standard entry qualifications.
Higher education in Britain is traditionally associated with
universities, though education of University standard is also given in
other institutions such as colleges and institutes of higher education,
which have the power to award their own degrees.
The only exception to state universities is the small University of
Buckingham which concentrates on law, and which draws most of its students
of overseas.
All universities in England and Wales are state universities (this
includes Oxford and Cambridge).
English universities can be broadly classified into three types. First
come the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge that date from the
12th century and that until 1828 were virtually the only English
universities.
Oxford and Cambridge are composed of semi-independent colleges, each
college having its own staff, know as ‘Fellows’. Most colleges have their
own dining hall, library and chapel and contain enough accommodation for at
least half of their students. The Fellows teach the students, either one-to-
one or in very small groups (called ‘tutorials’ in Oxford and ‘supervision’
in Cambridge), the tutorial method brings the tutor into close and personal
contact with the student. Before 1970 all Oxford colleges were single-sex
(mostly for men). Now, the majority admits both sexes.
Among other older universities there should be mentioned four Scottish
universities, such as St. Andrews (1411), Glasgow (1450), Aberdeen (1494),
and Edinburgh (1583). The first of these, being the oldest one, resembles
Oxbridge in many ways, while the other three follow the pattern of more
modern universities in that the students live at home or find their own
rooms in town. At all of them teaching is organized along the lines of the
continental traditions – there is less specialization than at Oxford.
The second group of universities comprises various institutions of
higher education, usually with technical study, that by 1900 had sprang up
in new industrial towns and cities such as Birmingham, Manchester,
Sheffield and Leeds. They got to be know as civic or ‘redbrick’
universities. Their buildings were made of local material, often brick, in
contrast to the stone of older universities, hence the name, ‘redbrick’.
These universities catered mostly for local people. At first they prepared
students for London University degree, but later they were given the right
to award their own degrees, and so became universities themselves. In the
mid-20th century they started to accept students from all over the country.
The third group consists of new universities founded after the Second
World War and later in the 1960s, which saw considerable expansion in new
universities. These are purpose-built institutions located in the
countryside but close to towns. Examples are East Anglia, Sussex and
Warwick. From their beginning they attracted students from all over the
country, and provided accommodation for most of their students in site
(hence their name, ‘campus’ universities). They tend to emphasise
relatively ‘new’ academic disciplines such as social science and make
greater use than other universities of teaching in small groups, often
known as ‘seminars’.
Among this group there are also universities often called ‘never civic’
universities. These were originally technical colleges set up by local
authorities in the first half of this century. Their upgrading to
university status took place in two waves. The first wave occurred in the
mid-1960s, when ten of them were promoted in this way.
Another thirty became ‘polytechnics’, in the early 1970s, which meant
that along with their former courses they were allowed to teach degree
courses (the degrees being awarded by a national body). Polytechnics were
originally expected to offer a broader-based, more practical and vocational
education than the universities. In the early 1990s most of the
polytechnics became universities. So there are now 80 universities and a
further 19 colleges and institutions of higher education in the UK. The
country has moved rapidly from a rather elitist system to one which is much
more open, if not yet a mass system of higher education.
Higher education in England and Wales is highly selective; i.e.
entrance to British universities is via a strict selection process is based
on an interview. Applications for first degree courses are usually made
through the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS), in
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. After the interview a potential student is
offered a place on the basis of GCE A-level exam results. If the student
does not get the grades specified in the offer, a place can not be taken
up. Some universities, such as Oxford and Cambridge, have an entrance exam
before the interview stage.
This kind of selection procedure means that not everyone in Britain
with A-level qualifications will be offered the chance of a university
education. Critics argue that this creates an elitist system with the
academic minority in society whilst supporters of the system argue that
this enables Britain to get high-quality graduates who have specialized
skills. The current system will be modified by the late 90s and into the
21st century, since secondary system is moving towards a broader-based
education to replace the specialized ‘A’ level approach. The reasons for
this lie in Britain’s need to have a highly skilled and educated workforce,
not just an elite few, to meet the needs of the technological era.
The independence of Britain’s educational institutions is most
noticeable in universities. They make their own choices of who to accept on
their courses and normally do this on the basis of a student’s A-level
results and an interview. Those with better exam grades are more likely to
be accepted. Virtually all degree courses last three years, however there
are some four-year courses and medical and veterinary courses last five or
six years. The British University year is divided into three terms, roughly
eight to ten weeks each. The terms are crowded with activity and the
vacations between the terms – a month at Christmas, a month at Easter, and
three or four months in summer – are mainly periods of intellectual
digestion and private study.
