Education in Britain
MOSCOW STATE TEACHER`S TRAINING UNIVERSITY
COURSE PAPER
Education in the United Kingdom
Written by Isaeva Tatiana
group 301
Checked by Makhmuryan K.
MOSCOW 2001
PLAN
1. Introduction
1. Primary and secondary education
1. The story of British schools
1. Arguments aboout the purpose of education
1. Changing political control
1. The public system of education (a table)
1. The private sector
1. Further and higher education
1. Conclusion (Education under Labour)
10.Questions
Introduction
E
ducation in England is not as perfect as we, foreigners think. There are
plenty of stereotypes, which make us think, that British education is only
Oxford and Cambrige, but there are also many educational problems.During
the last fifteen years or so, there have been unprecedented changes in the
system of education in England and Wales. I’ll try to explain the changes
and the reasons for them. In my work I will also give a description of the
system of education, which differs from that in Russia very much.
Primary and secondary education
S
chooling is compulsory for 12 years, for all children aged five to 16.
There are two voluntary years of schooling thereafter. Children may attend
either state-funded or fee-paying independent schools. In England, Wales
and Northern Ireland the primary cycle lasts from five to 11. Generally
speaking, children enter infant school, moving on to junior school (often
in the same building) at the age of seven, and then on to secondary school
at the age of 11. Roughly 90 per cent of children receive their secondary
education at 'comprehensive' schools. For those who wish to stay on,
secondary school can include the two final years of secondary education,
sometimes known in Britain (for historical reasons) as 'the sixth form'. In
many parts of the country, these two years are spent at a tertiary or sixth-
form college, which provides academic and vocational courses.
Two public academic examinations are set, one on completion of the
compulsory cycle of education at the age of 16, and one on completion of
the two voluntary years. At 16 pupils take the General Certificate of
Secondary Education (GCSE), introduced in 1989 to replace two previous
examinations, one academic and the other indicating completion of secondary
education. It was introduced to provide one examination whereby the whole
range of ability could be judged, rather than having two classes of
achievers; and also to assess children on classwork and homework as well as
in the examination room, as a more reliable form of assessment. During the
two voluntary years of schooling, pupils specialise in two or three
subjects and take the General Certificate of Education (always known simply
as 'GCE') Advanced Level, or 'A level' examination, usually with a view to
entry to a university or other college of higher education. New
examinations. Advanced Supplementary (AS) levels, were introduced in 1989,
to provide a wider range of subjects to study, a recognition that English
education has traditionally been overly narrow. The debate about the need
for a wider secondary level curriculum continues, and Labour is likely to
introduce more changes at this level. These examinations are not set by the
government, but by independent examination boards, most of which are
associated with a particular university or group of universities. Labour
may replace these boards with one national board of examination.
A new qualification was introduced in 1992 for pupils who are skills,
rather than academically, orientated, the General National Vocational
Qualification, known as GNVQ. This examination is taken at three distinct
levels: the Foundation which has equivalent standing to low-grade passes in
four subjects of GCSE; the Intermediate GNVQ which is equivalent to high-
grade passes in four subjects of GCSE; and the Advanced GNVQ, equivalent to
two passes at A level and acceptable for university entrance.
The academic year begins in late summer, usually in September, and is
divided into three terms, with holidays for Christmas, Easter and for the
month of August, although the exact dates vary slightly from area to area.
In addition each term there is normally a mid-term one-week holiday, known
as 'half-term'.
The story of British schools
F
or largely historical reasons, the schools system is complicated,
inconsistent and highly varied. Most of the oldest schools, of which the
most famous are Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Westminster, are today
independent, fee-paying, public schools for boys. Most of these were
established to create a body of literate men to fulfil the administrative,
political, legal and religious requirements of the late Middle Ages. From
the sixteenth century onwards, many 'grammar' schools were established,
often with large grants of money from wealthy men, in order to provide a
local educational facility.
From the 1870s local authorities were required to establish elementary
schools, paid for by the local community, and to compel attendance by all
boys and girls up to the age of 1 3. By 1900 almost total attendance had
been achieved. Each authority, with its locally elected councillors, was
responsible for the curriculum. Although a general consensus developed
concerning the major part of the school curriculum, a strong feeling of
local control continued and interference by central government was
resented. A number of secondary schools were also established by local
authorities, modelled on the public schools.
The 1944 Education Act introduced free compulsory secondary education.
Almost all children attended one of two kinds of secondary school. The
decision was made on the results obtained in the '11 plus' examination,
taken in the last year of primary school. Eighty per cent of pupils went to
'secondary modern' schools where they were expected to obtain sufficient
education for manual, skilled and clerical employment, but where academic
expectations were modest. The remaining 20 per cent went to grammar
schools. Some of these were old foundations which now received a direct
grant from central government, but the majority were funded through the
local authority. Grammar school pupils were expected to go on to university
or some other form of higher education. A large number of the grammar or
'high' schools were single sex. In addition there were, and continue to be,
a number of voluntary state-supported primary and secondary schools, most
of them under the management of the Church of England or the Roman Catholic
Church, which usually own the school buildings.
By the 1960s there was increasing criticism of this streaming of
ability, particularly by the political Left. It was recognised that many
children performed inconsistently, and that those who failed the 11 plus
examination were denied the chance to do better later. Early selection also
reinforced the divisions of social class, and was wasteful of human
potential. A government report in 1968 produced evidence that an
expectation of failure became increasingly fulfilled, with secondary modern
pupils aged 14 doing significantly worse than they had at the age of eight.
Labour's solution was to introduce a new type of school, the comprehensive,
a combination of grammar and secondary modern under one roof, so that all
the children could be continually assessed and given appropriate teaching.
Between 1965 and 1980 almost all the old grammar and secondary modern
schools were replaced, mainly by coeducational comprehensives. The measure
caused much argument for two principal reasons. Many local authorities,
particularly Conservative-controlled ones, did not wish to lose the
excellence of their grammar schools, and many resented Labour's
interference in education, which was still considered a local
responsibility. However, despite the pressure to change school structures,
each school, in consultation with the local authority, remained in control
of its curriculum. In practice the result of the reform was very mixed:
the best comprehensives aimed at grammar school academic standards, while
the worst sank to secondary modern ones.
One unforeseen but damaging result was the refusal of many grammar
schools to join the comprehensive experiment. Of the 174 direct-grant
grammar schools, 119 decided to leave the state system rather than become
comprehensive, and duly became independent fee-paying establishments. This
had two effects. Grammar schools had provided an opportunity for children
from all social backgrounds to excel academically at the same level as
those attending fee-paying independent public schools. The loss of these
schools had a demoralising effect on the comprehensive experiment and
damaged its chances of success, but led to a revival of independent schools
at a time when they seemed to be slowly shrinking. The introduction of
comprehensive schools thus unintentionally reinforced an educational elite
which only the children of wealthier parents could hope to join.
