Forster Education Act 1870

The Forster Education Act of 1870, also known as the Elementary Education Act, was a key law in Britain that established the framework for providing free, compulsory elementary education for all children aged 5 to 13. It aimed to address the lack of accessible schooling by encouraging local communities, through the creation of school boards, to build and manage schools. While it didn’t make education compulsory immediately, it laid the foundation for wider educational reform, helping to increase literacy and improve social mobility for the working classes over time.