Remembering the 11-plus exam, and how it played out in Sunderland

The removal of the 11-plus examination - first introduced 80 years ago - was pledged in Sunderland in 1972.

Thousands of Wearsiders will remember the day they sat the exam which determined whether they went to grammar school.

It shaped the lives of thousands of people

But the 11-plus was under the scrutiny of the schools sub-committee of the Sunderland Education Committee in 1972.

Coun Charles Slater, who was a champion of comprehensive education, spoke up.

He said: “If I can assume that all of us have the interests of the children of the town at heart in education, then I can assure that we would like to see any system of selection ended and that the remaining 20% of the town should cease to have to take the 11-plus examination.”

650 Sunderland children took it in 1974

By 1974, Sunderland’s bid to scrap the 11-plus system was back under the spotlight.

A Sunderland education committee deputation had been due to see Ernest Armstrong, who was the Under Secretary at the Department of Education at the time.

But the deputation, which was to have been led by Cllr Slater, was postponed.

Mr Gordon Bagier, MP for Sunderland South, told the Sunderland Echo at the time: “I don’t know why it was called off.”

The education committee has been pressing its claims to enable 650 children in the town - who still have to take the 11-plus examination - to go to comprehensive schools.

But they could not do this without the Government go-ahead to provide the places for them.

Introduced in 1944

The 11-plus was first introduced in 1944 and was phased out across most of the UK by 1976.

Tell us if you sat the 11-plus exam and what you remember of the day you got your results, by emailing [email protected]