EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN THE UK

What are the major stages of education in Britain?
PRIMARY EDUCATION
SECONDARY EDUCATION
FURTHER EDUCATION
What are the age groups associated to these stages of education?

The major stages of education in UK

UK Schools
PRIVATE
(fee-paying)
STATE
(non fee-
paying)
PRIMARY EDUCATION ? 4/5 - 11
NON-BOARDING
(single-sex)
BOARDING
(single-sex)

SECONDARY EDUCATION ? 12-16/18
BOARDING
(single-sex)
STATE
(non-fee-
paying)
NON-BOARDING
(single-sex)
COMPREHENSIVE
GRAMMAR
PUBLIC
(age 13-18)

WHAT IS A STATE SCHOOL?
A non-fee-paying school run by the state.
WHAT IS A PUBLIC SCHOOL?
A long-established, with long traditions, fee-paying school.
WHAT IS A PRIVATE/ INDEPENDENT SCHOOL?
A fee-paying school, sometimes connected with one religion

WHAT IS A COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL?
A state school where students of all abilities are taught together
WHAT IS A BOARDING SCHOOL?
A school where the students live.
WHAT IS A GRAMMAR SCHOOL?
A school for children of high academic abilities who have to pass an 11+ exam.
WHAT IS A SINGLE-SEX SCHOOL?
A school which is either for all boys or all girls.

What are public schools like today?
Mostly single sex, a large number of girls’ public schools nowadays
Some public schools admit both boys and girls
Day pupils in addition to boarders
Some are day-schools only
Prefects no longer have power, no fagging
Less emphasis on team sport
More emphasis on academic achievement
The most famous schools: ETON, HARROW, RUGBY and WINCHESTER

ETON COLLEGE
http://www.etoncollege.com

Style
LEARNING FOR ITS OWN SAKE rather than for any practical purpose
How to help people develop useful knowledge and skills is more important than how education might help to bring about a better society

The general style of teaching gives priority to:
1. developing understanding rather than acquiring factual knowledge and learning to apply this knowledge to specific tasks.
? students seem to work less than in other countries
? university students have fewer hours of programmed attendance but receive more personal guidance with their work
2. an emphasis on ACADEMIC ABILITY rather than PRACTICAL ABILITY

Major changes in the 20th century
The introduction of the national curriculum which determines learning objectives for each year of compulsory school.
? Primary level sets an emphasis on “the three Rs” (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetics)
? At higher levels greater emphasis on science and technology. Before: too much attention to the arts and humanities.

The major methods of teaching
There is a balance between formal lessons (“lecture-style”) and activities (“seminar-style”) where students work in small groups with the teacher supervising
In PRIMARY SCHOOL
? class teacher teaches all subjects
? At the ages of 7 and 11 – national tests in English, mathematics and science

In SECONDARY SCHOOL
? different teachers for different subjects
? regular homework
? students are separated into groups according to their abilities
Streaming – the school children are put in groups according to their abilities
? in some schools / subjects “mixed-ability” classes

The organisation of a school day
A five-day week
Schools are closed on Saturdays and Sundays
The day lasts from 9 a.m.- 3-5 p.m.
Lunch break lasts about an hour-and-a-quarter

The organisation of a school year
AUTUMN
TERM
CHRISTMAS
HOLIDAY
(about 2
weeks)
SPRING
TERM
EASTER
HOLIDAY
(about 2
weeks) SUMMER
TERM
SUMMER
HOLIDAY
(about 6
weeks)
In addition, all schools have a “half term” (= half-term holiday),
lasting a few days or a week in the middle of each term.

Terminology
FAGS ? “servants”, teener, fagging - teenimine
In public schools senior boys were “prefects”, which means that they had authority over the other boys and their own servants (called “fags”).
LONGMAN DICTIONARY:
a young student in some British public schools who has to do jobs for an older student

LONGMAN DICTIONARY:
British English informal
a cigarette – PLÄRU
American English taboo informal
a very offensive word for homosexual man. Do not use this word.
The length of the lessons in Br schools:
* 30 – 45 min / 40-60 min

Schoolday in Manchester Grammar School
The school day begins at 09:05, when boys report to their form rooms to be registered. Assembly begins at 09:15 and ends at 09:30. there are 6 45-minute periods (lessons) in a day, with 5 minutes gap between periods to allow boys to transit the school grounds to different classrooms. Break is 20 minutes long and occurs between periods 2 and 3 (11.10-11.30), and the Lunch hour is between periods 4-5

The School currently operates a seven day cycle (???) with a six period day, the timings of which are as follows:
ASSEMBLY 09:15 – 09:30
PERIOD 1 09:35 – 10:20
PERIOD 2 10:25 - 11:10
BREAK 11:10 – 11:30
PERIOD 3 11:30 – 12:15
PERIOD 4 12:20 – 13:05
LUNCH 13:05 – 14:10
PERIOD 5 14:15 – 15:00
PERIOD 6 15:05 – 15:45

