Abstract
The theme of this article is that, individually and collectively, the local education authorities in Wales have a distinctive history in the 20th century. The thesis is explored mainly by means of three case studies: the reaction of the local authorities to the Education Act of 1902, which eventually escalated into a national movement dubbed 'the Welsh revolt'; the response of some local authorities, particularly in industrial Wales, to the 1932 legislation which required them to replace their free secondary school places with special places; and the attempts of some councils to resist the largely clandestine attempts of the Ministry of Education and its Welsh Department to impose a tripartite system of secondary education against their wishes after 1944. This tradition of independent action in Wales bears on contemporary patterns of power and policy. The article concludes by suggesting that, in an education power structure now radically altered by the creation of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, the local authorities are regarded more favourably than is the case in England and vested with significantly more responsibility, so making it likely that their future course will diverge increasingly from that of their English counterparts.