3-EducationEducation (£ 79 billion in 2009)Northern Ireland and Scotland have a

different educational system from England and Wales.

England : divided between state-funded schools (90% of children) and fee-paying privately-owned schools, known as ‘independent schools’ or sometimes ‘public schools’, (7% of secondary school pupils. )

After the second world war, an education system was set up based on selection by an exam taken at the age of eleven ( the « eleven plus »)

About a quarter of the pupils went to grammar schools, studied French, Latin and other academic subjects as well as English and Maths.

Most pupils went to a « secondary modern » school, where they studied English and Maths but also woodwork and etalwork (for boys) and needlework and domestic science (for girls).

This system was slowly phased out in the 1960s.

A grammar school in 1960

« Domestic Science » and « metalwork » in the 1960s

Almost all the state schools are now ‘comprehensive schools’ : all children from one particular area are educated in the same school.

There are still a few state schools which are not comprehensive schools: the ‘grammar schools’.

Traditionally the Conservative party supported selective “grammar schools”, but they changed their policy in 2007.

Leys School, a private school in Cambridge, £16 000 a year

There are 2500 private schools, including some 250 “public schools” (like Harrow, Eton, Rugby, Winchester, etc.).

Private schools cater for only 7% of British pupils, but 25% of those gaining entry to university come from one.

Tuition fees in private schools are from £9,000 to about £20 000 a year.

Many private schools do not have to pay taxes.

Eton

Harrow

Secondary schools in Britain

Education in England was overseen, from 2007-2010 by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Local authorities take responsibility for implementing policy .

Secretary of State for Education

The Department for Education and the post of Secretary of State for Education were recreated in 2010.

Responsibility for higher and adult education remains with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, currently Vince Cable.

3-1- Education policies: from Thatcher to Brown

Until 1988, there was no national curriculum. Regions or individual schools had a lot of independence.

The only compulsory subject was religious education. In the Education Act of 1988, the Conservative government introduced a national curriculum.

The national curriculum also introduced controversial formal assessments of progress, at the ages of seven, eleven, fourteen and sixteen.

In the 1980s, the Conservative governments introduced a primary school league table and a secondary school league table. These still exist today, and have remained controversial.

One of the main official aims of British schools is “ to promote pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepare all pupils for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life.”

The main second level examinations are the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education), at 16. Most students take between five and ten GCSEs.The General Certificate of Education at Advanced Level (GCE A Level) at 18, which are taken into account for university entrance. Pupils take A Levels in three or four subjects only.

Education policy under New Labour continued many of the Conservative reforms

Over the last 20 years there has been

- more competition between schools

- much more managerial power for individual headmasters.

- less power for local government

Today there are four kinds of schools

-community schools controlled by the Local authority

 - voluntary controlled schools, which are almost always church schools. However, the Local authority employs the schools' staff and has primary responsibility for admissions.

- voluntary aided schools, linked to a variety of organisations. Generally faith schools (often the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church, occasionally muslim or Jewish organizations), or they can be secular schools. They receive money from the government.

- foundation schools, (established in 1998) in which the governing body employs the staff and has primary responsibility for admissions.

There are 6,955 Christian faith schools in England.

2 300 are run by the Roman Catholic church

In addition, there are 7 Muslim,

36 Jewish,

2 Sikh and

1 Hindu faith schools

New Labour policy 1997-2010Continued promotion of diversity (faith schools

in particular).

Nearly 90% of state-funded secondary schools are now specialist schools, receiving extra funding to develop one or more subjects in which the school specializes.

Creation of privately sponsored academies where state schools are “failing”, : schools placed in the hands of, local businesses, voluntary agencies, and parents.

Specialist schools in England

We are improving the quality of teaching by:• Doubling the size of Teach First, which attracts top graduates to the teaching profession. •Introducing Troops to Teachers for former members of the armed forces and Teach Next for high fliers working in other sectors. •Allowing schools to reward good teachers and deal with under-performing teachers. • Stopping funding for teacher trainees who do not have a lower second degree or better.

