{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|right|'HORSA huts' from c.1947 at Machanhill Primary School, South Lanarkshire
'''HORSA''' is the acronym for the 'Hutting Operation for the Raising of the School-Leaving Age', a programme of hut-building in schools introduced by the UK Government to support the expansion of education under the Education Act 1944 to raise the compulsory education age by a year to age 15.
==Background==
Government plans to increase the school leaving age resulted in the need to accommodate 168,000 additional pupils.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/films/1945to1951/filmpage_cjsd.htm|title=Public Information Films | 1945 to 1951 | Charley Junior's School Days}}</ref> Along with the need to replace buildings lost and damaged in World War II and the post-war baby boom, this contributed to massive demand for low cost prefabricated 'hut'-style classrooms and other school buildings. 7,000 new classrooms and 928 new primary schools were built in 1945-50.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/wirrals-last-temporary-post-war-horsa-3366638| title = Wirral's last 'temporary' post-war Horsa school hut to be bulldozed to allow Overchurch Infants revamp - Liverpool Echo| date = August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J4o7AwAAQBAJ&q=who+provided+horsa+huts&pg=PT62 |title = The Best Days of Our Lives: School Life in Post-War Britain|isbn = 9780752489360|last1 = Webb|first1 = Simon|date = February 2013| publisher=The History Press }}</ref>
The programme was the responsibility of George Tomlinson, the Minister of Education in the post-war Clement Attlee government. There is some evidence the programme struggled to cope with demand.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1948-07-01a.2363.5|title = Horsa Huts}}</ref> However, the scheme progressed and was regarded as complete by 1950.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=1950-07-20a.2488.0&s=speaker%3A22494+speaker%3A22494|title = Education, Scotland}}</ref>
==HORSA huts== thumb|right|HORSA hut block, Baltasound Junior High School, Shetland HORSA huts were constructed of concrete and timber with corrugated asbestos-filled roofs, arrived onsite as flat pack deliveries and once assembled they resembled the spartan buildings used in army camps in the war.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OmMEE4rsNKUC&q=who+provided+horsa+huts&pg=PA113 |title = John Newsom: A Hertfordshire Educationist|isbn = 9780954218980|last1 = Parker|first1 = David|year = 2005| publisher=Univ of Hertfordshire Press }}</ref> Although intended as temporary accommodation with an expected lifespan of only ten years,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo011122/debtext/11122-32.htm | title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 22 Nov 2001 (Pt 32) }}</ref> 'Horsa huts' were often used well beyond this and some still survived {{asof|2012|lc=1}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/11845/|title=UCL - London's Global University|access-date=6 May 2016|archive-date=19 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919021812/http://eprints.ioe.ac.uk/11845/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although now often in poor physical condition and regarded as having little architectural merit, demolition of those built before 1 July 1948 requires listed building consent if they fall within the curtilage of a listed building.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/Environ/planning/planapps/Documents/PDF%20Documents/Decision%20Notices/10.00048.CCD%20-%20Approved%20Supporting%20Information.pdf | title=HORSA hut toilet refurbishment - Kings Cliffe Endowed School - Design & Access Statement | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609232610/http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/Environ/planning/planapps/Documents/PDF%20Documents/Decision%20Notices/10.00048.CCD%20-%20Approved%20Supporting%20Information.pdf | archive-date=9 June 2016 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Education in the United Kingdom Category:Prefabricated buildings Category:Secondary education in the United Kingdom Category:Schools in England Category:Schools in Wales