The British educational system

The basic features of the British educational system are the following:

1. Education is compulsory for all children from 5 to 16. Many children in Britain attend nursery school from the age of about three, but these schools are not compulsory;

2. The academic year usually begins in September and runs to early July; it has 3 terms, divided by the Christmas and Easter holidays. In addition, all schools have a “half-term holiday”, lasting a few days or a week, in the middle of each term;

3. Compulsory education is free of charge, but parents may spend money on educating their children if they want to;

4. There are three stages of education. Children move from the first stage (primary) to the second stage (secondary) at around the age of eleven or twelve. The third stage is “further” education at university or college.

At the age of 5 children go to infant schools which are the first stage of primary education. There is no written timetable and classes are informal. From 7 to 11 they attend junior schools, the second stage of primary education. In primary school children are taught the so-called 3R’s: reading, writing and arithmetic. They also have music, physical training and art classes.

At the age of 11 children enter secondary schools. There are three types of state secondary schools in Britain. They are: grammar schools (for the most intelligent children), modern schools (for the less intelligent children) and comprehensive schools (for children of all abilities). Grammar schools lead towards higher education, and the others give general or vocational education to prepare students for employment or for further technical education. The regular secondary schools offer 7 years of schooling, with students from 11 to 18 years of age. The last two years (16-18) may be spent in a separate sixth form college, which concentrates on career training.

In 1988, for the first time in British history, a National Curriculum was introduced. The National Curriculum tells pupils which subjects they have to study, what they must learn and when they have to take assessment tests.

Between the ages of 14 and 16, pupils study for their GSCE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams. Pupils must take English Language, Math, and Science for GSCE, as well as half GSCE in a foreign language and Technology. In addition, they must also be taught Physical Education, Religious Education and Sex Education, although they do not take exams in these subjects.

Those who get good GSCE grades can stay at their school for another two years, if it has a sixth form and teaches the desired subjects, and then take “A” level (Advanced Level) exams. Otherwise they have to leave their school and go to a sixth-form college or college of further education. Further education colleges have strong ties with commerce and industry and offer courses in engineering, cooking or hairdressing.

The GCE Advanced (A) level is normally taken after a further two years of study. Good “A” level results in at least 2 subjects are necessary to get a place at a university. Universities choose their students after interviews. There are about 100 universities in Britain. The most famous of them are Oxford and Cambridge Universities.

Along with the state schools, there are about 500 private schools in Britain. Most of them charge fees. Some private schools are boarding schools, where children actually live in the school. Many schools admit day pupils as well as boarders. Private schools usually offer only the most academic line, and select those students who are most likely to succeed. The most expensive private schools are called “public schools” and they have a long history and tradition. Among the most famous “public schools” are Winchester, Eton, Westminster, Rugby and Harrow.

(busyteacher.org)

4. Complete the chart:

AGE	TYPE OF SCHOOLS		AGE	TYPE OF SCHOOLS
3-5 years			7-11 years
5 years			11-16 years
5-7 years			16-18 years

5. Answer the questions:

1. When does compulsory education start in England?

2. How long does primary education last?

3. When was a National Curriculum introduced?

4. Which subjects do British children study at school?

5. What is necessary to get a place at a university?

6. Is education in Britain free?

6. Make a report about the school education in Russia or in the USA

1. Listen to the text “Bill Gates” (Enterprise 2 p. 52, ex. 23), and then give the information about his education.

2. Read the text “Our University” and answer the questions after it:

Our University

(A Letter)

Dear Helen,

Don’t be angry with me for my long silence, but really I was too busy to write.

As you know, I left school in June and began to prepare for my entrance exams to the University. As both my mother and father are teachers I have made up my mind to be a teacher too. I think teaching is a noble profession.

I had to take four exams and passed all of them with excellent marks. So I’m glad to tell you that now I’m a first-year student at the Moscow State Teacher Training University.

I should like to show you the main building of our University. I can’t help admiring this fine old building with its beautiful columns. The first students entered it more than 120 years ago.

It goes without saying we, students, are very proud of this fact.

There are 18 faculties at our University which train teachers in many subjects: Russian, Literature, Geography, Chemistry, Biology, Foreign Languages and others. Many well-known professors teach at our University.

We have good libraries and reading-rooms and for those who go in for sports there are good gymnasiums and a stadium.

At present we have quite a lot of work as we have English practice, Grammar and Phonetics, Linguistics, History of our native land and other subjects. There is an English speaking club at our faculty. It gives us a good opportunity to master the language, but I don’t take part in it yet. I’m working hard at my pronunciation. There is a good language laboratory at our faculty where we work with the cassette-recorders. It helps us to find out our mistakes and to get rid of them in the shortest possible time.

So that’s the latest news about myself. Please write to me about your life and studies.

My best regards to your parents.

Yours,

Ann.

(Аракин, стр. 198-199)

a. When did Ann begin to prepare for her entrance exams to the University?

b. How many exams did she have to take?

c. How did she pass her exams?

d. What’s the name of her University?

e. When did the first students enter the University?

f. How many faculties are there at the University?

g. What are the main facilities there?

h. What gives her a good opportunity to master the language?

i. Where does she work with a cassette-recorder?

j. What help her to find out mistakes and get rid of them?

k. Does Ann like her University?

