a result”, using Life History Research to Understand the Influence of the 11+ outcome on the identity of Schoolgirls: 1955-1965

The Butler Act (1944) required all children in England and Wales to undertake the 11+ exam, determining the most appropriate secondary school destination for their perceived ability: grammar school, technical college or secondary modern. Postwar selective education policies sought to bring opportunity for all children, irrespective of their family circumstance. Synonymous however with notions of success and failure, the 11+ exam became a marker through which children were identified and continues to stimulate conversation and debate. Using a feminist framework, this study aims to demonstrate that this momentary mechanism for school selection remained on into adulthood and continues to inform the sense of self and personal identity of women, now in their 70s. Placing the lived experiences of ordinary women at the heart of 11+ debate, this thesis looks beyond the exam itself to examine the lasting emotional implications of such marked differentiation as past events are evidenced within their present lives. This thesis explores the connection between identity and belonging in relation to education, providing a nuanced insight into the associated feelings of disappointment and success. Life history narratives revealed how the aspirations and expectations of family and community were critical in the school experiences of adolescent girls in postwar Britain. The 11+ experience is more complex than the opposing outcomes of success and failure. Narratives expressed the emotional implications of lasting anxiety and insecurity, feelings of pressure as a result of attainment and gendered barriers to opportunity and fulfilment. Triggered by the emotional response to the 11+, it is the associated influence of family and community that informs the adult identity. This intimate study demonstrates how the critical events in an individual’s life are shaped not only by the social context of class and gender but continue to inform the adult sense of self in later life.