Chapter 4 Education in UK

Sept. 2005Xiao Huiyun

Objectives If the family is central to people's

lives, surely their next most significant experience is their education. In this chapter we will begin with a brief survey of the development of free universal education since the last century, and then take a closer look at the main institutions in which British people are formally educated.

Focal Questions What do you think are among the most

outstanding changes in the English education system since the 19th century?

What does the “streaming” system mean to you? Do you think the system is reasonable? Why?

What are some of the recent changes that have taken place in a) primary schools, b) secondary schools, and c) higher education?

Is university life in Britain different from that in China? If so, in which aspects?

Apart from universities, can you name some other higher and further education institutions in Britain?

Procedures

Presentation by Students – Focal questions 2 & 4

Lectures by the teacher Class discussion – Exploitation Ac

tivities Assignment for the next chapter

Soul of British Society

A1 Change & Reform in Schools

Before 1870 school set up by churches, 40% of children aged 10 attended

From 1870 onwards government took responsibility for education in response to changes caused by industrial revolution and movement for social & political reform

The 1944 Act in England& Wales gave all children the right to free secondary education

The tripartite system – at end of primary education children are selected by means of streaming. Those on the top stream (20%) went to grammar schools. The rest went to secondary modern and technical schools

A 1 Change & Reform cont.

1960s introduction of comprehensive schools – early selection & streaming not fair, equal educational opportunities & meritocracy

In 1999 85% of children attended comprehensive schools while 16% went to remaining gr. schools or private schools, problems of streaming still remain, holding back of brighter students, unjustified labelling

A 1 Change & Reform cont.

Types of Secondary Schools today Comprehensive schools +85% Grammar schools 4% secondary modern schools 4% City Technology Colleges (CTCs ) Specialist schools (England only)

A1 Change and Reform cont.

Recent reforms -- 1988 Education Reform Act National Curriculum for 5 – 16 year-olds and r

egular exams -- National Tests at 7, 11, 14 (p58)

Introduction of CTCs -- sponsors & main focus of curriculum

More power given to schools to run their affairs within the framework of national curriculum

A 1 Change & Reform cont

The National Curriculum in England and Wales is divided into four Key Stages (KS), three core subjects (English, Mathematics and Science) and nine non-core foundation subjects.

The Key Stages are age-related: KS 1 goes up to age seven, KS 2 from seven to eleven, KS 3 from eleven to fourteen (pre-GCSE) and KS 4 from fourteen to sixteen (preparation for GCSE and equivalent vocational qualifications) -

A 1 Reform & Change Key Stages and Tests

A1 Change & Reform cont

National Curriculum subjects: England English, Mathematics, Science, Design and Technology – this incorporate

s craft and design, food technology ICT- Information and communications technology History Geography Art and design Music Physical Education

A 1 Change & Reform cont. In Scotland there is no legally prescribed

national curriculum but the Scottish Executive Education Department sets out guidelines for teachers.

The curriculum in Northern Ireland is set by the Northern Ireland Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment.

A 1 Change & Reform cont 1992 all polytechnics and some colleg

es of higher education become universities.

1997 In universities grants are scrapped in favour of student loans, fee – 1000 pound sterling

1998 National scheme using laptops – expected to spread to all schools in 21st century

A2 Schools Today – Primary Phase Pre-school education is available (often on a fee-p

aying basis) for children aged two to four/five through playgroups and nursery schools. The emphasis is on group work, creative activity and guided play

Compulsory education begins at five in England, Wales and Scotland and four in Northern Ireland

There is little or no specialist subject teaching and great emphasis on literacy and numeracy in early years

The usual age for transfer to secondary schools is eleven in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and twelve in Scotland.

A 2 Schools Today – Secondary

Phase Compulsory education ends at age sixteen,

though many pupils stay on beyond the minimum leaving age . The main exam pupils should take is GCSE.

About 90% of state secondary school pupils in England, Wales and Scotland go to comprehensive schools, which provide a wide range of secondary education for most children of all abilities from a district in the eleven to eighteen age range (twelve to eighteen in Scotland)

At age sixteen pupils in England and Wales may transfer to sixth form colleges or tertiary colleges ,leading to GCE A level

A 2 School Today Exams Examinations

　　 At 16 students in England and Wales take GCSE examinations. These examinations are taken by students of all levels of ability in any of a range of subjects and may involve a final examination, an assessment of work done during the two year course, or both of these things. At 18 some students taken A-level examinations, usually in not more than 3 subjects. It is necessary to have A-levels in order to go to a university or other institutions of higher education

A 2 School Today Exams Examinations In Scotland students take the SCE examinations.

