Eric James, Baron James of Rusholme

Eric John Francis James, Baron James of Rusholme (13 April 1909 – 16 May 1992) was a prominent British educator.

Eric John Francis James was born at Derby into a Nonconformist family. His father was a commercial traveller with a passion for literature, which he successfully passed to his son.

James was educated at York Place Secondary School, Brighton. At age 13 he went to Taunton's School at Southampton, from where he won an exhibition to Queen's College, Oxford. He gained a first in chemistry, and represented the university at chess. He had planned on studying medicine, but unable to obtain the necessary scholarships, he chose a teaching career.

James was offered a temporary appointment at Winchester College in 1933, where he soon secured a permanent staff position. He taught chemistry, as well as a variety of related subjects. He remained there until 1945, and was High Master of The Manchester Grammar School from 1945 to 1962. He then became the first Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, serving from 1962 to 1973. He is credited with creating the collegiate structure of the University of York.

James held well-known and controversial views on the importance of and took very seriously "the University's obligation to be a cultural and educational force in the region". His three cardinal principles for the University of York were:

James strongly believed in equality of opportunity. He strove to distinguish between equality of opportunity and uniformity of treatment. He held that able children are a nation's most precious asset, and that the academically gifted will best develop their talents in company with their peers. In the 1950s and 1960s it required considerable moral courage to stand out against the dominant educational opinion, which had settled dogmatically upon scrapping grammar schools in favour of the supposedly more egalitarian comprehensive system. He advocated a pure meritocracy. Selection at Manchester Grammar School was by competitive examination, with no marks added for wealth or family connections. It was the essence of his philosophy that grammar schools should serve as ladders, giving all levels of society access to the highest places in the land. His approach bore fruit; in the mid-1950s Manchester Grammar School was attaining up to 45 scholarships every year at Oxford and Cambridge. However, in the short term his efforts were doomed to failure; Manchester was forced to become a fee-charging school.

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