Unit 13

Topic: British education

I. Read and remember the following words and word-combinations:

comprehensive system – єдина середня система освіти

comprehensive school – загальноосвітня школа

policy – політика

Local Education Authority – місцеві органи народної освіти

grammar school – середня класична школа (для дітей старше 11 років, відібраних за

результатами іспитів; дає право на вступ у ВНЗ)

secondary modern school – середня сучасна школа (для дітей від 11 до 16 років; має

практичний напрямок; програма не передбачає вивчення класичних мов)

private (independent) system – приватна (незалежна) система

preparatory school – приватна початкова школа

public school – привілейована приватна середня школа

to remain – залишатися

boarding school - пансіон (закритий навчальний заклад)

General Certificate of Secondary Education – іспит на отримання атестату про загальну

середню освіту

II. Read and translate the following text:

There are many different types of schools in Britain. However, there are only three main systems:

The comprehensive system. More than 90% of children, who attend state schools in England and Wales, go to schools in the comprehensive system – a system, introduced in the 1960s. Children go to a primary (or first) school at the age of five. Depending on the policy of the Local Education Authority, they may go directly to the upper school – usually called the comprehensive school – at the age of eleven. Alternatively, they may go to a middle school for three or four years before going to the upper school. The comprehensive system is non-selective. This means that all children go from one school to another, without taking any exams and without being selected according to their abilities.

The selective system. In some areas of Britain you can still find a different and older system of education (introduced in 1944). This is a selective system – children are selected for certain schools according to their abilities. All children go to a primary school until the age of eleven. Then they take an examination, called the 11-plus. Those who are successful go to a grammar school, where they receive a more academic education. Those who fail the exam go to a secondary modern school, where they receive an education which is less academic and more intended to train them for a job, when they leave at the age of sixteen.

The private (independent) system. About 7% of children go to private schools. There are two levels of a private school – primary schools (age four to eight) and preparatory (prep) schools (eight to thirteen). At the age of thirteen children take an examination. If they pass, they go on to public school, where they usually remain until they are eighteen. Many prep and most public schools are boarding schools – the children live at the school during the school terms. Be careful – although these schools are called “public”, they are, in fact, private and it can be very expensive to send your child to such a school.

Within the three systems, there are several varieties of schools. For instance, you can find:

- schools for boys only;

- schools for girls only;

- mixed schools – for boys and girls;

- voluntary schools – often with a religious background – such as Roman Catholic schools.

You can see that the British education system is rather confusing.

The public examinations, taken by British schoolchildren, are GCSEs (the General Certificate of Secondary Education). Pupils usually take their GCSEs at the age of sixteen. Some children take three or four exams, others take as many as ten or eleven.