A year later, they can take examinations called HIGHERS, after which they can either go straight to a university or spend a further year at school and take the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies. In Scotland the university system is different to that in England and Wales. Courses usually last four years rather than three and students study a larger number of subjects as part of their degree.

A 2 Schools Today – Achieve-ment and Social Clas

s Since 1980s reform a general

improvement in qualifications by pupils at 16

Still a significant relationship between achievement of children and their parents’ social class

80% of children from professional middle class attend university compared with 17% from the poorest homes

A 2 Schools Today Independent Schools

Fee-paying, known as public schools 7% of schoolchildren attending Good teaching staff Eton – educated 19 Prime Ministers,

6 Chancellors of Exchequers, Shelley, Orwell, founded in 1440 by HENRY VI to educate sons of the poor for service of church & state. (see p69 for more)

A 2 School Today Public School -- Eton College

Eton with the tutor

A 2 Schools Today Public School -- Eton College

Eton Pupils

A2 Schools Today Public

Schools

Harrow School East Ham Grammar

School for Boys

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Universities 110 universities in UK. 93 in England, 13 in

Scotland, 2 in Wales and 2 in N. Ireland Over 42% of pupils become university

students on leaving school at 18 Two other main universities. University of

Buckingham (800 students) Open University (over 20,000 students). The latter non-residential university offering courses for adults of all ages. (more on p61 concerning important changes)

A 3 Institutions of Higher Learning Entrance Procedures In the third term of Year 12 students prepar

e their applications to university Applications are then made in the first term

of the Year 13 through one centralised organisation known as UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service )

Students can apply to a maximum of six universities/institutions.

Admission –selection on basis of A level results, schools &an interview

A 3 Institution of Higher learning Entrance Procedures If a university or institution is impressed by the

student’s UCAS form they will send an offer of a place conditional upon obtaining certain stated A Level grades

The final decision on which institution the student will actually attend will be taken when the A Level results are published in mid-August.

In the case of Cambridge applicants may be asked to obtain a good mark in an extra exam (called the STEP), which they can sit just after the A Level exams.

Applications through UCAS to Oxford and Cambridge also have to be sent by a special early deadline accompanied by a special extra form.

A 3 Institution of Higher Education Cambridge

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Cambridge

Cambridge University was founded in 1209 by students fleeing from Oxford after one of the many episodes of violence between the university and the town of Oxford.

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Former Vice-Chancellor

His term of office has seen major innovation and expansion at Cambridge and a period where Cambridge has topped league tables and drawn investment from the international business community.

Sir Alec Broers

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Cambridge Professor Sir Alec Broers said: “I became Vice-Chancellor because I believe

d that I could help Cambridge build on its strengths by reaching out. Companies and individuals from all over the world have worked with us to move forward our research agenda, and we’ve worked hard to attract and support outstanding students from many countries and backgrounds.”

The Vice-Chancellor is the principal academic and administrative officer of the University.

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Vice-Chancellor,

Cambridge It is a great honour that the

University of Cambridge has chosen me to be its Vice-Chancellor and to follow in the footsteps of a heritage of eminent Vice-Chancellors, including Professor Sir Alec Broers, Dame Rosemary Murray and Sir David Williams.

Leading a University with nearly 800 years' history and a pre-eminent status on the world intellectual stage is a daunting prospect, but I am looking forward wholeheartedly to the challenges ahead.

Professor Alison Richard

A 3 Institution of Higher Education Oxford University

A 3 Institution of Higher Education Oxford

Oxford University. Legend has it that Oxford University was founded by King Alfred in 872. A more likely scenario is that it grew out of efforts begun by Alfred to encourage education and establish schools throughout his territory. There may have been a grammar school there in the 9th century. A grammar school was exactly what it sounds like; a place for teaching Latin grammar. The University as we know it actually began in the 12th century as gatherings of students around popular masters. The university consisted of people, not buildings. The buildings came later as a recognition of something that already existed. In a way, Oxford was never founded; it grew.

