State schools are absolutely free (including all textbooks and exercise books) and generally co-educational.
Under the new NC a greater emphasis at the secondary level is laid on science and technology. Accordingly, ten subjects have to be studied: English, history, geography, mathematics, science, a modern foreign language (at secondary level), technology (including design), music, art, and physical education. For special attention there were chosen three of these subjects (called‘core subjects’): English, science, mathematics, and seven other subjects are called ‘foundation or statutory subjects’. Besides, subjects are grouped into departments and teachers work in teams and to plan work.
Most common departments are:
-Humanities Department: geography, history, economics, English literature, drama, PE, social science;
-Science Departments: chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics;
-Language Department: German, French, English;
-Craft Design and Technology Department: information and communications technology, computing, home economics, and photography.
The latter (often as CTD) brings together the practical subjects like cooking, woodwork, sewing and metalwork with the new technology used in those fields. Students can design a T-shirt on computer using graphics software and make-up the T-shirt design. Students can also look at way to market their product, thus linking all disciplines. This subject area exemplifies the process approach to learning introduced by the NC.
It is worth mentioning here the growing importance of PSE (Personal and Social Education). Since the 1970s there has been an emphasis on ‘pastoral’ care, i. e. education in areas related to life skills such as health (this includes looking at drug, discussing physical changes related to poverty, sex education and relationships). There are usually one or two lessons a week, from primary school through to sixth form, and they are an essential part of the school’s aim to prepare students to life in society.
Education in Britain is not solely concentrated on academic study. Great value is placed on visits and activities like organizing the school club or field trips, which are educational in a more general sense. The organization of these activities by teachers is very much taken for granted in the British school system. Some teachers give up their free time, evenings and weekends to do this ‘unpaid’ work. At Christmas teachers organised concerts, parties and general festivities. It is also considered a good thing to be ‘seen’ to be doing this extra work since it is fairly essential for securing promotion in the school hierarchy.
Classes of pupils are called ‘forms’ (though it has recently become common to refer to ‘years’) and are numbered from one to six, beginning with first form. Nearly all schools work a five-day week, and are closed on Saturdays. The day starts at or just before nine o’clock and finishes between three and four. The lunch break usually lasts about an hour-and-a-quarter. Nearly two-thirds of pupils have lunch provided by the school. Parents pay for this, except for the 15 per cent who are rated poor enough and have it for free. Other children either go home for lunch or take sandwiches.
Schools usually divide their year into three ‘terms’, starting at the beginning of September:
| Autumn term | Christmas holiday (about 2 weeks) | Springterm | Easter holiday (about 2 weeks) | Summer term | Summer holiday (about 6 weeks) |
Passage from one year to the next one is automatic. At the age of 14 pupils are tested in English, maths and science, as well as in statutory subjects. At that same age, in the 3rd or 4th form pupils begin to choose their exam subjects and work for two years to prepare for their GCSE qualifications. The exams are usually taken in the 5th form at the age of 16, which is a school-leaving age. The GCSE can be taken in a range of subjects (usually five in number). The actual written exams are set by independent Examination Boards, and are marker anonymously by outside examiners, but they must be approved by the government and comply with national guidelines. There are several examination boards in Britain and each school decided which board’s exam its pupils take. Most exams last for two hours, marks are given for each exam separately and are graded from A to G (grades A, B, C are considered to be ‘good’ marks).
16 is an important age for school-leavers because they have to make key decisions as to their future lives and careers. There is a number of choices for them.
The government has stated that all young people should have access to high-quality education and training after the age of 16. Young people have two routes they that can follow – one based on school and college education, and the other on work-based learning.
About 70% of pupils choose to continue full-time education after 16. Broadly speaking, education after 16 is divided into further and higher education. Further (and adult) education is largely vocational and covers up to and including GCE A-level and AC qualifications, General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQ) A-level. Higher education covers advanced courses higher than GCE A-level or equivalent.
Those wishing to go on to higher education stay for two years more into the Sixth form (17 year-olds in the Lower Sixth and 18 year-olds in the Upper Sixth). If their schools do not have the sixth form or do not teach the desired subjects pupils may choose to go to a Sixth Form College. The pupils then concentrate in two or three subjects, in which they take the GCE A-level examination. Good passes are now essential because the competition for places in the universities and other colleges has become much stiffer. The number of subjects taken at A-level varies between one and four, although three are usually required for entry into higher education. The concentration is upon a few subjects a high degree of early specialization in the British system.
