Choir School
A preparatory school or public school attached to a church, cathedral or chapel (especially that of a college at Oxford University or Cambridge University), in which certain pupil, apart from receiving a normal school education, are trained to sing in the choir of the church, cathedral or chapel. Compare cathedral school.
College
An independent institution of higher education within a university, typically one at Oxford University or Cambridge University. 2. A specialized professional institution of secondary or higher education, such as a college of music or a college of education. 3. The official title of certain public schools, such as Eton College. 4. The building or buildings or any of these.
Comprehensive school
A large state secondary school for children of all abilities within a single district, offering a wide (‘comprehensive’) education. About 90% of all secondary school students attend a comprehensive school. Compare grammar school, secondary modern school, technical school.
Community school
A secondary school with facilities available to the general public as well as its own students. Community schools open for longer hours in term time, and are usually open in the holidays. Thus, in most community schools, adults and children work and learn together.
Correspondence College
A college that prepares students for examination by means of correspondence, the student working at home and sending his work to the college by post for assessment and return.
County school
A state school provided and maintained in a county by the LEA. Compare voluntary school.
The eleven-plus
An examination for entrance to secondary school taken by children aged about 11 at the end of their time at primary school. It was formerly widespread, but became obsolete when comprehensive schools were introduced in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is now operated only by a few LEAs.
Fifth form/year
A class in a secondary school in the year in which the students will usually take the GCSE examination. Such students will be in their fifth year at the school, having entered at the age of 11.
Grammar school
A state secondary school offering a more academic education than a comprehensive school. There are now very few schools of this type.
High school
A term used for some grammar schools for boys and in particular for many secondary schools for girls (Almost all the 24 girls’ public schools operated by the Girls’ Public Day School Trust have ‘High School’ as part of their name).
Independent school
A fee-paying school, usually a public school or preparatory school, that operates outside the state system. Many such schools are long established and have gained a reputation for their high standards; however, only approximately 7 % of all school children attend independent schools. See also private schools.
Infant school
A school for very young children from the age of five, when compulsory education begins, to seven. See also first school.
Kindergarten
An alternative term for a nursery school, especially a private one.
Lower school
A term occasionally used for the junior classes of a secondary school. Today such classes are often organized as middle school.
Polytechnic
A college that offered a wide range of courses at further education or higher education level, with some courses leading to a degree. By 1993 all polytechnics had become universities, with some changing their name to avoid confusion with existing universities. Thus Leicester Polytechnic became De Montfort University (named after Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, who ruled England in the 13th century), to avoid confusion with Leicester University.
Pre-preparatory school
An independent school that prepares children aged 5 to 7 for entry to a preparatory school.
Preparatory school
An indepndent (fee-paying) school for children aged (usually) 7 to 13. Many are boarding schools and for boys only (aged 7-13) or girls only (7-11) and some form a junior department of a public school. Most pupils go on from a preparatory school to a public school by taking the Common Entrance examination (providing education ‘preparatory’ to a public school).
Primary school
A junior state school for children aged (usually) 5 to 11, after which they pass to a secondary school. Some children of this age group, however, attend a first school or middle school.
Private school
An independent (fee-paying) school such as a preparatory school, as distinct from a state (non-fee-paying) school. The finances of such schools are often controlled by a charitable trust. Most public schools are in fact private schools, although the term is not generally used in order to avoid confusion.
Secondary modern school
A type of secondary school that offers a more general and technical and less academic education than a grammar school. Of all school children of secondary school age, fewer than 4 % attend such schools.
Secondary school
A state school or private school that provides education for school children aged between 11 and 18. Such schools are organized in a number of ways, with the most common type being the comprehensive school, attended by over 90 % of school children of this age. Other types of secondary schools are grammar schools, middle schools, secondary modern schools, technical schools and public schools. An extension of a state secondary school is the tertiary college. Most students leave their state secondary school at the age of 16, having taken one or more subjects in the GCSE.
Sixth form
The most senior class in a secondary school often divided into two years as a ‘lower sixth’ and an ‘upper sixth’. The class is usually intended for students preparing for the A-level examination.
Sixth form college
A further education college, sometimes an independent (fee-paying) one, for students who wish to prepare for the A-level examination or, in some cases, to retake the GCSE. Compare tertiary college.
Special school
A school catering for children with physical or mental handicap or emotional or behavioral disorders. Such schools can be either state (non-fee-paying) or private (fee-paying, or run by a voluntary organization)
Technical school
A state secondary school that provides an integrated academic and technical course. Such schools are attended by under 1 % of all students of secondary school age.
Tertiary college
A state educational college that provides a range of specialized courses for students over 16 at sixth form or further education level. Tertiary as the third level of education after primary and secondary.
Upper school
The senior classes in a secondary school or public school, usually including the sixth form.
3. Look at the different types of educational establishments below. Match them to the sort of person who might attend them.
A co-educational secondary school
A primary school for infants and juniors
A sixth-form college
A nursery school
A further education college offering evening classes
A university
A public school
A five-year-old and a nine-year-old
A thirty-six-year old office worker who wants to get better at computer skills
A seventeen-year-old who hopes to go on to higher education
A twenty-year-old who wants to be a doctor
A thirteen-year-old girt and a fourteen-year-old boy
A fifteen-year-old whose parents want to pay for his/her education
A three-year-old