Lecturer: Ly Thi Hoang Men

1.Basic features
2.National curriculum
3.School life
4.Public exams
5.Education beyond sixteen
* Full-time education is compulsory up to the middle
teenage years.
* Academic year begins at the end of summer.
* Compulsory education is free of charge, but
parents may spend money on educating their
children privately if they want to.
 Public means private?
* Terminology about the school system can be confusing.
* State schools: funded by the government (directly or
via local authorities), provide state education.
* Independent schools: provide private education.

Some independent
Confusing schools are known as
public schools
 Origin???
Schools & educational
institutions existed in
Britain long before the
government began to take
interest.
The government left alone
the small group of schools
used to educate the sons of
upper & upper-middle
classes.
At these “public schools”,
the emphasis was on
“character building” &
“team spirit” rather than
academic achievement.
They were all “boarding
schools” => had a deep,
lasting influence on pupils
with the aim to prepare
young men take up higher
positions in many aspects
When finishing education,
students formed the ruling
elite, separate from the rest
of society.
In the 20th century, new
schools tended to copy the
features of the public
schools.
* The UK introduced the National Curriculum in 1992
* State schools are required to adhere to it until
students reach age16.
* Independent schools are not obliged to adhere to the
National Curriculum.
* School learning is split into 4 KEY STAGES relating to
the curriculum
* is National curriculum core subjects – 5 to 11 years old
* English, Maths, Science, Design and technology
Information and Communication Technology (ICT),
History, Art and Design, Music, Physical education
* Schools have to teach religious education
* Encourage to teach at least one modern foreign
language.
* National curriculum core subjects – 11 to 14 years old.
* English, Maths, Science, Design and technology
Information and Communication Technology (ICT),
History, Geography, Art and Design, Music, Citizenship,
Physical education.
* Schools also have to provide: Career education and
guidance (during year 9) , Sex and Relationship
education, Religious education.
* Throughout Key stage 1-3 students are routinely
tested in Standard Assessment Tests (SATs).
* GCSE level: Students have to take English, Maths,
Science, IT, citizenship and physical education.
* The GCSE is a single – subject examination set and
marked by independent examination boards.
* Students usually take up to ten GCSE examinations
in different subjects including mathematics and English
language.
* After taking GCSEs, students may leave secondary
schools
* Students may choose:
- Continue their education at vocational or technical
colleges
- Take higher level of secondary school examinations
known as AS-levels after an additional year of study.
* Following 2 years of study, students may take A-level
(Advanced level) examinations, which are required for
university entrance in the UK.
* At the time of writing, all children are guaranteed a free,
part-time early education place for up 2 years before
reaching compulsory school age (age of 5).
* Primary schools become the center of local communities
offering:
- Conventional education
- Provide breakfast
- Child-minding facilities
- Activity clubs
- Health services
* School starts around 9 a.m., finishes between 3 p.m.
and 4 p.m. or a bit later for older children.
* Includes lunch break (lasts about an hour and a
quarter)
* Is a full-five day week and holiday periods are short
* Methods of teaching vary, but balance between
formal lessons with the teachers in front of the
classroom and activities in which children work in
small groups with teacher supervising.
* In primary schools: children are taught by a class
teacher teaching all subjects (with T.A. help)
* At the age of 7 and 11: have to take national tests in
English, maths and science.
* In secondary education, pupils get different teachers
for different subject and regular homework.
* The older children get, the more likely they are to be
separated into groups according to their perceived
abilities.
* Some schools do not practice such “streaming” and
instead teach all subjects to “mixed ability” classes.
* At the end of compulsory schooling, schoolchildren
take exams.
* Exams are organized neither by schools nor by the
government => called “public”.
* No unified school-leaving exam or scholl-leaving
certificate.
* Exams are set and marked by largely independent
examining boards
* Some boards offer a vast range of subjects.
* Each school or Local Education Authority (LEA)
decides which board’s exams its pupils take (except
Scotland).
* Some schools even enter their pupils for the exams
of one board in some subjects, and another board in
other subjects.
* Assessment: combination of coursework assignments
and formal, sit-down exams.
* Schools usually divide their year into three “terms”,
starting at the beginning of September.
* Additionally, all schools have a “half-term” (a half
term holiday), lasting a few days or a week in the
middle of each term.