Since 1988 there has been introduced a new level of examination: the AS exam, which is worth half an A-level and usually, involves one year’s study. This means that if pupils wish to study more than two or three subjects in the sixth form they can take a combination of ‘A’ and AS’ levels. A-level arts student, for example, can still study science subjects at AS-level.
Some young people want to stay in schools for the period between 16 and 18, not just to do academic work but also get ready for examinations that lead to professional training or vocational qualifications (and because the general level of unemployment is now high).
To the end of September 1992 there were introduced the GNVQ. They are mainly undertaken by young people in full-time education between the ages of 16 and 18 and focus on vocational skills such as business and finance, information and technology. There are three GNVQ levels – Advanced, Intermediate and Foundation. An Advanced GNVQ requires a level of achievement broadly equal to two GCE A-levels. Most commonly the GNVQ’s courses are studied at CFE but more and more schools are also offering them.
| The following five levels of NVQs have been established:Level 1 – Foundation;Level 2 – Basic craft;Level 3 – Technical, advanced craft, supervisor;Level 4 – Higher technical, junior management;Level 5 – Professional, middle management. |
There are also job-specific National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs).
These are the awards, which recognize work-related skills and knowledge and provide a path for lifelong learning. They are prepared by industry and commerce, including representatives from trade unions and professional bodies.
NVQs are based on national standards of competence and can be achieved levels from 1 to 5.
With Britain’s new enthusiasm for continuing education, far fewer 16 years-olds go straight out and look for a job than used to. About a third of them still take this option, however. The importance of creating a ‘gap’ in their education is ever appealing to young people in Britain today. Experience outside classroom is also valued since it demonstrates maturity and a willingness to be independent.
The first step for young people entering the job market is their local Jobcentre or careers office. Some school careers advisors teach such skills as filling out a curriculum vitae or writing letters applying for jobs, which is a problem for many young people. Youth workers of Youth Service organizations also can give advice and counseling. A large number 16 and 17 years-olds enter. Youth Training Programmes established by the government as a means of helping young people to gain vocational experience. The government guarantees a place on the scheme to everybody under 18 who is not in full-time education or in work. Such programmes covera wide range of vocational skills from hairdressing to engineering.
To sum up, average pupils usually attempt six or seven subjects, and the basic subjects required for jobs and further education are English, mathematics, science and foreign language. Good GCSE results will qualify pupils for a range of jobs, and for entry to further education if desired. GCE A-level examinations are normally associated with more academic children, who are aiming to entry higher education or to get professions. The dispersion of all 16-17 years olds in Britain in 1990 was following:
-36% were at schools or colleges;
-49% were working (employment) or seeking work;
-15% were in Youth Training placements.
§5. Higher education.
As has been mentioned above, there is a considerable enthusiasm for post-school education in Britain. The aim of the government is to increase the number of students who enter into higher education. The driving force for this has been mainly economic. It is assumed that the more people who study at degree level, the more likely the country is to succeed economically. A large proportion of young people – about a third in England and Wales and almost half in Scotland – continue in education at a more A-level beyond the age of 18. The higher education sector provides a variety of courses up to degree and postgraduate degree level, and careers out research. It increasingly caters for older students; over 50% of students in 1999 were aged 25 and over and many studied part-time. Nearly every university offers access and foundation courses before enrolment on a course of higher education of prospective students who do not have the standard entry qualifications.
Higher education in Britain is traditionally associated with universities, though education of University standard is also given in other institutions such as colleges and institutes of higher education, which have the power to award their own degrees.
The only exception to state universities is the small University of Buckingham which concentrates on law, and which draws most of its students of overseas.
All universities in England and Wales are state universities (this includes Oxford and Cambridge).
English universities can be broadly classified into three types. First come the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge that date from the 12th century and that until 1828 were virtually the only English universities.
