GB.Further education- all post school education.

Young people at 16 have several options: l)stay on at school until 18 to obtain the necessary qualifications for entry to higher education or certain caress, professions. 2)to leave school but to continue full-time education in different further education institutions: the polytechnics, colleges of further education, of technology, of commerce, art, agricultural colleges, drama schools, art schools— All they have links with local industry £ commerce. British universities are independent, autonomous, self-governing institutions created from former polytechnics under the education reform Act 1988 & Further £ Higher education Act 1992. They are financially supported by the state, the Department of Education & Science has no control over their regulations, curriculum, examinations, appointment of staff...

3 groups; l)The Oxford, the Cambridge, the elder Scottish universities of St Andrew, Glasgow. Aberdeen £ Edinburgh. Oxford is older, more philosophical, classical, theological. Cambridge is more scientifically based. Both are like a federation of colleges, dominated British education for 7 hundred years.

2)The universities in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Sheffield. The University of London the largest conventional university, established by the union of 2 colleges; University College £ King's College, has many different faculties & departments.
3)The new universities were founded after the 2nd World War, became popular because of their modern approach to university courses. Keele University(1948), 1961- in East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Lancaster, Sussex, Warwick, York. The traditional faculty structure there has been avoided to prevent overspecialization. Polytechnics are centres for advanced courses in a wide range of subjects, take part-time students & serve as comprehensives of further education, take full-time students- their work is of university level (it's the higher education sector within further education). The Open University(1969) created by the Labour Government to cater for people who hadn't had a chance to enter any other university, those above normal student age(21 & over). No formal academic qualification are required for entry, distance learning. It's a non-residential university, includes work with part-time tutors. The time of staying here is unlimited. Admission to universities is by examination or interviews. Applications are sent to the Universities & Colleges Admission Services(UCAS)- acts as clearing house & info-centre. You can list up to 5 universities or colleges.

13The causes and consequences of the conflicts and divisions in Northern Ireland.
The problem of Northern Ireland is closely connected with religion because the Irish people can be divided into 2 religious groups: Catholic and Protestants. At the same time it as clear that the lighting between these 2 groups is closely connected with the colonial past, in 1169 Henry 2 of England started an invasion of Ireland. Although a large part of Ireland came under the control of the invaders, there wasn't much direct control from England during the middle ages. In the 16th century Henry 6 of England quarreled with Rome and declared himself Head of the Anglican church, which was a protestant church. Ireland remained Catholic, and didn't accept the change. Henry 8 tried to force them to become Anglican. He also punished them by taking most of their land. This policy was continued by Elizabeth I. But the Irish Catholics never gave up their struggle for independence and their rights. At the end of the 18th century there was a mass rising against the English colonizers which was crushed by the English army and in 1801 a forced union was established with Britain. All through the 19th century the " Irish question" remained in the centre of British polities. After a long and bitter struggle the southern part of Ireland finally became a free State in l921. Ulster where the protestants were in majority remained part of the UK. The Irish free State declared itself a Republic in 1949 and is known as the Irish republic of Eire. It is completely independent and its capital is Dublin. Northern Ireland had its own Parliament at Stormont in Belfast and government which was responsible for its province's life. But from the beginning the parliament was in the hands of Protestants while the Catholics didn't have equal rights with the Protestants. In 1969.conflict started between these 2 groups and so the British government closed the local parliament

and sent in die British army to keep the peace. But there were no peace. On he Catholic side is the Irish Republic Army which wants to achieve a united reland by terrorism and bombings. On the Protestant side there are also secret terrorist organizations.

The Northern Ireland Assembly of 108 members was restored in 1998. Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly were held in November 2003.However many difficulties still exist' to make this local parliament a workable body because of the confrontation between the parties representing the Protestant and Catholic communities. The Northern Ireland Assembly was established as part of the Belfast Agreement and meets in Parliament Buildings. The Assembly is the prime source of authority for all devolved responsibilities and has full legislative and executive authority. Elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly took place on the 7th March 2007 and the Northern Ireland Assembly was restored on the 8th of May 2007.

