Elementary Education Act 1870 further acts in 1876 ("the Sandon Act", which gave parents a legal obligation to ensure that their children were educated) and 1880 ("the Mundella Act") made attendance compulsory for children until they were 10 years old, with various exemptions. Many factory owners feared the removal of children as a source of cheap labour. However, with the simple mathematics and English they were acquiring, factory owners now had workers who could read and make measurements. Following continued campaigning by the National Education League, following the Elementary Education Act 1880, attendance to age 10 became compulsory everywhere in England and Wales. In
Raising of school leaving age an apprentice, having a full time or part time job to enroll into or going to college are alternatives to school. Raising the participation age to 18 was first proposed to come into effect with the Education Act 1918. Plans for this were soon dropped when the government needed to cut public spending after World War I, as was the case when attempts were made to raise it in 1944, with cuts in spending after World War II delaying any plans preparing for it. The current age which a child can leave compulsory education in the state of New South