Modern educational system.
Nowadays in Britain there is not one school system but two. The great majority of children go to state school, but for pupils whose parents can pay for an expensive education there are schools that are privately owned and controlled.
Compulsory education begins at the age of 5 in England, Wales and Scotland, and at the age of 4 in Northern Ireland. All pupils must stay at school until the age of 16. About 9 per cent of pupils in state schools remain at school voluntarily until the age of 18.
Education within the state school system comprises either two tiers (stages) – primary and secondary, or three tiers – first schools, middle schools and upper schools.
4% of all three-year-olds and all four-year-olds go to nursery school. There are few state nursery schools, many private ones and an increasing number of playground run by parents and helpers.
Nearly all state secondary schools are comprehensive, they embrace pupils from 11 to 18. The word “comprehensive” expresses the idea that the schools in question take all children in a given area without, selection.
Comprehensive schools were introduced more then thirty years ago. Pupils go to them automatically, regardless of intelligence. However, some comprehensives and many secondary schools do not have the full range of academic courses for six-formers. Pupils can transfer either to a grammar school or to a six-form college to get courses they want.
Most children work through the system of infant‚ junior and secondary schools, but the system of first, middle and upper schools is slowly spreading. Infant and junior schools are normally within the same school buildings.
(16+)Both state schools and independent schools take the GCSE examinations, which generally mark the end of compulsory education. Above school leaving age, the independent and state sectors are similarly structured. In the 16-18 age group, "sixth-form" education is not compulsory.
After school students typically study in either the Sixth Form of a School, a Sixth form college, or a further education college. These courses can also be studied by adults over 18. This sector is referred to as Further Education. All 16-18 students are encouraged (this is only mandatory in some institutions) to study Key Skills in Communication, Application of Number and Information Technology.
Conclusion
Most schools came under the state control in Victorian era. The basis of the present state school system was instituted after the Second World War. Initially schools were separated into primary schools (infant schools age 5 to 7 and junior school age 7 to 11), and secondary schools (split into more academic grammar schools and more vocational secondary modern schools).