1990, and only seventeen in 1945. They fall into five broad categories: the
medieval English foundations, the medieval Scottish ones, the nineteenth-
century 'redbrick' ones, the twentieth-century 'plate-glass' ones, and
finally the previous polytechnics. They are all private institutions,
receiving direct grants from central government.
Oxford and Cambridge, founded in the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries respectively, are easily the most famous of Britain's
universities. Today 'Oxbridge', as the two together are known, educate less
than one-twentieth of Britain's total university student population. But
they continue to attract many of the best brains and to mesmerise an even
greater number, partly on account of their prestige, but also on account of
the seductive beauty of many of their buildings and surroundings.
Both universities grew gradually, as federations of independent
colleges, most of which were founded in the fourteenth, fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. In both universities, however, new colleges are
periodically established, for example Green College, Oxford (1979) and
Robinson College, Cambridge (1977).
In the nineteenth century more universities were established to
respond to the greatly increased demand for educated people as a result of
the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of Britain's overseas empire.
Many of these were sited in the industrial centres, for example Birmingham,
Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Liverpool and Bristol.
With the expansion of higher education in the 1960s 'plate-glass'
universities were established, some named after counties or regions rather
than old cities, for example Sussex, Kent, East Anglia and Strathclyde.
Over 50 polytechnics and similar higher education institutes acquired
university status in 1992. There is also a highly successful Open
University, which provides every person in Britain with the opportunity to
study for a degree, without leaving their home. It is particularly designed
for adults who missed the opportunity for higher education earlier in life.
It conducts learning through correspondence, radio and television, and also
through local study centres.
University examinations are for Bachelor of Arts, or of Science (BA or
BSc) on completion of the undergraduate course, and Master of Arts or of
Science (MA or MSc) on completion of postgraduate work, usually a one- or
two-year course involving some original research. Some students continue to
complete a three-year perio of original research for the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy (PhD). The bachelor degree is normal classed, with about 5
per cent normally gaining First, about 30 per cent gaining an Upper Seconi
or 2.1, perhaps 40 per cent gaining a Lower Second, or 2.2, and the balance
getting either i Third, a Pass or failing. Approximately 15 per cei fail to
complete their degree course.
In addition there are a large number of specialis higher education
institutions in the realm of the performing and visual arts. For example,
there a four leading conservatories: the Royal Academy Music, the Royal
College of Music, Trinity College of Music and the Royal Northern College
of Music.
There are a large number of art colleges, of whi the most famous is
the Royal College of Art, where both Henry Moore and David Hockney once
studied. Other colleges cater for dance, film-making and other specialist
areas in arts.
In spite of the high fees, Britain's universities, Fl colleges and
English language schools host a number of foreign students, in 1996 there
were fewer than 158,000.
Female undergraduates have greatly increased proportionately in recent
years. In the mid-1960 they were only 28 per cent of the intake, became 41
per cent by the early 1980s, and were 51 per cent by 1996. There is still
an unfortunate separation of the sexes in fields of chosen study, arising
from occupational tradition and social expectations. Caring for others is
still a 'proper' career for women; building bridges, it seems, is not.
Unless one believes women's brains are better geared to nursing and other
forms of caring and men's to bridge-building, one must conclude that social
expectations still hinder women and men from realising their potential.
Students from poorer backgrounds are seriously underrepresented in higher
education. Although more in social categories C, D and E are now enrolled,
it is the more prosperous social categories A and B which have benefited
most from university expansion. For Labour there are two issues here:
equality of opportunity, and maximising all of society's intellectual
potential.
Ethnic minorities' representation is growing: 1 3 per cent in 1996
compared with only 10.7 per cent in 1990. It is noteworthy that their
university representation exceeds their proportion within the whole
population, a measure of their commitment to higher education.
In 1988 a new funding body, the University Funding Council, was
established, with power to require universities to produce a certain number
of qualified people in specific fields. It is under the UFC's watchful eye
that the universities have been forced to double their student intake, and
each university department is assessed on its performance and quality. The
fear, of course, is that the greatly increased quantity of students that
universities must now take might lead to a loss of academic quality.
Expansion has led to a growing funding gap. Universities have been
forced to seek sponsorship from the commercial world, wealthy patrons and
also from their alumni. The Conservative Party also decided to reduce
maintenance grants but to offer students loans in order to finance their
studies. However, the funding gap has continued to grow and Labour shocked
many who had voted for it by introducing tuition fees at 1,000 pounds per
annum in 1998. Although poorer students were to be exempted it was feared
that, even with student loans, up to 10 per cent of those planning to go to
university would abandon the idea. One effect of the financial burden is
that more students are living at home while continuing their studies: about
50 per cent at the ex-polytechnics, but only 15 per cent at the older
universities.