The courses are also ‘full-time’ which really means full-time: the
students are not supposed to take a lob during term time. Unless their
parents are rich, they receive a state grant of money, which covers most of
their expenses including the cost of accommodation. Grants and loans are
intended to create opportunities for equality in education. A grants system
was set up to support students through university. Grants are paid by the
LEA on the basis of parental income. In the late 80s (the Conservative)
government decided to stop to increase these grants, which were previously
linked to inflation. Instead, students were able to borrow money in the
form of a low-interest loan, which then had to be paid back after their
course had finished. Critics argue that students from less affluent
families had to think twice before entering the course, and that this
worsened the trend which saw a 33% drop in working-class student numbers in
the 1980s.
|Cambridge. |
|Cambridge is the second oldest university and city in Britain. It lies |
|on the river Cam and takes its name from this river (Cam (тех. кулак) +|
|bridge (мост)). Cambridge was founded in 1284 when the first college, |
|Peterhouse, was built. Now there are 22 colleges in Cambridge, but only|
|three of them are women’s colleges. The first women college was opened |
|in 1896. |
|The ancient buildings, chapels, libraries and colleges are in the |
|center of the city. There are many museums in the old university city. |
|Its population consist mostly of teachers and students. All students |
|have to live in the college during their course. |
|In the old times the students’ life was very strict. They were not |
|allowed to play games, to sing, to hunt, to fish or even to dance. They|
|wore special dark clothes, which they continue to wear in our days. In |
|the streets of Cambridge, you can see young men wearing dark blue or |
|black clothes and the ‘squares’ – the academic caps. |
|Many great men have studied at Cambridge, among them Cromwell, Newton, |
|Byron, Tennyson, and Darwin. The great Russian scientist I.P. Pavlov |
|came to Cambridge to receive the degree of the Honorary Doctor of |
|Cambridge. |
|The students presented him with a toy dog then. Now Cambridge is know |
|all over the world as a great center of science, where many famous |
|scientists have worked: Rutherford, Kapitza and others. |
Students studying for the first degree are called undergraduates. At
the end of the third year of study undergraduates sit for their
examinations and take the bachelor’s degree. Those engaged in the study of
arts such subjects as history, languages, economics or law take Bachelor of
Arts (BA). Students studying pure or applied sciences such as medicine,
dentistry, technology or agriculture get Bachelor of Science (BSc). When
they have been awarded the degree, they are known as graduates. Most people
get honours degrees, awarded in different classes. These are: Class I
(known as ‘a first’), Class II, I (or ‘an upper second’), Class II, II (or
‘a lower second’), Class III (‘a third’). A student who is below one of
these gets a pass degree (i.e. not an honours degree).
Students who obtain their Bachelor degree can apply to take a further
degree course, usually involving a mixture of exam courses and research.
There are two different types of post-graduate courses – the Master’s
Degree (MA or MSc), which takes one or two years, and the higher degree of
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), which takes two or three years. Funding for
post-graduate courses is very limited, and even students with first class
degrees may be unable to get a grant. Consequently many post-graduates have
heavy bank loans or are working to pay their way to a higher degree.
The university system also provides a national network of extra-mural
or ‘Continuing Education’ Departments which offer academic courses for
adults who wish to study – often for the sheer pleasure of study – after
they have left schools of higher education.
One development in education in which Britain can claim to lead the
world is the Open University. It was founded in 1969 in Milton Keynes,
Buckinghamshire and is so called because it is open to all – this
university does not require any formal academic qualifications to study for
a degree, and many people who do not have an opportunity to be ‘ordinary’
students enroll. The university is non-residential and courses are mainly
taught by special written course books and by programmes on state radio and
television. There are, however, short summer courses of about a week that
the students have to attend and special part-time study centers where they
can meet their tutors when they have problems.
As mentioned above, the British higher education system was added to in
the 1970s, which saw the creation of colleges and institutions of higher
education, often by merging existing colleges or by establishing new
institutions. They now offer a wide range of degree, certificate and
diploma courses in both science and art, and in some cases have
specifically taken over the role of training teachers for the schools.
There are also a variety of other British higher institutions, which
offer higher education. Some, like the Royal College of Arts, the Cornfield
Institute of Technology and various Business Schools, have university
status, while others, such as agricultural, drama and arts colleges like
the Royal Academy of Dramatics Arts (RADA) and the Royal college of Music
provide comparable courses. All these institutions usually have a strong
vocational aspect in their programmes, which fills a specialized role in
higher education.
Bibliography.
1. Levashova V.A. Britain today: Life and Institutions. – Moscow: INFRA-
M, 2001.
2. 200 Тем Английского Языка./Сост.: Бойко В., Жидких Н., Каверина В.,
Панина Е. – Москва: Издательство Иванова В.И., 2001.
3. Magazine “CLUB”, №3, January – February 2001.
4. Книга для чтения к учебнику английского языка для 8 класса средней
школы./Сост.: Копыл Е.Г., Боровик М.А. Изд. 2-е. Москва,
«Просвещение», 1978.
5. Newspaper “English Learner’s Digest” №8, April 2001.
6. Adrian Room, An A to Z of British Life; OUP 1992.