Oxford and Cambridge are composed of semi-independent colleges, each college having its own staff, know 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 students, either one-to-one or in very small groups (called ‘tutorials’ in Oxford and ‘supervision’ in Cambridge), the tutorial method brings the tutor into close and personal contact with the student. Before 1970 all Oxford colleges were single-sex (mostly for men). Now, the majority admits both sexes.
Among other older universities there should be mentioned four Scottish universities, such as St. Andrews (1411), Glasgow (1450), Aberdeen (1494), and Edinburgh (1583). The first of these, being the oldest one, resembles Oxbridge in many ways, while the other three follow the pattern of more modern universities in that the students live at home or find their own rooms in town. At all of them teaching is organized along the lines of the continental traditions – there is less specialization than at Oxford.
The second group of universities comprises various institutions of higher education, usually with technical study, that by 1900 had sprang up in new industrial towns and cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Leeds. They got to be know as civic or ‘redbrick’ universities. Their buildings were made of local material, often brick, in contrast to the stone of older universities, hence the name, ‘redbrick’. These universities catered mostly for local people. At first they prepared students for London University degree, but later they were given the right to award their own degrees, and so became universities themselves. In the mid-20th century they started to accept students from all over the country.
The third group consists of new universities founded after the Second World War and later in the 1960s, which saw considerable expansion in new universities. These are purpose-built institutions located in the countryside but close to towns. Examples are East Anglia, Sussex and Warwick. From their beginning they attracted students from all over the country, and provided accommodation for most of their students in site (hence their name, ‘campus’ universities). They tend to emphasise relatively ‘new’ academic disciplines such as social science and make greater use than other universities of teaching in small groups, often known as ‘seminars’.
Among this group there are also universities often called ‘never civic’ universities. These were originally technical colleges set up by local authorities in the first half of this century. Their upgrading to university status took place in two waves. The first wave occurred in the mid-1960s, when ten of them were promoted in this way.
Another thirty became ‘polytechnics’, in the early 1970s, which meant that along with their former courses they were allowed to teach degree courses (the degrees being awarded by a national body). Polytechnics were originally expected to offer a broader-based, more practical and vocational education than the universities. In the early 1990s most of the polytechnics became universities. So there are now 80 universities and a further 19 colleges and institutions of higher education in the UK. The country has moved rapidly from a rather elitist system to one which is much more open, if not yet a mass system of higher education.
Higher education in England and Wales is highly selective; i.e. entrance to British universities is via a strict selection process is based on an interview. Applications for first degree courses are usually made through the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS), in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. After the interview a potential student is offered a place on the basis of GCE A-level exam results. If the student does not get the grades specified in the offer, a place can not be taken up. Some universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, have an entrance exam before the interview stage.
This kind of selection procedure means that not everyone in Britain with A-level qualifications will be offered the chance of a university education. Critics argue that this creates an elitist system with the academic minority in society whilst supporters of the system argue that this enables Britain to get high-quality graduates who have specialized skills. The current system will be modified by the late 90s and into the 21st century, since secondary system is moving towards a broader-based education to replace the specialized ‘A’ level approach. The reasons for this lie in Britain’s need to have a highly skilled and educated workforce, not just an elite few, to meet the needs of the technological era.
The independence of Britain’s educational institutions is most noticeable in universities. They make their own choices of who to accept on their courses and normally do this on the basis of a student’s A-level results and an interview. Those with better exam grades are more likely to be accepted. Virtually all degree courses last three years, however there are some four-year courses and medical and veterinary courses last five or six years. The British University year is divided into three terms, roughly eight to ten weeks each. The terms are crowded with activity and the vacations between the terms – a month at Christmas, a month at Easter, and three or four months in summer – are mainly periods of intellectual digestion and private study.
The courses are also ‘full-time’ which really means full-time: the students are not supposed to take a lob during term time. Unless their parents are rich, they receive a state grant of money, which covers most of their expenses including the cost of accommodation. Grants and loans are intended to create opportunities for equality in education. A grants system was set up to support students through university. Grants are paid by the LEA on the basis of parental income. In the late 80s (the Conservative) government decided to stop to increase these grants, which were previously linked to inflation. Instead, students were able to borrow money in the form of a low-interest loan, which then had to be paid back after their course had finished. Critics argue that students from less affluent families had to think twice before entering the course, and that this worsened the trend which saw a 33% drop in working-class student numbers in the 1980s.