A 3 Institutions of Higher Educations Chancellor, Oxford

I am very pleased to have been elected Chancellor of Oxford University.

Oxford is one of the greatest universities in the world. It has played a distinguished part in the history of our country and our continent, and has much to contribute to our success and our well-being as a civilised community in the future.

Chris Patten

A 3 Institutions of Higher Educations Vice-Chancellor Sir Colin Lucas has been

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford since 1997. He is the first Oxford Vice-Chancellor to serve for seven years, following the extension of his original four-year term of office, which has enabled him to see through a wide-ranging reform of the University's system of governance

Sir Colin Lucas

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Oxbridge

The Boat Race between Oxford & Cambridge started June 10, 1829

The event is now a British national institution, and is televised live each year. The race has been won by Cambridge 77 times and Oxford 71, with one dead heat in 1877. The most recent event was amongst the closest in history, with Oxford winning by less than a foot. One entertainment for spectators is the possibilty of a boat sinking. This has occurred on three occasions; to the Oxford crew in 1925 and to Cambridge in 1859 and in 1978.

The race is currently run over a four mile and 374 yard stretch of the River Thames between Putney and Mortlake in London.

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Oxbridge

The Dark Blue Crew

Oxford won the 2003 Boat Race, and with it the Aberdeen Asset Management Trophy, by the narrowest of margins after one of the most exciting finishes of all time.

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Oxbridge Boat Race

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Oxbridge

The Light Blues & Dark Blues

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Universities

Glasgow University Nottingham

University

A3 Institute of Higher Education Buckingham Uni.

Verney Park Campus Chandos RoadCampus

A 3 Institution of Higher Education Open University The Open University is ranked in

the top five of UK universities for the quality of teaching, according to a newly-published national table.

The university, whose headquarters are at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, has fifth spot – ahead of Oxford and University College London – in the Sunday Times University Guide 2003’s table of universities with the best marks for teaching

A 3 Institution of Higher Education Open University

The University Milton Keynes Pagoda

A3 Institutions of Higher Learning Crisis Universities in crisis In most universities resources are spent on day-

to-day teaching and research; non-essential work, such as building main tenance, has been put on the back-burner. At the same time academic salaries have stalled: plumbers earn more than professors; research staff are paid less than school dinner ladies. So top academics are fleeing to the US and there are chronic shortages of teaching staff in areas such as law, computing, maths and computers

A3 Institutions of Higher Education Crisis

How has all this come about? It boils down to a simple equation:

government funding has remained static over the past few decades while the number of students has skyrocketed. As a result, Britain would now have to spend £3.5bn a year just to bring the amount it spends per student up to the EU average. And to return to student funding levels of a decade ago an extra £5.9bn in annual grants would be needed, roughly an extra 3p in the pound in income tax. The Week

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education -- Universities

University graduates dominate British political leadership, especially those from Oxbridge – Thatcher, Blair, from Oxford; 2/3 of Blair’s cabinet members educated at Oxford or Cambridge

Individuals still feel positive about education

A3 Institute of Higher Education Teacher Training

To qualify as a teacher in Britain One can take a 4-year Bachelor of Edu

cation (BEd) degree Or follow any degree with a one- year

PGCE. In either case 2/3 of training will take

place in school classrooms

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Students’ Activities

Choir, Clare College

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Students’ Activities

Pubbing

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Students’ Activities

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Soccer

A 3 Institutions of Higher Education Choir

A 4 Further Education & Training FECs

Further education (FE) is distinct from higher education (HE)

FE comprises all provision outside school for people aged 16 and over, up to GCE A level or equivalent exams. There are 500/600 FECs.

Students study part-time or in the evening FE Colleges have strong links with industry and c

ommerce, employers often being involved in the design of the courses, e.g. secretarial studies & mechanical engineering.

FEC also offer foundation courses for older students returning to study after years of working to gain qualification for entry of higher education

A 4 Further Education & Training YTS

Objectives of Youth Training Scheme: To give a training opportunity to school leavers who

did not get a job or go on to university To ensure that these young people learn how to tran

sfer the skills they learn in one job to another Education elements in the training are supplied by F

ECs Critiques: 1. artificially reduce unemployment figure

s 2.reinforce young people’s status as determined by their class background

3. jobs are not guaranteed after training

End of Presentation