Autumn Christmas Spring Easter Summer Summer

term Holiday term Holiday term holiday
(about 2 (about 2 (about 6
weeks) weeks) weeks)
 GCSE - Taken by most 15-16 years old in England, Wales, Northern
(General Ireland.
Certificate - Marks are given for each subject separately.
of - Syllabuses and methods of examination of the various
Secondary examining boards differ
Education) - Uniform system of marks (A-G): A, B, C are regarded as good
SCE - Equivalent to GCSE
(Scottish - Set by the Scottish Examination Board
Certificate - Grades are awarded in number, 1 is the best
of
Education)
A-Level - Higher-level academic exams set by the same examining
(Advanced boards that set GCSE
level) - Taken by most people around 18 wishing to go on to higher
education
- Split into A1 and A2: A1 is worth half an A2, can stand as a
qualification by itself.
 SCE - The Scottish equivalent of A-levels
“Advanced
higher”
Degree - A qualification from a university
- Other qualifications obtained after secondary education are
usually called “Diploma” or “Certificate”
Bachelor’s - General name for a 1st degree, most commonly a BA (Bachelor
Degree of Arts) or BSc (Bachelor of Science)
- Students are called undergraduates.
- When they have been awarded a degree, they are known as
graduates.
Master’s - General name for a second (postgraduate) degree
Degree - Most commonly MA or MSc
- At Scottish universities, these titles are used for first
degree
Doctorate - The highest academic qualification
- Usually carries the title PhD (Doctor of Philosophy)
- The time taken to complete a doctorate varies, but is
generally expected to involve three years of more-or-less
full-time study.
* At the age of 16, people are free to leave school if they
want to.
* Fewer 16-year-olds go straight out and look for a job
than they did previously.
* Most do not find employment immediately and many
take part in training schemes involving on-the-job training
combined with part-time college courses.
* For those who stay in education and study
conventional academic subjects, there is more
specialization.
* Pupils spend a whole two years studying just three or
four subjects, usually related ones

In preparation for taking A-level exams

* The most noticeable in universities is the independence
of Britain’s education institutions:
- Make their own choices of who to accept for their
courses.
- No right of entry to university for anybody.
- University normally select students on the basis of A-
level results and a few conduct interviews.
- Ss with better exam grades are more likely to be
accepted.
* In principle, there is nothing to stop a university
accepting a student who has no A-levels at all and
conversely, a student with top grades in several A-levels
is not guaranteed a place.
* The availability of higher education increased greatly
in the last second half of the 20th century, but finding a
university place is not easy.
* The numbers who can be accepted on each course
are limited => students at universities get a relatively
high degree of personal supervision.
* The vast majority of university students complete
their studies in a very short time.
* It is only in exceptional circumstances that Ss are
allowed to “retake” years repeatedly.
* Traditionally, reason for low drop-out rate is that Ss
typically live “on campus” or in rooms nearby, and are
surrounded by a university atmosphere.
* The expansion of higher education caused this
characteristics and other traditional features to become
far less typical.
* Many students got jobs in the holidays but were
forbidden to take any kinds of employment during ter-
time.
* Ss’s studies are suffering as a result of the imperative to
earn money => irony.
* Name denoted the
universities of Oxford and
Cambridge, founded in
medieval period.
* have their own dining hall,
library, chapel, and contain
enough accommodation for
half of their students
Oxford University
* Each college has its own
staff, known as “fellows”.
* The fellows teach the
college students, either one-
to-one or in very small groups
(known as “tutorials” in
Oxford and “supervisions” in
Cambridge.
* Before 1970, all Oxbridge
colleges were single-sex
(mostly for men). Nearly all Cambridge University

now admit both sexes

* By 1600, Scotland boasted
4 universities: Glasgow,
Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and St.
Andrews.
* Most of their students live
at home or find their own
rooms in town.
* The pattern of study is
St. Andrews University
closer to the Continental
tradition than to the English
one.
* was founded in 1832
* collegiate and living
arrangements are similar to
Oxbridge, but academic
matters are organized at
university level.

Durham University
* During the 19th century,
various institutes of higher
education, sprang up in the new
industrial towns and cities:
Birmingham, Manchester,
Leeds.
* Their buildings were of local
material, often brick, in
contrast to the stone of older
universities.
* Purposed-built institutions
located in the countryside
outside a nearby town: East
Anglia, Lancaster, Sussex,
Warwick.
* have accommodation for
most of the students on site,
attracted students from all
over the country.
East Anglia University
* Were originally technical colleges
set up by local authorities in the
first sixty years of the 20th century.
* The upgrading to university status
took place in 2 waves:
- Mid 1960s: 10 were promoted.
- Early 1970s: another 30 became
“polytechnics”.
The most notable feature is Aston University in
Birmingham
flexibility with regard to studying
arrangements.