Today many university science and technology departments, for example
at Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Imperial College London, and Strathclyde,
are among the best in Europe. The concern is whether they will continue to
be so in the future. Academics' pay has fallen so far behinc other
professions and behind academic salaries elsewhere, that many of the best
brains have gon< abroad. Adequate pay and sufficient research funding to
keep the best in Britain remains a majo challenge.
As with the schools system, so also with higher education: there is a
real problem about the exclusivity of Britain's two oldest universities.
While Oxbridge is no longer the preserve of a social elite it retains its
exclusive, narrow and spell-binding culture. Together with the public
school system, it creates a narrow social and intellectual channel from
which the nation's leaders are almost exclusively drawn. In 1996 few people
were in top jobs in the Civil Service, the armed forces, the law or
finance, who had not been either to a public school or Oxbridge, or to
both.
The problem is not the quality of education offered either in the
independent schools or Oxbridge. The problem is cultural. Can the products
of such exclusive establishments remain closely in touch with the remaining
95 per cent of the population? If the expectation is that Oxbridge,
particularly, will continue to dominate the controlling positions in the
state and economy, is the country ignoring equal talent which does not have
the Oxbridge label? As with the specialisation at the age of 16 for A
levels, the danger is that Britain's governing elite is too narrow, both in
the kind of education and where it was acquired. It is just possible that
the new Labour government, which itself reflects a much wider field of life
experience in Britain, will mark the beginning of significantly fuller
popular participation in the controlling institutions of state.
Present situation
The educational system - its organization, its control, its content -
is changing rapidly to meet the perceived needs of the country - the need
to improve standards and to respond to a rapidly changing and competitive
economy. Those changes might be summarized in the following way.
First, there is much greater central control over what is taught.
Second, what is taught is seen in rather traditional terms - organized in
terms of subjects rather than in response to the learning needs of the
pupils. Third, however, there is an attempt to be responsive to the
economic needs of the country, with an emphasis upon vocational studies and
training. Fourth, there is a rapid expansion of those who stay in education
beyond the compulsory age, making use of the «three-track system» of «A»
Level, GNVQ (General National Vocational Qualifications) and NVQ (National
Vocational Qualifications). Fifth, although the content of education is
centrally controlled, its «delivery» pays homage to the «market» by
encouraging choice between different institutions so that funding follows
popular choice (i.e. the more popular the school with parents, the more
money it gets, thereby providing an incentive to schools and colleges to
improve their performance.
Education under Labour
E
ducation was the central theme of the new Labour government. It promised a
huge range of improvements: high-quality education for all four-year-olds
whose parents wanted it and lower pupil-teacher ratios, in particular that
children up to the age of eight children would never be in classes of over
30 pupils. It also declared that all children at primary school would spend
one hour each day on reading and writing, and another hour each day on
numeracy, the basic skills for all employment. When Labour took office only
57 per cent of children reached national literacy targets by the time they
left primary school, and only 55 per cent reached similar targets in maths.
The government pledged to raise these proportions to 80 per cent and 75 per
cent respectively. It also established a new central authority responsible
for both qualifications and the curriculum, to ensure that these were, in
the government's own words, 'high quality, coherent and flexible'. It
warned that it intended to evolve a single certificate to replace A levels
and vocational qualifications, and possibly to reflect a broad range of
study rather than the narrow specialism of the A-level system. Because 30
per cent of students who started A-level courses failed to acquire one, it
also wanted to create a more flexible system that would allow students
still to attain recognised standards of education and training on the road
to A levels. However, unlike France or Germany, an increasing proportion of
those taking exams at this standard were actually passing.
The government also promised to improve the quality of the teaching staff,
with a mandatory qualification for all newly appointed heads of schools, to
improve teacher training, to establish a General Teaching Council, which
would restore teacher morale and raise standards, and to introduce more
effective means of removing inefficient teachers. It also promised to look
at the growing problem of boys underachieving at school compared with
girls. Finally, Labour asked for its record to be judged at the end of its
first term in office, in 2002.
Questions
1. When do the british start their education?
2. Do you agree that the british education has problems?
3. What were the lacks of British education?
4. Who can study in public schools?
5. Does the word «public» reflect the real principle of that schools?
6. What political acts became a turning point in British education?
7. What is the most well-spread opinion about the vocational courses?
8. What do you think about the quality of higher education in Britain?
9. What are the main principles of the Labour Patry (concerning education)
10. How had the role of parents in the children’s education changed?
11. How did the changing economic and social situation influence the system
of education?
12. What are the most prestigeous schools in Britain?
13. Are there students from other countries in British schools and
universities?
14. Is the nursary school compulsory?
15. How do you think: do the Concervative principles of education differ
from that of Labour?
16. What are the aims of education in Britain today?
17. Did the level of education become higher after the reforms?
18. What is the GCSE?
19. What types of schools does the british system of education includes?
20. Would you like to study in Britain? (Give your argument for or against
it).