14 Great Britain has a Parliamentary government based on the party system. When the political parties began to form in the 18" century certain distinguished persons emerged as leaders. Before the 17th century, there were rival groups of nobles who might struggle for power, as in the WARS OF THE ROSES(1455-85) and there were representatives of different religious principles, but there were no political parties in the modern sense. During the Civil war 1640-1660} the division between the aristocratic supporters of the Anglican Church who fought for the King, and the middle-class Puritans who took the side of Parliament, reflected a difference in religious and political principles, as well as economic interests which prepared the way for future party distinctions. In the 19'' century the two-party svstem reached its solid modern form. By the 20" century the two parties were the CONSERVATIVES and THE LIBERALS, direct descendants of the Tory and Whig Parties. The principal source and philosophy of the LABOUR Party was the FABIAN society, formed in 1884, though the party itself was founded much later. The group was led by such intellectuals as Bernard Shaw and Sydney Webb The Fabians opposed the doctrine of class warfare and substituted evolution for revolution. The LABOUR Party adopted this doctrine. The LABOUR PARTY was founded in 1906. After the 1world war it proclaimed its socialist ideas, its socialist programme called for nationalization, equalities of wealth. Today the LABOUR PARTY advocates a mixed programme based on the platform of social-democratic reformism. It has abandoned nationalization and may be regarded as a party centre to the left. In 1997, 2001 and 2005 it won three consecutive general elections thus becoming a party of government with Tony Blair, its leader, becoming prime Minister. Membership of the party is also mixed, though the majority are members of trade unions. Despite the domination of the industrial workers the influence of the middle- and upper-class members of the party shouldn't be underestimated. THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY is the other chief party, it was officially formed in 1867 on the basis of political groups of the English landed aristocracy. In the course of its long existence it has inherited or adopted both political beliefs and political interests. One of the most important things it has accepted are the teachings of John Locke about government and about property. Locke taught that men naturally possess certain weighty rights, the chief being life, liberty and property. One of the characteristic concepts of the CONSERVATIVES is that the state must protect property; and that private property widely distributed is the best solution for society. The modern TORY concept of democracy includes social and economic reform, government responsibility for health, education and social security, and a certain measure of economic planning. THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY has no official permanent programme. Before the general election the party issues a pre-election manifesto which states the main aspects of the home and foreign policies of the future Conservative government if the party wins the election. The members of the CONSERVATIVE PARTY come from various groups, although they are not easy to distinguish. Among them there are the country aristocracy consisting of big landowners, smaller farmers and businessmen in small towns and cities. There are also many working-class people who vote for CONSERVATIVE candidates because they believe in social reform.

As a result of the split in the LABOUR PARTY in 1981 a new party was formed, the SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY. The two parties acted together in one block in the elections of 1983 and 1987. In 1988 these two parties finally merged together under the name the SOCIAL-LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY or simply THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS, which is the third most important political party in the country, though not as influential as each of the two noted above. The new party takes a centrist stand in the political life of the country. Its political platform remains vague, it reflects a diversity of views of the members of the two former parties. In the political system of Great Britain the LIBERAL DEMOCRATS occupy an intermediate position between the LABOUR and THE CONSERVATIVE parties and advocate social reforms. The social basis of the party is formed of the middle class intellectuals. THERE ARE A NUMBER OF MINOR PARTIES in Great Britain: the SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY, THE WELSH NATIONAL PARTY. There are several political parties in NORTHERN IRELAND: THE ULSTER UNIONISTS (PROTESTANT and LOYALIST-loyal to London). THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC and LABOUR PARTY (catholic), The Ulster Democratic Unionists(Protestant Loyalists), the SINN FEIN (Irish for " We ourselves", catholic).