Perhaps the most interesting feature of the prefect system is not that it existed, but the manner in which it disappeared.
By the early 1960s Britain was changing rapidly.
Traditional institutions were being questioned. Relations between adults and children were changing. Old assumptions about class, education and unquestioning obedience were coming under examination.
The prefect remained, but his position gradually altered.
The senior pupil might still wear a badge, supervise younger boys and represent the school on important occasions. Increasingly, however, serious discipline returned to the adult staff.
In some schools the change was imposed from above. In others, according to former pupils, prefects themselves decided that powers inherited from previous generations were no longer appropriate.
