In this paper the tradition in secondary education in England and Wales and the challenge to it in the pre-war era are dealt with. In the tradition the principle of separation between secondary and elementary schools was dominant ; but progressive forces challenged this principle basing their arguments on the propositions put forward by R. H. Tawney and demanded "Secondary Education for All" and the establishment of comprehensive schools. Because of the pressure from the progressive forces the concept of the comprehensive school had gained a position in the discussion of secondary school reorganisation by the late 1930s.
However, traditional forces were strong as well. Proposals for comprehensive schooling were continually neglected or refused by the reports of the Consultative Committee before the 1944 Education Act. The Spens Report of 1938 advocated a tripartite system basing its arguments mainly on the evidence of psychologists which justified the early selection. The Norwood Report of 1943 offered a philosophical Justification based on the traditional view for the tripartite system. Finally, the White Paper of 1943 gave the full support for the selective system. Thus the traditional principle dominated official thinking andl elements of separatism were brought into secondary education in the form of a tripartite system.