Unit Twenty The System of Education in Great Britain

The Education system in Great Britain is a divided one. It is class divided and selective. The first division is between those who pay and those who do not pay; the second, between those selected for an intellectual training and those not so selected.

There are 5 stages of education: nursery, primary, secondary, higher and further education. The years of compulsory schooling are from five to fifteen. There are state and private schools in Great Britain. The state schools provide the education free of charge but private schools are not free. The parents have to pay fees and these fees are very high at private schools. 80% of pupils are at state schools.

Pre-school Education is provided in nursery schools and nursery classes for children from the age of 2 to 5 years /under-fives/.

Primary schools consist of the infant schools and the junior schools. At infant school children aged 5-7 in the form of games learn the 3 R's: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. It is learning through ex­perience. Children sit at the tables that are grouped into 6 or 8 places. Much of the time is devoted to play­ing, drawing, painting and music. At 7 teachers measure children's progress in each subject.

The junior school is for children aged 7 to 11. Most junior schools carry out a policy of streaming: A - for the cleverest, B - for the next in ability, and C - satisfactory. A typical classroom is divided into "ar­eas" for different activities. The children can work alone or in-groups under the guidance of the teacher. Pupils must know their multiplication tables, do basic algebra, and square and cubed roots.

At the age of 11 pupils pass the Eleven-Plus Examination / now - an assessment test/ of three papers: English, Arithmetic and Intelligence Test. About 25 % of children win places at the grammar school, which opens the way to the University. The other 75% will go to a secondary modern school. They prepare pupils for non-professional occupation.

State Secondary schools for children aged 11-16 fall into: secondary modern, grammar and comprehensive. Grammar Schools give the General Certificate of Secondary Education /GCSE/ of two levels О /Ordinary/ and A /Advanced/. The GCSE-O marks the end of school career and a start of some white-collar profession. A small number of pupils remain at school until they are 18 to pass to sit for the GCSE-A, which is required by most universities.

Secondary Modern Schools concentrate on practical work. Boys are instructed in metal and woodwork, girls - in domestic science and cooking. The children leave this school at 15 with a certificate or Written Evidence of their studies.

Comprehensive Schools provide secondary education for all children of the district irrespective of their intelligence. Over 90% of the state secondary school population in England and Wales go to compre­hensive schools. The comprehensive system aims to develop the gifts of all children to the full. These schools are usually very large. At 14 children have to take an assessment test. At 16 they take exams for the GCSE /English, French and Maths or the GNVQ - General National Vocational Qualifications /design, business and tourism/. At 18 pupils can take "A"-level examinations or "AS" /half of the content of A-level/.

Independent Schools provide education of the grammar school type and are completely independent of local authorities. They receive a grant-in-aid from the Ministry of Education. They include the preparatory schools /"prep"/ and public schools /for boys and girls over 13/.

About 7% of pupils go to independent schools. Parents pay fees. Most of the schools are for boys. They live in separate houses. A house has about 50 boys under the care of housemaster and his wife. Much attention is paid to sport. "Fagging" is a public school custom in which the preps act as servants of the older boys. Eaton and Harrow are the most famous of the public schools for boys and Cheltenham Ladies' College for girls. Nearly all the men holding leading position in Great Britain were educated at public schools.

In 1993, the government introduced a new type of secondary school called the City Technology College. They are in cities and concentrate on teaching science and technology.

There are also a small number of specialist independent schools - including theatre, ballet, and choir schools. There are over 1200 special schools in England for children who have learning disabilities or behavioural problems.