Public Schools Act 1868

Public Schools Act, 1868

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to make further Provision for the good Government and Extension of certain Public Schools in England.
Statute book chapter	31 & 32 Vict. c. 118
Dates
Royal Assent	31 July 1868
Status:

The Public Schools Act 1868 was enacted by the British Parliament to reform and regulate nine of the leading English boys' schools. They were described as "public schools" as admission was open to boys from anywhere and was not limited to those living in a particular locality. Most of the nine had grown out of ancient charity schools for the education of a certain number of poor scholars, but then, as today, also educating many sons of the English upper and upper-middle classes on a fee-paying basis.

As is clear from the long title of the Act, An Act to make further Provision for the good Government and Extension of certain Public Schools in England, it was not intended to define which schools were "public schools" but to apply conditions to some of them: in practice, these were the most famous and important schools of the day.

The Act followed the report of the Clarendon Commission, a Royal Commission on Public Schools which sat from 1861 to 1864 and investigated conditions and abuses which had grown up over the centuries at nine nationally famous charity schools, six of which were in London at the time, with three being provincial:

• Charterhouse School
• Eton College
• Harrow School
• Merchant Taylors' School
• Rugby School
• Shrewsbury School
• St Paul's School
• Westminster School
• Winchester College

The Act removed these schools from any direct jurisdiction or responsibility of the Crown, established church or government, establishing a board of governors for each school and granting them independence over their administration. The Act led to rapid development of the schools, away from the traditional classics-based curriculum taught by clergymen, to a broader scope of studies.