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
History of education in England Education Authorities. In 1964, preparations had begun to raise the school leaving age to 16 to be enforced from 1 September 1973 onwards. This increased the legal leaving age from 15 to 16 and for one year, 1973, there were no 15 year old school leavers as the students, by law, had to complete an additional year of education. Many secondary schools were unable to accommodate the new 5th year students. The solution to the problem was to construct new buildings (often referred to as ""ROSLA Buildings"" or ""ROSLA Blocks"") for the schools that needed to extend their capacity. This