There were several reports in and around 1963 concerning
themselves with ability. There is still considerable relevance to this debate
because it does seem that it is possible to help a child to do better on an
ability test. The Newsom Report of 1963 stated that: “Intellectual talent is
not a fixed quantity with which we have to work but a variable that can be
modified by social policy and educational approaches.” The Newsom Report (Page
6) felt that the kind of intelligence measured by intelligence tests was
largely an acquired characteristic.
The Spens Report of 1938 – on which the 1944 Education Act
was based – suggested: “Intellectual development during childhood appears to
progress as if it were governed by a central factor usually known as general
intelligence.” The 1944 Education Act developed the concept of the eleven plus.
The Spens Report felt that it was possible to predict with some degree of
accuracy the ultimate level of a child’s intellectual powers.
What happens to an eight year old child working at Level 2
on the National Curriculum but identified by an educational psychologist as
being in the top one per-cent? Should this child sit the eleven plus? Should
the school make a special provision? Should the grammar school take the report
from the educational psychologist and admit this very bright child before
children who can work at Level 5?