The new Conservative government says :

3-2- Higher educationThere were only 23 British universities in 1960.

Today there are 87 universities and 64 institutions of higher education: about 1.5 million full-time students.

The vast majority of British universities are state financed, with only two private universities,

45% of each year group is in higher education.

However, the proportion of school leavers receiving higher education is still smaller than in Japan, the United States, or France.

Before 1990, students often received enough money in grants so they did not have to work while studying.

Now, the system of grants has been transformed into a system of loans. These loans will not need to be repaid until the student is earning a salary.

A minority of poorer students can still receive a maintenance grant,

The majority of students do not live with their parents.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) is a UK public sector organisation established to provide financial services, in terms of loans and grants, to over one million students annually. Its other key responsibility is the administration of the collection of repayments, from three million customers no longer in higher education.

Protests against fees and in favour of grants,

The loans are repaid directly out of the student's wages, at a rate of 9% of the excess earnings over £15,000 in the tax year.

Repayments continue until either the loan is paid off, the payments have been continuing for 25 years, or the student turns 65.

Since Tony Blair’s government, students must pay tuition fees (up to £3290 a year in 2010).

This year, fees in England have tripled, and can be up to £9 000 a year. The amount charged will vary between courses as well as between universities.

The loans system and the tuition fees establish a vision of higher education as a personal investment in one’s career, rather than as a public service or a citizen’s right.

In 2010 English students leaving university owed an average of £14 730 to the Student Loans Company. For Scottish students, the average was £5 970.

Welsh students studying first degrees in Wales pay up to £1200.

In Scottish universities there are no fees for first degrees for British or EU students.

Class sizes are far smaller than in France. A standard class size for tutorials is fifteen students.

Main examinations: The first university diploma you can get is a

degree, usually after 3 years of undergraduate course. If you pass, you become a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or a Bachelor of Science (BSc). Some courses last for four years; these usually have a “sandwich year” in industry or overseas.

Semesters 1, 2 and 3: You will spend the first three semesters in UL, getting a foundation in your two (or three) chosen languages and societies in which these languages are spoken, as well as in Linguistics, which is the science of language, and in your elective subject. In addition, you will acquire core skills in academic writing and communication.

Semesters 4 and 5: You will be on a work placement for the first semester (cooperative education) and you will be studying in a university for the second semester (external academic placement). Working and studying abroad gives you a fantastic opportunity to deepen your linguistic skills and cultural knowledge.

An example of the first years of an Applied Languages Degree

Then, you may follow a one or two-year post-graduate course involving some original research: Master of Arts or of Science (MA, MSc). You usually get your Master five years after starting university.

Liverpool university students at graduation

Glasgow university students

Last, you may do a three-year period of original research to become a Doctor of Philosophy: that’s a PhD (it does not have anything to do with philosophy).

Oxford and Cambridge (Oxbridge), are the two most prestigious universities in Britain. Most of the politicians, senior judges, senior civil servants, bank managers, etc., have attended a public school plus Oxbridge.

Now, more students of working-class backgrounds are being encouraged for places at Oxbridge.

Oxford

Cambridge

Sussex University

Liverpool University

However, still today, Oxford and Cambridge universities mostly recruit from the more privileged classes.

As in secondary education, University league tables are also published every year.

In 2004, just 10 percent of people from the poorest fifth of families acquired a degree by

age 23, compared with 44 percent of those from the richest fifth.

Pupils brought up on free school meals are 55 times less common at the universities of Cambridge or Oxford than those from private schools.

The proportion is 0.8 percent at both Oxford and Cambridge, while more than 40 percent of their students came from independent schools.

The vast majority of university students in the UK are members of the National Union of Students, which has nearly five million members. It campaigns for better conditions for students, against rises in tuition fees etc. It also frequently organizes social activities, bars, cinemas and so on on the campus.

Student union bar at Salford University.Often student facilities on campus are of high quality.

The most common reasons for young

people saying they are unlikely to go into

higher education:

the top reason is that they want to do

something more practical rather than

studying from books (36%)

This is followed by the desire to start

earning money as soon as possible (34%).