PUBLIC EXAMS

Lack of uniformity
Are not set by the government, but by the independent examining board
There is no unified school-leaving exam or school-leaving certificate
The majority of students do exams in the English language, maths and science subject and usually in foreign lg - French
Public exams:

The exams have little to do with school years.
The vast majority of people taking these exams are school pupils who do not have to be connected to a particular year of school
But they can be taken for fun by any individual people

AGE
NAME OF THE SCHOOL
TESTS / EXAMS
KINDERGARTEN or
PRIMARY EDUCATION
SECONDARY EDUCATION
NURSERY
NOT YET
2/3 – 5
11 - 16
5 - 7
7 - 11
16 - 18
16 - 18
18 +
INFANT SCHOOL
JUNIOR SCHOOL
SAT TESTS
SAT TESTS
GCSEs
SAT TESTS
SECONDARY SCHOOL
THE SIXTH FORM
5 - 7
Age 14
Age 17
AS-LEVELS
A-LEVELS
Age 18
FURTHER EDUCATION
UNIVERSITIES
ALL KINDS OF EXAMS
11+ EXAMS
Standard assessment test

SAT TESTS
Standard Assessment Test
tests that students in schools in England and Wales take at the ages of 7, 11, and 14, to see whether they have reached the standard set by the National Curriculum.
Tests are meant for the government

11+ (the eleven plus) exam
The Eleven Plus or Transfer Test is an examination which was given to students in their last year of primary education.
The name derives from the age group of the students: 11+.
It examines the student's ability to solve problems using verbal and non-verbal reasoning.

The exam came to be seen as determining whether a student went to a grammar schoolThe exam came to be seen as determining whether a student went to a grammar school or to a secondary modern (comprehensive).
Eleven plus and similar type exams vary around the country but will use some or all of the following components:
Verbal reasoning
Nonverbal reasoning
Mathematics
Writing

GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education
Courses are taken in a variety of subjects
GCSEs are not compulsory
Taken by 15/16-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 5 subjects (English, maths and science and 2 additional (the arts, French)
Marks are given for each subject separately
The syllabuses and methods of examination are different
System of marks is uniform ? A-G. A, B, C are regarded as “good” grades.

SCE = Scottish Certificate of Education
The Scottish equivalent of GCSE
Exams are set by the Scottish Examination Board
Grades are given in numbers (1 = the best)

A Levels = Advanced Levels
Higher-level academic exams
Taken mostly by people around the age of 18 who wish to go on to higher education
Taken at least in 3 subjects
A-levels are graded from A to E, anything lower is unclassified (U)
List of advanced Level subjects:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Advanced_Level_subjects
Advanced Level exam results:

The top independent secondary schools
LEAGUE TABLES formed on the basis of the exam results
Go to:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/parentpower/league_tables.php?t=independent_secondary_schools

SCE “Higher”
The Scottish equivalent of A-levels
AS-Levels
Advanced Supplementary Level
An examination that is taken by students in schools in England and Wales the year after they finish their GCSEs.
Students usually continue with three or four of the same subjects after A/S level, in order to complete their A levels

A – levels in British university admission
A-level grades are also sometimes converted into numerical scores
For example, under the UCAS (universities and college admission system) system:
an A-grade at A-level is worth 120 points,
a B is worth 100, a C is worth 80, and
a D is 60, and so on;

So a university may instead demand that an applicant achieve 280 points, instead of the equivalent offer of B-B-C.
This allows greater flexibility to students, as 280 points could also, for example, be achieved through the combination A-B-D, which would not have met the requirements of a B-B-C offer because of the D-grade.

GNVQ = General National Vocational Qualification
Courses and exams in job-related subjects
They are divided into 5 levels
? the lowest is equivalent to GCSEs/SCEs
? the third level to A-levels/”Highers”
GNVQ courses are studied at Colleges of Further Education
But more and more schools are offering them

RAKENDUSLIK
KÕRGHARIDUS
APPLIED HIGHER
EDUCATION
KESKERI
HARIDUS
VOCATIONAL
SECONARY
EDUCATION
KUTSE-
KESKHARIDUS
SECONDARY
VOCATIONAL
EDUCATION

Education beyond 16
At the age of 16, people are free to leave school
There is newfound enthusiasm for continuing education in Britain
About a third still take the option of going straight to work despite the fact that there are not enough unskilled jobs to go round

The sixth form
Those who continue their education, go on to a sixth form (some students need to change schools because there is no sixth form in their school or because it does not teach the desired subjects).
They go to a Sixth-form College or College of Further Education
An increasing number does vocational training courses for particular jobs and careers

What do you think of:
Listing schools according to the results of National examinations?
What do you think of publishing league tables?
What are pros and cons of rating schools according to the results of National examination?

