Education in great Britain

Ø 1) Read the text and find the information about:

a) who decides the questions of education in towns and districts,

b) the structure of the state education in England,

c) vocational subjects,

d) primary school,

e) who takes “A” level examinations,

f) subsidized courses in vocational subjects.

Great Britain doesn’t have a written constitution, so there are no constitutional provisions for education. The system of education is determined by the National Education Acts. Schools in England are supported from public funds paid to the local education authorities. These local education authorities are responsible for organizing the schools in their areas. If we outline the basic features of public education in Britain, firstly we’ll see that in spite of most educational purposes England and Wales are treated as one unit, though the system in Wales is different from that of England. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own education systems.

Education in Britain mirrors the country’s social system: it’s class-divided and selected. The first division is between those who do and who don’t pay. The majority of schools in Britain are supported by public funds and the education provided is free. There are supported schools, but there are also a considerable number of public schools. Most pupils go to schools which offer free education, although fee-paying independent schools also have an important role to play.

Another important feature of schooling in Britain is the variety of opportunities offered to schoolchildren. The English school syllabus is divided into Arts (or Humanities) and Sciences which determine the division of the secondary school pupils into study groups: a science pupil will study Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Economics, Technical Drawing, Biology, Geography; an Art pupil will do the English Language and Literature, History, foreign languages, Music, Art, Drama. Besides these subjects they must do some general education subjects like PE, Home Economics for girls, and technical subjects for girls, General Science. Computers play an important part in education.

The system of options exists in all kinds of secondary schools. The national Education Act in 1944 provided 3 stages of education: primary, secondary and further education. Everybody has a right to a school place for a child aged from 5 to 16, and to a college place for him or her from 16 to 18. These places are provided free of charge. Everybody has a duty to make sure that the child goes to school until he or she is 16, that means that education is compulsory from age 5 to 16 (11 years in whole). There’s no law which provides for education on the under fives. In England about 47% of three- and four-year-olds receive education in nursery schools or classes. In addition many children attend informal pre-school play groups organized by parents and voluntary bodies.

In 1944 The National Curriculum was introduced. It sets out in detail the subjects that children should study and the levels of achievement they should reach by the ages of 7, 11, 14 and 16, when they are tested. The tests are designed to be easier for teachers to manage than they were in the past. Most pupils will also be entered for General Certificate of the Secondary Education (GCSEs) or other public examinations, including vocational qualifications if they are 16. Until that year headmasters and headmistresses of schools were given a great deal of freedom in deciding what subjects to teach and how to do it in their schools so that there was really no central control at all over individual schools. The National Curriculum does not apply in Scotland, where each school decides what subject it will teach. The child is taught the subjects he or she must study under the National Curriculum. These are English, Math, Science (the core subjects), Technology, a foreign language in secondary schools, as it was mentioned, PE, History, Geography, Art, Music. The last four ones are not compulsory after the age of 14. But the child should be given religious education unless the parents decide otherwise.

According to The National Curriculum schools are allowed to introduce a fast stream for bright children. Actually after young people reach 16 they have 4 main “roads” of their next life: they can leave the school, stay at school, move to a college as a full time student, combine part-time study with a job, perhaps through the Youth Training programme. School-leavers without jobs get no money from the government unless they join a youth training scheme, which provides a living allowance during 2 years of work experience. But a growing number of school students are staying on at school, some until 18 or 19, the age of entry into higher education or universities, Polytechnics or colleges. Schools in Britain provide careers guidance. A specially trained person called careers advisor, or careers officer helps school students to decide what job they want to do and how they can achieve that.

Now let us talk about the exams the young people in Britain take during their process of education. Since 1988, most sixteen-year-olds have taken the GCSE in 5, 10 or even 15 subjects. Pupils going on to higher education or professional training usually take “A” level examinations in two or three subjects. These require two more years of study after GSCE, either in the sixth form of a secondary school, or in a separate 6-form college. Others may choose vocational subjects (catering, tourism, secretariat, building skills). Subsidized courses in these subjects are run at colleges of further education.

This chart will explain to you how state education is organized in England. In each town or district, the system is decided by the local education authority and so it can vary, but this is the usual system.

Ø 2) Answer the questions:

a) What does the abbreviation GSCE mean?

b) How many years of compulsory education do people in England have?

c) What educational establishments refer to higher education in England?

d) Is there any kind of education before primary school?