3. Discuss with your group-mates the importance of higher education. Does it influence our future life greatly or not?

4. Write a similar letter to your foreign friend (comment on the choice of your university).

5. Find information about a college or a university abroad. Make a report about it.

1. Learning English is compulsory in Russia. What’s the situation in Britain? Do they have to learn any foreign languages? Listen to the text “Learning languages - why can't the English do it?” to answer this question.

2. How well did you understand the text? Answer the quiz to check it.

1. The researchers at University College London found:

A. that people with well-developed brains were able to learn a foreign language.

B. that it is easiest to learn a language when you are young.

C. that people who are bilingual have well-developed brains.

2. In Britain, what proportion of people can speak a foreign language?

A. 5%

B. 10%

C. about half

3. British people who go to live in France or Spain

A. have to learn French or Spanish.

B. sometimes do not learn any French or Spanish

C. can only count to 20 in French or Spanish.

4. When they go to secondary school, English children:

A. start to learn a foreign language, normally French

B. start to learn Spanish

C. start to learn Italian

5. In some English secondary schools:

A. they teach Urdu and Punjabi

B. they do not teach languages at all

C. they take the children to Spain for a holiday

6. At the age of 14:

A. many English children leave school.

B. many English children start learning Spanish.

C. many English children stop learning a foreign language.

7. If young people do not learn a foreign language:

A. they will not pass their exams.

B. they will find it difficult to get a job.

C. they may not understand other countries and cultures.

8. Many British teenagers:

A. speak Punjabi and Urdu.

B. think that foreign languages are boring.

C. want to go to Spain for their holidays

9. The British government wants:

A. more adults to learn a foreign language.

B. children at primary school to learn a foreign language.

C. everyone to speak English.

10. The problem of language learning in England:

A. is difficult and will not be solved quickly.

B. is easy to solve.

C. has been exaggerated

I read an interesting story in the newspaper last week. It said that researchers at University College London had measured the brains of people who are bilingual (that is, people who speak two languages well) and also the brains of people who spoke only one language. They found that the part of the brain which processes information is better developed in people who are bilingual than in people who are mono-lingual. This effect is particularly strong in people who learnt a second language as a young child of less than five years old. So, quite simply, learning a second language makes your brain work better, and if you learn another language when you are very young, your brain will be very wonderful indeed!

If you are listening to this podcast, you are – I guess – learning a language which is not your own. So you must all have brains which work very well. The report in the newspaper is good news for you. Congratulations.

But it is bad news for us English, because we are really bad at learning foreign languages. Only the Americans are as bad as we are. So, British brains and American brains are perhaps not as good as the brains of people in a country like Switzerland where it is normal for people to speak two or even three languages to a high standard. In Britain, only about one adult in ten can communicate at all in a language other than English. In fact, “one in ten” may be too optimistic. A few years ago, a survey by a recruitment agency found that only 5% of British people could count to 20 in another language. What? How difficult is it to learn to count to 20 in German, or French, or Italian? British people who go to live in Spain or France are notorious for failing to learn Spanish or French, even after they have lived in the country for many years.

You probably know already that English children move from primary school to secondary school at the age of eleven. At secondary school, they start learning a foreign language, normally French. A year or two later, some children will start a second foreign language. At one time, the second foreign language was normally German, but this is not the case today. German language teaching has declined sharply in Britain. Spanish has taken its place. I do not know why Spanish has become so much more popular than German. Perhaps it is because so many English people go to Spain for their holidays.

In addition, in big cities where there is a large immigrant population, it is common for secondary schools to offer courses in south Asian languages like Punjabi or Urdu. But of course, most of the children who take these courses speak the language at home already. The courses give them a better knowledge and understanding of their own language, which is a good and important thing to do, but it does not teach them a new language.

When they are 14, children in England have to choose which subjects they will study for their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams, which they take when they are 16. The government decided a few years ago that it would no longer be compulsory for children to include a foreign language in the subjects they chose. The result has been that the number of children who study a language after the age of 14 has fallen dramatically. The number of children taking the GCSE French exam, for example, has fallen by 50% since 2001.

We see the same pattern when we look at British universities. The total number of students at university in Britain has risen, but the number of students taking degree courses in foreign languages has fallen. There have been particularly big declines in the numbers studying French and German.

This is not a good situation. Everyone – politicians, school teachers, academics – agree about this. If young people do not study a foreign language, probably they will not understand much about other countries or other cultures. Most British teenagers, however, do not think that learning a foreign language is interesting or important. They think that they will never need to speak a foreign language, and that all foreigners speak English anyway. Foreign languages have a low status with young people. Our government thinks that part of the answer is to start language learning at a younger age. It wants primary schools to start teaching a foreign language. However, at the same time, it has cut funding for adult education classes in foreign languages.

The problem is complicated and deep-seated. How do you think that we can interest more young people in England in learning languages?

(http://www.listen-to-english.com/index.php?id=446)

3. Most British teenagers do not think that learning a foreign language is interesting or important. They think that they will never need to speak a foreign language, and that all foreigners speak English anyway. Foreign languages have a low status with young people.

Express your opinion on this problem. Do you agree with the British teenagers or not?

3. So now some of you are supposed to present their reports, the others will interpret for them.