The School Education in Great Britain

 The aim of education in general is to develop to the full the
talents of both children and adults for their own benefit and that of society
as a whole. It is a large-scale investment in the future.

The educational system of Great Britain has developed for over a
hundred years. It is a complicated system with wide variations between one part
of the country and another. Three partners are responsible for the education
service: central government – the Department of Education and Science (DES),
local education authorities (LEAs), and schools themselves. The legal basis for
this partnership is supplied by the 1944 Education Act.

The Department of Education and Science is concerned with the
formation of national policies for education. It is responsible for the
maintenance of minimum national standard of education. In exercising its
functions the DES is assisted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate. The primary
functions of the Inspectors are to give professional advice to the Department,
local education authorities, schools and colleges, and discuss day-to-day
problems with them.

Local education authorities are charged with the provision and
day-to-day running of the schools and colleges in their areas and the recruitment
and payment of the teachers who work in  them. They are responsible for the
provision of buildings, materials and equipment. However, the choice of
text-books and timetable are usually left to the headmaster. The content and
method of teaching is decided by the individual teacher.

The administrative functions of education in each area are in the
hands of a Chief Education Officer who is assisted by a deputy and other
officials.

         
Until recently planning and organization were not controlled by central
government. Each LEA was free to decide how to organize education in its own
area. In 1988, however, the National Curriculum was introduced, which means
that there is now greater government control over what is taught in schools.
The aim was to provide a more balanced education. The new curriculum places
greater emphasis on the more practical aspects of education. Skills are being
taught which pupils will need for life and work.

The chief elements of the national Curriculum include a broad and
balanced framework of study which emphasizes the practical applications of
knowledge. It is based around the core subjects of English, mathematics and
science ( biology, chemistry, etc.) as well as a number of other foundation
subjects, including geography, history, technology and modern languages.

The education reform of 1988 also gave all secondary as well as
larger  primary schools responsibilities for managing the major part of their
budgets, including costs of staff. Schools received the right to withdraw from
local education authority control if they wished.

Together with the National Curriculum, a programme of Records of
Achievements was introduced. This programme contains a system of new tests for
pupils at the ages of  7, 11, 13 and 16. The aim of these tests is to discover
any schools or areas which are not teaching to a high enough standard. But many
believe that these tests are unfair because they reflect differences in home
rather than in ability.

The great majority of children (about 9 million) attend Britain’s
30,500 state schools. No tuition fees are payable in any of them. A further
600,000 go to 2,500 private schools, often referred to as the “independent
sector” where the parents have to pay for their children.

In most primary and secondary state schools boys and girls are
taught together. Most independent schools for younger children are also mixed,
while the majority of private secondary schools are single-sex.

State schools are almost all day  schools, holding classes between
Mondays and Fridays. The school year normally begins in early September and
continues into the following July. The year is divided into three terms of
about 13 weeks each.

Two-thirds of state schools are wholly owned and maintained by LEAs.
The remainder are voluntary schools, mostly belonging to the Church of England
or the Roman Catholic Church. They are also financed by LEAs.

Every state school has its own governing body (a board of
governors), consisting of teachers, parents, local politicians, businessmen and
members of the local community. Boards of governors are responsible for their
school’s main policies, including the recruitment of the staff.

A great role is played by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
Practically all parents are automatically members of the PTA and are invited to
take part in its many activities. Parental involvement through the PTA and
other links between parents and schools is growing . The PTA forms both a
special focus for parents and much valued additional resources for the school.
Schools place great value on the PTA as a further means of listening to parents
and developing the partnership between home and school. A Parent’s Charter
published by the Government in 1991 is designed to enable parents to take more
informed decisions about their children’s education.

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.

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.      

NURSERY EDUCATION. Education for the
under-fives, mainly from 3 to 5, is not compulsory and can be provided in nursery
schools and nursery classes attached to primary schools. Although
they are called schools, they give little formal education. The children spend
most of their time in some sort of play activity, as far as possible of an educational
kind. In any case, there are not enough of them to take all children of that
age group. A large proportion of children at this beginning stage is in the
private sector where fees are payable. Many children attend pre-school
playgroups, mostly organized by parents, where children can go for a
morning or afternoon a couple of times a week.

