ABSTRACT
In Wales, as in the UK and more generally across the globe, education systems were initially created for elite groups within societies (Marsden, 1987; Smith, 1999; Jones, 2016). While over time these systems became more democratised and universal, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds generally stayed the least amount of time within education and achieved the least in terms of outcomes. This was particularly the case in those societies, such as Wales, that experienced industrialisation: although children in industrial communities might have had greater access to at least a basic education than their rural counterparts, the availability of apprenticeship routes to skilled employment and the abundance of unskilled work meant that they would enter the workforce in their early teenage years.
