The British Higher Education

There are over a million students in the British higher education. The Government aims to have widened access to the point where 1 in 3 young people goes into higher education. All Britain’s universities enjoy complete academic freedom. They appoint their own staff and decide what and how to teach.

The tradition of excellence dates back to the Middle Ages when Oxford and Cambridge Universities were founded. The rest of Britain’s 47 universities were set up in the last 200 years. First degree courses usually last 3 or 4 years. The Open University is a little different, because it relies on distance-learning.

England and Wales’s 34 polytechnics tend to be more vocationally-oriented than universities. Many polytechnics have close links with business.

At university or polytechnic people study for a degree. In general, the first degree is awarded after 3-4 year study and success in examination. It is Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Arts (B.Sc. or B.A. in short). If the graduate is awarded Honours it means his or her degree is of a higher standard than ordinary pass. After another year or two of study and second degree, an M.A. (Master of Arts) or M.Sc. (Master of Sciences) is obtained.

Finally, if they undertake research work and produce a thesis, after another few years, they can receive the third, highest level degree, the Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy).

Americans and Higher Education

Americans have shown a great concern for education since colonial times. Among the first settlers there was an unusual high proportion of educated men. Some of these men, graduates of Cambridge, founded Harvard College in 1636.

Today about 60% of all schools graduates enter about 3600 colleges and universities of the USA.

The United States does not have a national system of education. The result of this is a big variety in higher education.

Local high schools will offer courses which they feel best reflect their students’ needs. Students at the same school will be taking courses in different areas.

Education in America has also traditionally served the goal of bringing people together, that is, of “Americanization”. There are bilingual and bicultural education programs. 80 languages are being used for instruction in American high schools.

There are two tests for high school students who wish to attend a college or university. The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) attempts to measure aptitudes in verbal and mathematic fields. The ACT (American College Testing) – in English, mathematics, social and natural sciences. Each year more than 3 million school students take the Tests. They are used by universities as standards for comparison, but are not official.

Scripts studies and degrees in great britain

Courses in sciences are offered by most universities. There are 45 universities in Britain.

Some of them are very old such as Oxford and Cambridge date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Most of the universities were founded in the 19^th or 20^th centuries. They concentrate on technology although they also offer a number of courses in social studies, modern languages and other non-technological subjects. About 45 percent of full-time university in Great Britain are taking arts or social studies courses and 41 percent science and technology; about 10 percent are studying medicine and the remainder agriculture, forestry, veterinary, architecture and country planning.

University degree courses generally extend over three or four years, though in medicine five or six years are required. The first degree in Bachelor is awarded on the competition, depending on satisfactory examination results. Further study or research is required at the modern Universities for the degree of Master. Actual degree titles vary according to the practice of each Universities.

University teaching combines lectures, practical classes (in scientific subjects) and small group teaching in either seminars or tutorials.

Most of members of the academic staffs devote time to research and at all universities there are postgraduate students engaged in research.