I have meant to ask this question many times but have always forgotten to do so.
Can anyone explain why there were X forms
We started with 1A 1B 1C 1D then 2A 2B 2C 2D ( I think) then in the 3rd year it became 3A 3B 3C 3X this nomenclature continued into 4th and 5th years
I know A classes studied French and Latin, and B classes studied French and German while the remainder studied just French and as far I know, apart from this distinction, we all followed the same curriculum.
I seem to recall someone saying the X stood for 'exceptional' but unless it meant exceptionally bad I do not think this was the case. I was in X forms and did not feel at all exceptional in anyway and I do not honestly think any of my cohort showed themselves to be exceptional in anyway either.
Can anyone throw any light on this?
I mean if X was the 'pits', the scrap heap, as it were, why not use the D as in the first two years? Why brand it like that?? Why change at all??
At this distance in time it is of small moment now but it returns occasionally to trouble me.It is not the possible branding that troubles me so much as the not knowing.
I mean what with The X files, The X men, The X Factor X marks the spot, Xcetra (and its ubiquity) in Algebra some Xplanation seems called for.

We were told that X stood for "express" since, at least during the early 'sixties, the X form took O-levels a year early............ but, then again, maybe they were using the same classification as the British Board of Film Censors.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-65

Current location (optional) leeds

Hind and Watthey used X for different purposes.Watthey's use was understandable as Shaun explained.
In the '50s, 3c and 3d, on entering the 4th year were "mingled" into c and x. Some "c"s became "x"s and some "d"s became "c"s. I never fathomed out what this signified. I think it had something to do with the practical (wood and metal) courses they took. As a teacher I always believed that labeling kids led to self-fulfilling outcomes. It would appear that as far as c, d and x go, Old Nick overcame this to some extent.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1952-60

Current location (optional) Lincoln

Terry, The wood and metalcraft seems logical and applicable since that is where I ended up but at the same time I was absolutely useless ( my failures at teapot stands was pathetic and legend) so it did not work for me.
Maybe they were busy social engineering to some degree, preparing us for the more practical side of life, as skilled ( ??) workers.. The taking of Latin, for instance, in the A forms was preparing them for University entrance, and the classical road through life, I suppose, though what German implies escapes me unless it was for the Secret Service.
Shaun. X might have implied express at one time but was certainly not appplicable to me.

Terry is right, I think, for Nev Hind's reign. The C and the X forms were for those pupils deemed to be "less academically able" - which decision, at that time, in that school, turned on whether or not they could master two languages, as well as show reasonable competence in the other general "academic" subjects. What separated the C from the X form was precisely the notion that boys "of a practical bent" would take woodwork, metalwork, technical drawing - you must have made a state-of-the-art spade-scraper, Arthur, in the first or second form, to have found yourself in the X form! There seems to have been no thought that one could excel "academically" and "practically". Fundamentally, was it not just another manifestation of the class system - compartmentalising (or social engineering) bringing about (in many cases) self-fulfilling results, as Terry suggests.

Latin seems to have been the yardstick, probably because it was the key, then, to Higher Education, and mainly for that reason. Its synthetic character of fixed patterns was also supposed to induce logical thinking in pupils exposed to it. As a measurement of linguistic ability, however, both French and German are far more taxing, especially the former, being much more deviant in terms of irregularities and idiom than was Latin. I do remember it being whispered about that German was "the language of science" and that was about the only justification I ever heard for it being taught to the B forms. Spurious, even then. It helped a bit when you were reading Biggles, I suppose.

Yes, Doug, I remember it being put about that German was the lingua franca of the scientific community. Could that have been because in the '30s the scientists of the "herrenvolk" appeared to be developing what looked like a winning formula - only to lose in a penalty shoot out in 1944/5. Still, KBGS maintained the myth even into the '60s when all the German scientists were seeking career advancement in the English-speaking world. Just a thought.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1952-60

Current location (optional) Lincoln

Yes, until Easter 1961 I was in form 3S2. The brightest lads in all the third year, were got together after Easter into a form 3X (EXPRESS) with the intention that we did all our GCE O Levels in 1962, (it would have been our fourth form), this form then became 4x in the September . There is a photo of 3X on this site in the appropriate section. In fact most guys took 6 or 7 subjects in 1962 (in my case I took 8 with music as an extra without having had music lessons at school). Joes idea was that we would therefore take 'A' levels also a year early and so we would do a third year 6th for university 'Scholarship' exams, maybe get more of us into Oxbridge.
This may be something to do with his salary depending on the size of the sixth form.
But it misfired on him. Many of us in 1964 got decent enough 'A' levels, applied to Uni, and were offered unconditional places for summer 1965. We left at Christms 1964 and got jobs. In my case ( and being a chemist) got a job at Harrogate ICI. This experience was a big help later when I graduated in getting a full time job with Courtaulds.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 58-64

Current location (optional) Wirral

I don't know why we were called 4X rather than, say, 4D but what distinguished us from 4C was that they did Woodwork/Metalwork and we did Art. I think the choice was ours but since I was rubbish at Woodwork maybe which stream we entered was based on results. Unfortunately, the year before GCE there was a change of Art teacher. Sibley left and a bearded giant who threatened us on his first day with a leather strap which he kept in a cupboard took over. Their teaching styles could not have been more different. The new teacher threw away all Sibley's tiny brushes and taught the Rolf Harris method of broad brush strokes. He turned out to be not so bad as the first impression.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1954-59

Current location (optional) Denholme (garethwhittaker99@hotmail.com)

Stribley, wasn't it, Gareth?

Jim Strib to his mates.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1952-60

Current location (optional) Lincoln

He WAS an art teacher - so we called him Scribley!

Stribley sounds right. Like I said: my memory is pathetic. Frank Sibley was my philosophy professor at Lancaster - he specialised in aesthetics!
What was the name of the bearded one?

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1954-59

Current location (optional) Denholme (garethwhittaker99@hotmail.com)

The bearded one was called Preston and he marked and signed all our homework x/10 PAP. You can just imagine what raucous comments were made to that.Unfortunately the bearded one was unable to keep any kind of discipline and our schoolwork suffered accordingly.
Incidentally he was probably the master who lived nearest to school as he lived next door and above Albert Mosleys chip shop and cafe.

Current location (optional) Shipley

I think the bearded one was Westall. He did indeed live next to the chippy.

Right, Allan, it would have been Westall (my role model!). "Pappy" Preston(also bearded) was Westall's replacement in the early 60s.

Years at KBGS e.g. 1958-1964 (optional) 1958-65

Current location (optional) Dudley, West Midlands