Education in Great Britain

Education in Great Britain 

Outline

EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

1. Compulsory (mandatory) school attendance

1. The system of education

1. TYPES OF SCHOOLS:
2. Maintained schools
3. Independent
4. Church schools
5. Special schools
6. Home-schooling

1. ORGANIZATION:
2. The school year
3. Marking
4. National curriculum

1. STAGES OF EDUCATION

• Pre-school provisions
• Créches
• Nurseries/kindergarten

• Primary stage
• Infant schools
• Junior school

• Secondary education
• IN THE PAST
• AT PRESENT

• Further education

1. VI Form College

1. Universities, colleges and Polytechnics

↓

• Bachelor´s degree (after 4 years) → BA -Bachelor of arts

→ BSc-Bachelor of science

→ B.Ed- Bachelor of education

• Master´s degree (after 5-6 years) → MA-Master of arts

→ MSc-Master of science

→ M.Ed- Master of education

• Doctorate- PhD

EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

1. Compulsory (mandatory) school attendance

Every child must receive full-time education from the age of 5 to 16.

1. The system of education

1. TYPES OF SCHOOLS

1. Maintained schools

-free-run schools

-maintained out of public founds

1. Independent

-fee-paying (private) schools

- including PREPARATORY SCHOOLS (Prep-schools) -up to the age of 13.

and PUBLIC SCHOOLS- from the age of 13

-the most prestigious are boarding schools of high standard of education.

-E.g. Eaton, Rugby

-they are usually single-sex.

1. Church schools

1. Special schools

-for handicapped or talented children

-they are educated separately

1. Home-schooling

- education at home

1. ORGANIZATION

• Young people are expected to show respect for their teachers and obey school rules. Those who misbehave, may be punished E.g. by having to stay behind after school.
• Sometimes they get into more serious trouble- E.g. by being violent or bullying, using drugs, but also for cheating at tests. They risk being expelled.
• The British Education System aims to educate the whole person so that each child develops a full personality aswell as gaining academic knowledge.
• Most primary and secondary schools offer a wide range of extracurricular activities (outside normal lessons) including sports, drama, music, photography, community service and trips to places of interest.
• Secondary schools with career advice help students to prepare for a job by arranging short periods of work experience with local business. (prax)
• Most schools have a Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) which gives parents a chance to take part in making decisions about how a school is run and they regularly visit schools to meet their children´s teachers and discuss their progress.

1. The school year

-an academic year has3 terms- the first lasts to christmas, the 2^nd to Easter and the last one till the summer holiday.

-classes are from Monday to Friday (five-day week), but some public schools have 6.

-they usually start at 8 AM, but finish at 4 PM.

1. Marking

-they get letters A,B,C-if they pass and D,E,F,G-if they fail.

-U-unclassified- when we don´t have enough marks to be evaluated.

1. The National Curriculum

-to standardise education, Standard Assessment Tests (SAT) has been introduced. Pupils are tested regularly-all of them 4 times during their studies:

1. At the age of7-tested in reading, writing, basic mathematics.
2. At the age of11-is taken in their final year of Junior school

- tested in several subjects.

1. At the age of14-tested in English, Maths and Science subjects
2. At the age of16- O-level exam leading to GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary

Education). They are tested usually in 4 subjects.

NOT FOR EVERYONE:

1. At the age of 18- A-level exam leading to GCE (General Certificate of Education)

-is taken in 2- 4 subjects. (3 is normal and most common)

1. STAGES OF EDUCATION

• Pre-school provisions

- Many children start their schooling in nursery school where they spend a few hours each day playing and doing some activities. They stars socializing with other children.

- is provided by creches for children up to 3 years

- and nurseries/kindergartens for children up to the age of 6.

-it´s voluntary, but it´s good to attend, because it prepares kids for compulsory school attendance.

• Primary schools

Have 2 stages:

1. INFANT SCHOOL- from the age of 5 to 7
2. JUNIOR SCHOOL- from the age of 7 to 11

• Secondary (high) schools

-from the age of 11 to 16.

