The First Level Of Education

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

EDUCATION

School, colleges, universities in the UK (educational system – structure)

Nikoleta Kozárová

2AJ9B

2012/2013

Everybody agrees that education is an important part of our life. How Helvetius said: "Education made us what we are". Education is a subject about which more and more people worldwide care deeply. UK education is attracting many students over the world including Slovakia. They would like to study there either at secondary school or Universities because of quality education, gain experience or just simply because of improving their English.

Nationally responsible for education in the UK is the Department for Education and Skills in England (DfES). DfES decide educational policy and also organizes funding but each school is responsible for its own budget itself. Each school also has a board of governors. This is a group people, can be elected teachers, parents, people from the local community, who are responsible for matters such as spending, appointments and dismissals. It’s not compulsory to have children at school if you want to become a governor, but it should be really good if you can set plans or aims for your children’s school.

We have lots of opportunities to study in Britain. There are hundreds of schools, colleges, universities, including some of the most famous in the world such as Cambridge or Oxford, where many students would like to study. Compulsory education is for all children between the ages of 5 to 18 free. The leaving age was 16 but was raised to 18 by the Education and Skills Act 2008. My friend from Britain said that it looks like that Britain’s children are less wise than others and because of this they have to attend school till 18. There are also public schools, which are independent and there are high fees for study. Even though UK provides free compulsory study there are real differences between poor and rich family. The rich families have more options to choose the right schools than poor families and normally children from poorest families attend low level, least popular schools. Also higher education is not free and sometimes really expensive. What is on one side good that not everybody, as in some countries study at Universities just because it is free, but on the other side not every student however they can be really wise can’t afford higher education and grants are not widely available. Compulsory education is divided into two stages and it is: Primary and Secondary education.

Children can attend pre-school education before the age of 5 and it can take a form of playgrounds, nursery schools, toddler groups etc. Even though it is no compulsory it is really good preparing for their further education, the emphasis is mainly on group work, creative activity and guided play. Some primary schools have their own nursery classes which can be good for their further study.

The first level of education is known as primary education. Primary education is divided into 2 schools and it is infant schools, which attend children from 5 to 7 and after junior schools for children from 7 to 11. In primary schools is the average class around 26-27 children and somewhere with over 30 pupils, which is so much for one class. It should be fewer pupils in each classroom which should enable teachers to pay more attention to each pupil.

Most children transfer at the age of 11 usually to their nearest secondary school. There is no entrance examination necessary, which mean that they can choose their secondary schools. There teachers teach specialist subjects such as Literacy, Numeracy, ICT etc. About 90% of pupils go to a comprehensive school, which take children of all abilities and provide a wide range of secondary education. There are also specialist schools, which are specialized in a particular area such as languages, sports, technology, and art, it's good for pupils who are interested in specific subjects and would like to study it further. But in some areas still exist grammar school, which are selective, they offer academically oriented general education and where is entrance examination necessary, which is good because this entrance is based on a test of ability and schools can choose their further pupils. At the age of 16 pupils may decide either to stay on in the "sixth form" at their own school or transfer to a sixth form college. Sixth form colleges are not part of schools sector but independent, where students study for advanced school level qualification and sixth form represent final 2 years of secondary education.

Compulsory education is divided by national curriculum into four Key Stages, which consist of three core subjects and nine foundation subjects. The National Curriculum sets out what should be taught and standards they should achieve. Nowadays is very little learning of foreign languages but they are planning to increase it in the future. It would be really good for pupils to learn foreign languages because nowadays they are so important not just in schools but also in their future, for finding jobs, traveling or communicate with other people.

At the end of each Key Stage pupils are assessed, but the most important examination is at the age of 16 and it is GCSE examination what is General Certificate of Secondary Education. Usually at the age of 14 pupils choose subjects which they want to study for their GCSE examination, that’s mean that from the age of 14 each pupil has their own personal timetable. If students want to study at University they have to do "A" level (Advanced level) examination which is prerequisite for University study.

Teachers in the UK have to complete a course of initial teacher training which leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). They can do this by taking course in Education leading to a Bachelor of Education or if they have another degree and they decided to become teacher they can take degree in another subject then one year Postgraduate Certificate of Education Qualification. In UK exists The Teaching Agency, which is responsible for initial teacher training and provides a comprehensive program of support to help you become a teacher in England. It is really good to have an agency not just a University to help students for future career if they want to become a teacher. There are lots of different initial courses. It is a great opportunity to spend time at schools to practice and develop teaching skills and learn about teaching methods.

UK provides compulsory education for all children for free but we can still see the differences between rich and poor families and it is reflected also in education. Most children still go to the nearest school mainly children from poorer neighborhoods and they often do not have the chance to choose the best school. Even though in the UK would like to study still more and more students it is not really easy if you don’t have enough money especially for University study. But for their quality education and famous schools UK will still attract lots of students for studying there.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Diagram_of_UK_School_System.svg

http://www.teachingintheuk.com/go/uk-teaching-info/school-system/

http://resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/education/schools.html

https://www.pre-school.org.uk/#

https://www.education.gov.uk/

http://www.familylearning.org.uk/education_in_england.html

http://www.britishcouncil.org/brussels-exams-school-exmas.htm

http://projectbritain.com/

http://www.camgtp.com/home