# Elementary Education Act (1870)

URL: https://english-history.com/timeline/1870-elementary-education-act
Categories: main-event

Parliament enabled elected school boards to provide elementary education where voluntary provision was insufficient. Within the broader Victorian Britain period, industrial society, mass politics, public-health reform, global empire and the Irish question dominated public life. This event is placed at 1870 in the chronology so it can be read alongside the political, military, social and cultural changes around it. The measure laid foundations for a national system of mass schooling.

## Why it matters
The measure laid foundations for a national system of mass schooling.

Ruler at the time: [Victoria](https://english-history.com/rulers/victoria)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia topic lookup — Elementary Education Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=Elementary+Education+Act&go=Go)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Elementary Education Act](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Elementary+Education+Act)
- [Wikipedia — Timeline of British history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_British_history_%281800%E2%80%931899%29)
- [The National Archives — Victorian resources](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/)