-finished with an O-level examination leading to GCSE.

IN THE PAST

-in the past there was a selective system, when at the age of 11 every child had to sit for the Eleven-Plus Examination which were tests in English, arithmetics and an Intelligence test.

-Those with the highest marks went on to grammar schools.

-those with worse marks went on to technical schools providing courses heading to particular occupation.

-those with the worst marks went on to secondary modern schools offerring more practical education emphasising on various skills and handicrafts.

AT PRESENT

-later comprehensive schools (high schools) were introduced.

-They are large schools attended by all children at the age of 11 to 16 without any selection.

-the selective system was abolished because some people argued that it´s impossible to judge children´s abilities in sucha an early age.

-BUT: there is an individual approach to pupils who are allowed to choose the subjects according to their interests,abilities.

-there are also some compulsory subjects: English, Science, foreign languages,.. about 8 subjects with their electives (seminars)

-in May/June in their final year (at the age of 16) they sit for their GCSE exams in the 3 compulsory subjects and other options- this is this O-level exam.

-the results are published in the middle of August and it´s quite long for the pupils to plan the next stage of their education.

-All examinations are marked: A,B,C=passed. D,E,F,G= failed

• Further education

1. VI Form College

-from the age of 16 to 18

-according to the results from GCSE exam students apply for places in VI Form Colleges.

-they are 2-year courses, where students opt for usually 3 subjects to be taken to advanced level →A-level to get GCE.

-the jump from O-level to A is the biggest one in the UK education , because it´s very difficult for many students.

-the marking system is the same, but it´s very important to gain high grades, because there is a point system which allows them to get a place at university. So the higher your number of points the better university you can attend or choose.

-in February of the final year students choose 3 universities and 3 Polytechnical Colleges which they wish to attend. Wise students pick a very good university for thir first choice. (must have 18 points so their marks should be: AAB,AAA)

-those who don´t do well in their A-level, must go through a system called The Clearing House which provides all the information about coíllege and university places for these students. They can also take another year and reset any exam both at GCSE and GCE.

-in VI Form Colleges there is an individual form of study. Students study on their own in libraries preparing presentations, essays, for debates,...

-of course, they must be prepared for the exams, because no one knows what tasks will appear there.

A-level exam- standardised for all students in the whole country strictly supervised.

-sent to Central Examination Board to be evaluated.

1. Universities,colleges and polytechnics

Colleges mostly offer classes only for undergraduate students-studying for

bachelor´s degree.

Universities are larger and offer graduate students studying, and many of them have separate professional schools- Medicine, Law Schools,etc.

UNIVERSITIES- a certain percentage of students go on further education to university-where they study for 4 years to get a bachelor´s degree which might be: BA, BSc, B.Ed ← they usually add them after their names.

-some graduates go on to study for a further degree: MA, Msc,M.Ed. Or even for a doctorate PhD.

-a popular form of degree course is the 4-year one: The first 2 years are spent at university, the 3^rd year is spent working in a job connected with the course and the last year is back at the university for studying and for taking the examinations.students study a main subject throughout their degree course which is a combination of compulsory and elective subjects.

-they get credits and grades. ABCDE-if the pass and FX- if they fail.

-students have lectures and seminars/discussion groups and there are practicals for those who do a science subject. At some universities students have individual tutorials or supervision.

-the oldest and best universities are Oxford University and Cambridge including the University of London+in each bigger town. 

COLLEGES

-others study for a certificate or diploma at colleges of further education which train people in a particular skill with work experience. 

POLYTECHNICALS

-schools in industrial cities.

-students may live ´in-hole´(in-hole-of residence) of modern blocks. They can have their own room or share washing and kitchen facilities.(in AmE it is called DORMITORY (dorm))

-some people return to school later and attend evening classes run by Adult-Education Institute.

Some may attend the open university which is open for everyone.