School education today

British education today is aimed to realize the potential of all, for the good of the individual and society as whole. All schools of Great Britain are known as state schools (state supported, state maintained) and independent schools (fee-paying schools).

State schools are of three kinds:

1) county schools – the largest group, provided and maintained by Local Education Authorities (LEAS) wholly out of public funds, no fees are charged to parents; they are primary schools (infant and junior), comprehensives, some grammar schools, secondary modern schools, sixth forms.

2) voluntary schools - financially aided and controlled by government but provided by a voluntary body; mostly they are Church of England schools and Roman Catholic schools.

3) direct-grant schools – completely independent of LEAs, receiving grants from the Department of Education and science; these are mainly grammar schools.

School education is divided into three stages: primary, secondary and further education. Study the scheme on the picture 4.1. Compulsory education in Britain begins at the age of 5 but in some areas there are nursery schools for children under 5 years of age. These schools are staffed with teachers and students in training. Children are kept busy from 9 o’clock in the morning till 4 o’clock in the afternoon – while their parents are at work. Here children play, lunch and sleep. The local education authority’s nurseries are free. But only 3 children in 100 can go to them.

Picture 4.1 - System of education of Great Britain

Most children at the age of 5 go to a primary school. There are infant and junior primary schools. At infant schools children are taught reading, writing and arithmetic. Usually there is no written time-table. Much time is spent in modeling from clay or drawing, reading or singing. At the age of 7 they go to junior primary school. There are Arithmetic, Reading, Composition, History, Geography, Nature Study, Art and Music, Physical Education, Swimming. Pupils are divided according to their ability to learn in A, B, C and D stream. The least gifted are in the D stream. Towards the end of the fourth year the pupils write “11+” Examination, a selective procedure on which the pupils’ future and careers depend. (Pupils in comprehensive schools do not pass the 11+ examination).

At the age of 11 pupils go to secondary schools: comprehensive (90% of all state-financed secondary schools); grammar, secondary modern and secondary technical schools. Those who can pay go to public schools.

1. Comprehensive schools were set up in 1965 to give all children the same opportunity in education. 84% of all secondary school pupils attend comprehensive schools. They are non-selective. They can be organized in different ways: by “streaming’ within the school, trying to keep children of similar ability in one class; leaving the children to choose between large number of courses; it can combine two methods. There are up to two thousand pupils in some schools.

2. Grammar schools (from 11 to 18 years old) are the main route to the universities. 3% of all pupils study in grammar schools.

3. Secondary modern schools gives a general education with a practical bias, much time is paid to handicrafts, domestic sciences and other practical activities. “Streaming” is used in such schools: A, D, and C (for children of least academic type).

4. Secondary technical schools (only 2% of all pupils) offer a general education for industry commerce and agriculture.

Education is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 16. All schools are subject to official government inspection and control. Local education authorities (LEAs) finance most schools, they employ teachers and allocate budgets to schools, which include books, teachers’ salaries and cleaning. Every state school has a governing body, responsible for the school’s main policies. It includes teachers, parents, members appointed by LEAs. The British school syllabus is divided into art (or Humanities) and sciences. Science pupils study chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Economics, Technical Drawing, Biology, Geography; Art pupils study English language and Literature, History, foreign languages, Music, Art, Drama. Besides they study Physical Education (PE), Home economics for girls and Technical subjects for boys, General Science, Information Technology (IT), Sex Education (SE), Religious Education (RE). Medical Inspection and free dental treatment for all children attending state schools is provided. Transport between home and school is provided by LEAs. Boys and girls are usually taught together in primary schools. Most of secondary schools are mixed too, but private schools are for boys or girls only. Most pupils in schools wear school uniform, which differ from school to school, usually of blue, grey and black colours. Each school has its system of rewards: medals and prizes for the best pupils. Schools have three terms a year, each with a short midterm break for one week and longer holidays at Christmas, Easter and in the summer. The system of marking in school may be various: in numbers from ten to one; in grades (A, B, C, D, E); in % - the highest is 100%.

There are independent schools in Britain. They are private schools charging tuition fees and are independent of public funds and state educational system but they are open to government control and inspection. There are nursery schools and primary and secondary independent schools. The most important and expensive of them are known as public schools, which are private secondary schools taking boys from age of 13 to 18 years and preparatory schools which are private primary schools preparing pupils for public schools.

Preparatory schools are usually small (for 50-100 children), public schools has about 500 boys (sometimes more, ex. Eton – 1100 pupils). The oldest and the most privileged public schools are: Winchester (1382); Eton (1440); St. Paul’s (1509); Shrewsbury (1552); Westminster (1560); Rugby (1567) and others.

Besides 3 standard assessment tests (at the age of 7,11,14) there are two public examinations (see the picture 4.1): GCSE – General Certificate of Secondary Education- on completion of the compulsory education (at the age of 16) and GCE A level  - General Certificate of Education – on completion of the two voluntary years.

GCSE was introduced in 1989. The pupils must take English Language, Maths and Science.

Pupils taking A-level study traditional subjects such as French, Physics and History. To go to university pupils need two or three A-levels.