University of Cambridge

Contains assorted papers on the introduction and development of the Cambridge B.Ed. degree.

The Robbins Committee was appointed by the Government in 1961 to review the pattern of full-time higher education in Great Britain and to advise on what principles its long-term development should be based. One of its recommendations, published in the Robbins Report (1963), was that the three-year course for trainee teachers should continue but four-year courses leading to a B.Ed. degree should be provided for suitable students. An attempt to establish a degree in Education at the University of Cambridge was rejected (by four votes) in June 1966, leaving the eleven Colleges of Education associated with the Cambridge Institute of Education without access to a degree in Education and thereby making them an exception amongst all other Colleges of Education.
A second attempt in February 1968 was successful. The degree in Education was open both to undergraduates at the University of Cambridge and to students at the Colleges of Education affiliated to the Cambridge Institute of Education, the latter took additional courses in academic subjects during their third year and in their fourth year took up residency in Cambridge and followed the same courses as the undergraduates. An internal Honours Degree combining Education & Physical Education became available to Bedford students at the University of Cambridge in 1970.