 The first act to introduce and enforce compulsory attendance was the Elementary Education Act 1870, with school boards set up to ensure children attended school, although exemptions were made for illness and travelling distance.Since then, the age has been raised several times, most notably to 15 through the Education Act 1944 and to 16 in 1972, along with the addition of so called "ROSLA Buildings" built as part of a school expansion scheme to cope with the extra number of students and Middle schools, the latter serving the 8-12 or 9-13 age ranges, though many have since been abolished.Some 16-year-olds in England and Wales are of compulsory age (those who turn 16 between September and June).