Aims, goals, the structure of the British education

The national system of British Education

Aims, goals, the structure of the British education

Preschool education

Primary education

Secondary education

Types of schools.

Public schools

Higher education

Aims, goals, the structure of the British education

The aim of education in general is to develop to the full the talents of both children and adults for their benefit and that of society as a hole. It’s a large-scale investment in the future.

Education in Britain has been a controversial area of national life periodically since 1945, subject to major changes as successive governments have tried to improve it.

The 1940s - 1960s. The 1944 Education Act introduced free compulsory secondary education. Almost all children attended one of two kinds of secondary school. The decision was made on the results obtained in the ‘11 plus’ examination, taken on leaving primary school. At age 11, most pupils took a test called the ‘11 plus’. Those who passed, went on to grammar schools, which offered a predominantly academic education. Those who did not pass went on to secondary modern schools, where the education was more practical. About three quarters of pupils went to ‘secondary modern’ schools where pupils were expected to obtain sufficient education for manual, skilled and clerical employment, but the academic expectations were modest. The remaining quarter, however, went to ‘grammar schools’. Grammar school pupils were expected to go on to university or some other form of higher education. A large number of the ‘grammar’ or ‘high’ schools were single sex. Thus, between 1945 and 1965 secondary education was largely selective.

The 1960s - 1970s. By the 1960s there was increasing criticism of this ‘streaming’ of ability. It was recognized that those who failed the ‘11 plus’ examination might well develop academically later, but through the secondary modern system were denied this opportunity.

The Labour government’s solution was to introduce a new type of school, the ‘comprehensive’, a combination of ‘grammar’ and ‘secondary modem’ under one roof, so that all the children could be continually assessed and given appropriate teaching. Between 1965 and 1980 almost all the old grammar and secondary modem schools were replaced, mainly by co-educational ‘comprehensives’. These are non-selective secondary schools which take all pupils and which offer both academic and practical subjects. 

The ‘comprehensives’ the standard form of secondary education. However, except, among the best comprehensives, they lost the excellence of the old grammar schools. There is still much disagreement about the good and the bad in the comprehensive system, but the good comprehensive schools have shown that the academic and the non-academic children need not be kept apart, and that there are many school and out-of- school activities which they can share - acting, singing, woodwork, cooking and, of course, games. So, boys and girls have the opportunity of making friends with young people from many different backgrounds.

The 1980s: Quality and Diversity. After 1979 the Conservative government tried to encourage a return to some of the old values. It was worried by the poor performance of many pupils. The Education Reform Act (1988) introduced the greatest reforms in schooling since 1944. The main reforms included the introduction of a National Curriculum making certain subjects, most notably science and one modem language, compulsory up to the age of sixteen. Many welcomed the creation of national targets for education. But there was also unease that the compulsory curriculum, taking up over 70 per cent of school time, would squeeze out important wider areas of learning. It also introduced periodic formal assessments of progress, at the ages of seven, eleven, fourteen and sixteen.

The 1990s: Towards a New Century of Excellence. The Government’s vision for the education system of the 21st century is that it will neither be divisive nor based on some lowest common denominator. Diversity, choice and excellence will be its hallmarks in the next century. The essential conditions to achieve excellence and fulfilment of talent — at whatever level — are those of diversity and choice. Talent is not uniform. The education system cannot afford to be uniform either.

The system of education in Britain is not in all parts of the country. It is more or less the sane in England and Wales, but Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own system of education. Britain is a country of classical capitalism and the system of education reflects it entirely. The British educational system is a strongly marked class and divided one. The main division is between state and private education.

The educational system of Great Britain has developed for over a hundred years. It is a complicated system with wide variations between one part of the country and another. Three partners are responsible for the education service: central government - the Department of Education and Science (DES), local education authorities (LEAs), and schools themselves. The legal basis for this partnership is supplied by the 1944 Education Act.

The Department of Education and Science is concerned with the formation of national policies for education. It is responsible for the maintenance of minimum national standard of education. In exercising its functions the DES is assisted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate. The primary functions of the Inspectors are to give professional advice to the Department, local education authorities, schools and colleges, and discuss day-to-day problems with them.

Local education authorities are charged with the provision and day-to-day running of the schools and colleges in their areas and the recruitment and payment of the teachers who work in them. They are responsible for the provision of buildings, materials and equipment. However, the choice of textbooks and timetable are usually left to the headmaster. The content and method of teaching is decided by the individual teacher.

The administrative functions of education in each area are in the hands of a Chief Education Officer who is assisted by a deputy and other education officials.

Until recently planning and organization were not controlled by central government. Each LEA was free to decide how to organize education in its own area. In 1988, however, the National Curriculum was introduced, which means that there is now greater government control over what is taught in schools. The aim was to provide a more balanced education. The new curriculum places greater emphasis on the more practical aspects of education. Skills are being taught which pupils will need for life and work.

The chief elements of the National Curriculum include a broad and balanced framework of study which emphasizes the practical applications of knowledge. It is based around the core subjects of English, mathematics and science (biology, chemistry, etc.) as well as a number of other foundation subjects, including geography, history, technology and modern languages.

The education reform of 1988 also gave all secondary as well as larger primary schools responsibility for managing the major part of their budgets, including costs of staff. Schools received the right to withdraw from local education authority control if they wished,

Together with the National Curriculum, a programme of Records of Achievements was introduced. This programme contains a system of new tests for pupils at the ages of 7, 11, 13 and 16.The aim of these tests is to discover any schools or areas which are not teaching to a high enough standard. But many believe that these tests are unfair because they reflect differences in home background rather than in ability.

The great majority of children (about 9 million) attend Britain’s 30, 500 state schools. No tuition fees are payable in any of them. A further 600, 000 go to 2, 500 private schools, often referred to as “independent sector” where the parents have to pay for their children.

In most primary and secondary state schools boys and girls are taught together. Most independent schools for younger children are also mixed, while the majority of private secondary schools are single-sex.

State schools are almost all day schools, holding classes between Mondays and Fridays. The school year normally begins in early September and continues into the following July. The year is divided into three terms of about 13 weeks each.

Two-thirds of state schools are wholly owned and maintained by LEAs. The remainder are voluntary schools, mostly belonging to the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church. They are also financed by LEAs.

Every state school has its own governing body (a board of governors), consisting of teachers, parents, local politicians, businessmen and members of the local community. Boards of governors are responsible for their school’s main policies, including the recruitment of the staff.

A great role is played by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Practically all parents are automatically members of the PTA and are invited to take part in its many activities. Parental involvement through the PTA and other links between parents and schools is growing. The PTA forms both a social focus for parents and much valued additional resources for the school. Schools place great value on the PTA as a further means of listening to parents and developing the partnership between home and school. A Parent’s Charter published by the Government in 1991 is designed to enable parents to take more informed decisions about their children’s education.

Compulsory education begins at the age of 5 in England, Wales and Scotland, and 4 in Northern Ireland, All pupils must stay at school until the age of 16. About 9 per cent of pupils in state schools remain at school voluntarily until the age of 18.

Education within the state school system comprises either two tiers (stages) - primary and secondary, or three tiers - first schools, middle schools and upper schools.

Nearly all state secondary schools are comprehensive, they embrace pupils from 11 to 18. The word “comprehensive” expresses the idea that the schools in question take all the children in a given area, without selection.