<P> There were disputes about the movement in the early years . The schools were derisively called "Raikes' Ragged School". Critics thought the schools would weaken home - based religious education, that it might be a desecration of the Sabbath (generally to be used as a day of rest), and that Christians should not be employed on the Sabbath . "Sabbatarian disputes" in the 1790s led many Sunday schools to cease their teaching of writing . </P> <P> Most schools at this time focused on grammar instruction, which at that time was centred on the instruction of Latin and Greek, as these were classical languages associated with ancient civilizations and Biblical writings . Many schools taught Latin and Greek to the exclusion of all other subjects . </P> <P> Prior to the nineteenth century, there were few schools . Most of those that existed were run by church authorities and stressed religious education . The Church of England resisted early attempts for the state to provide secular education . In 1811, the Anglican National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church in England and Wales was established . Historically, the schools founded by the National Society were called National Schools (still an integral part of the state school system). The Protestant non-conformist, non-denominational, or "British schools" were founded by Society for Promoting the Lancasterian System for the Education of the Poor, an organisation formed in 1808 by Joseph Fox, William Allen and Samuel Whitbread and supported by several evangelical and non-conformist Christians . </P> <P> In 1814, compulsory apprenticeship by indenture was abolished . By 1831, Sunday School in Great Britain was ministering weekly to 1,250,000 children, approximately 25% of the population . As these schools preceded the first state funding of schools for the common public, they are sometimes seen as a forerunner to the current English school system . </P>

When did state schools began in the uk