PRIMARY EDUCATION. The primary school
usually takes children from 5 to 11. Over half of the primary schools take the
complete age group from 5 to 11. The remaining schools take the pupils aged 5
to 7 – infant schools, and  8 to 11 – junior schools. However,
some LEAs have introduced first school, taking children aged 5 to 8, 9
to 10. The first school is followed by the middle school which embraces
children from 8 to 14. Next comes the upper school (the third tier)
which keeps middle school leavers until the age of 18. This three-stage system
(first, middle and upper) is becoming more and more popular in a growing number
of areas. The usual age for transfer from primary to secondary school is 11.

SECONDARY EDUCATION. Secondary education
is compulsory up to the age of 16, and pupils may stay on at school voluntarily
until they are 18. Secondary schools are much larger than primary schools and
most children (over 80 per cent) go to comprehensive schools.

There are three categories of comprehensive schools:

1)  
schools which take pupils from 11 to 18,

2)  
schools which embrace middle school leavers from
12, 13or 14 to 18, and

3)  
schools which take the age group from 11 to 16.

The pupils in
the latter group, wishing to continue their education beyond the age of 16 (to
be able to enter university) may transfer to the sixth form of an 11-18 school,
to a sixth-form college or to a tertiary college which provide complete
courses of secondary education. The tertiary college offers also part-time
vocational courses.

Comprehensive schools admit children of all abilities and provide a
wide range of secondary education for all or most of the children in a
district.

In some areas children moving from state primary to secondary
education are still selected for certain types of school according to their
current level of academic attainment. There are grammar and secondary
modern schools, to which children are allowed at the age of 11 on the basis
of their abilities. Grammar schools provide a mainly academic education for the
11 to 18 age group. Secondary modern schools offer a more general education
with a practical bias up to the minimum school-leaving age of 16.

Some local education authorities run technical schools (11 –
18). They provide a general academic education, but place particular emphasis
on technical subjects. However, as a result of comprehensive reorganization the
number of grammar and secondary modern schools fell radically by the beginning
of the 1990s.

There are special schools adapted for the physically and
mentally handicapped children. The compulsory period of schooling here is from
5 to 16. A number of handicapped pupils begin younger and stay on longer.
Special schools and their classes are more generously staffed than ordinary
schools and provide, where possible. Physiotherapy, speech therapy and other
forms of treatment. Special schools are normally maintained by state, but a
large proportion of special boarding schools are private and fee-charging.

About 5 per cent of Britain’s children attend independent or private
schools outside the free state sector. Some parents choose to pay for
private education in spite of the existence of free state education. These
schools charge between 300 pounds a term for day nursery pupils and 3,500
pounds a term for senior boarding-school pupils.

All independent schools have to register with the Department of
Education and Science and are subject to inspection be Her Majesty’s
Inspecrorate, which is absolutely independent. About 2,300 private schools
provide primary and secdondary education.

Around 550 most privileged and expensive schools are commonly known
as public schools.

The principal examinations taken by secondary school pupils at the
age of 16 are those leading to the General Certificate of Secondary Education
(GCSE). It aims to assess pupils’ ability to apply their knowledge to solving
practical problems. It is the minimum school leaving age, the level which does
not allow school-leavers to enter university but to start work or do some
vocational training.

The chief examinations at the age of 18 are leading to the General
Certificate of Education Advanced level (GCE A-level). It enables sixth-formers
to widen their subject areas and move to higher education. The systems of
examinations are co-ordinated and supervisedby the Secondary Examination
Council.

Admission to universities is carried out by examinationor selection
(interview). Applicants for places in nearly all the universities are sent
initially to the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS). In the
application an applicant can list up to five universities or colleges in order
to preference. Applications must be sent to the UCAS in the autumn term of the
academic year preceding that in which the applicant hopes to be admitted. The
UCAS sends a copy to aech of the universities or colleges named. Each univesity
selects its own students.

The overall pupil-teacher ratio in state primary  and secondary
schools is about 18 to 1, on of the most favourable in the world.