Terminology
Proovieksam ? a mock exam / a trial exam
CURRICULUM ? the subjects that are taught by a school, college etc, or the things that are studied in a particular subject, õppekava
SYLLABUS ? a plan that states exactly what students at a school or college should learn in a particular subject, ainekava

Terminology ? different schools
PÕHIKOOL
BASIC SCHOOL
KESKKOOL
SECONDARY SCHOOL
ÜLIKOOL
ALGKOOL
PRIMARY SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY
KUTSEKOOL
VOCATIONAL SCHOOL

UNIVERSITIES

Universities in Britain
The independence of Britain’s educational institutions is most noticeable in universities.
They make their own choices of who to accept on their courses.
Universities normally select students on the basis of A-level results and interview.
However, there is nothing to stop a university accepting a student who has no A-levels and conversely, a student with top grades in several A-levels is not guaranteed a place.

The availability of higher education has increased
Finding a university is not easy because universities accept better students.
Nearly all university students complete their studies and in a very short time too, due to the relatively high degree of personal supervision of students (which the low ratio of students to staff allows).
The studies vary from 3 to 4 years (modern languages and certain vocational training)

Another reason for the low drop-out is that “full-time” means full-time. The majority of students live “on campus” (Oxbridge ? “in college”) to be surrounded by a university atmosphere.
However, the expansion of higher education means more students and more students means more expense for the state.
The solution is to abolish the student grant, which covered most of a student’s expenses during the thirty-week teaching year.

Most people have to pay fees as well.
As a result many students cannot afford to live away from home.
In addition more than a third of students now have part-time jobs, which means less time for their studies.
The increase in the number of students without increase in budget has resulted in the student/staff ratio getting higher.
All of that threatens to reduce the traditionally high quality of British university education.

Types of universities
There is no important official or legal distinction between various types of university in the country. But it is possible to discern a few broad categories.

Oxbridge
The name denotes the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, both founded in the medieval period.
They are federations of semi-independent colleges, each college having its own staff, known as “Fellows”.
Most colleges have their own dining hall, library and chapel and contain enough accommodation for at least half of their students.

The Fellows teach the college students, either one-to-one or in very small groups (known as “tutorials” in Oxford and “supervisions” in Cambridge).
Oxbridge has the lowest student/staff ratio in Britain.
Lectures and laboratory work are organised at university level.
Before 1970 all Oxbridge colleges were single-sex, now the majority admit both sexes.

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY

Photograph of Cambridge colleges seen from St Johns College Chapel

OXFORD UNIVERSITY

The old Scottish universtities
By 1600 Scotland had four major universities: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews.
The last resembles Oxbridge in many ways, while the other three are more like civic universities in that most of the students live at home or find their own rooms in town.
At all of them the pattern of study is closer to the continental tradition than to the English one – there is less specialisation than at Oxbridge.

GLASGOW UNIVERSITY

The early 19th century English universities
Durham University was founded in 1832.
Its collegiate living arrangements are similar to Oxbridge, but academic matters are organised at university level.
The University of London started in 1836 with just 2 colleges. Many more have joined since, scattered around the city, so that each college (most are non-residential) is almost a separate university.

The older civic (“redbrick”) universities
During the 19th century various institutes of higher education, usually with a technical bias, sprang up in the new industrial towns, e.g. Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds.
Their buildings were of local material, often brick, in contrast to the stone of older universities.
They catered only for local people. In the mid 20th century they started to accept students from all over the country.
They prepared students for London University degrees, but later were given the right to award their own degrees.

MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY

The campus universities
These are purpose-built institutions located in the countryside but close to towns.
East-Anglia, Lancaster, Sussex and Warwick.
They have accommodation for most of their students on site and from their beginning (1960s) accepted students from all over the country.
They emphasise relatively “new” academic disciplines such as social sciences.
They make greater use than other universities of teaching in small groups, known as “seminars”.

WARWICK UNIVERSITY, a campus university

The Open University
It was started in 1969 in Britain
It allows people who do not have the opportunity to be ordinary “students” to study for a degree.
Its courses are taught through television, radio, and specially written courses.
Its students work with tutors, to whom they send their written work and with whom they then discuss it, either at meeting or through correspondence.
In summer, they have to attend short courses of about a week.

Degree
DEGREE is a qualification from a university.
Other qualifications obtained after secondary education are called “certificate” or “diploma”
Students studying for a first degree are called UNDERGRADUATES
When they are awarded a degree, they are known as GRADUATES

Bachelor’s Degree
The general name for a first degree, most commonly:
BA (= Bachelor of Arts) or
BSc (= Bachelor of Science)

Master’s Degree
The general name for a second (POSTGRADUATE) degree, most commonly:
MA (Master of Arts) or
MSc (Master of Science).
At Scottish universtities these titles are used for first degrees

Doctorate
The highest academic qualification.
This usually carries title PhD (=Doctorate of Philosophy).
The time taken to complete a doctorate varies, but it is generally expected to involve three/four years of more-or-less full-time study.