Schools in the United Kingdom

Education in the United Kingdom is compulsory from the age of five to sixteen. Children under five go either to nursery schools, or to playgroups. Both types of pre-primary educational establishments are non-state; the difference is that a child spends the whole day in a nursery school, while he or she can stay in a playgroup only for some hours a day. Anyway, the main aim of such kind of establishments is to make the children ready for primary schools. Children play, draw, modelling from clay and learn to work together.

Compulsory education for all children begins at the age of five. There are 35,000 state schools in Britain. All of them are the responsibility of the Local Educational Authorities (LEA). The LEA caters for l he curriculum and exams in each region; they also appoint head teachers and held assessment tests at schools.

Primary school is for children from five to eleven. At first the studies are more like playing than working; English teachers say that this is the host way for children to get used to school. Probably they are right: children learn better when they play. Lessons usually last from nine in the morning till four or five in the afternoon with a long break at the lunchtime.

At the age of eleven pupils go to comprehensive schools. Children usually wear a uniform; it is different in different schools. They study Maths, English, Arts, English Literature, Geography, one or two foreign languages, usually French, Italian or German, PE (Physical Education), IT (Information Technology), Religion, Science, Biology, Sex Education and other subjects.

At the end of their studies they take General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations (GCSE) 0-level, and then they either leave school and start working or continue their studies at school or at college for two more years. This is called the sixth form at school or the sixth form college, and the students take only the subjects they need for entering the university of their choice.

At the age of eighteen they take GCSE A-level. They usually take three or four A-levels. There are no entrance exams to universities, so the students can enter a university or a college on the results of their A-level examinations.

Speaking about education in the UK it is necessary to say that there is a great difference between state education and private education. State schools are free, and about ninety per cent of all children attend them. Private or public schools are very expensive. These are usually boarding schools, where children stay while they study, coming home only on vacations. These schools are for children between thirteen and eighteen. Before entering a public school children are usually educated at home. State schools are usually mixed, while private schools are typically single-sex, with a few exceptions.

 

Exercises

1. Give the Russian equivalents of the following words and word combinations:

Local Educational Authorities; primary school; comprehensive school; secondary school; Art; English Literature; Information Technology; General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations; A-level, O-Level; state education; private education; public schools; boarding schools; mixed.

 

2. Give the English equivalents of the following words and word сcombinations:

обязательный; до пяти лет; или... или; детский сад; лепить; учебный план; директор; больше похоже на...; школьная форма; иностранные языки; продолжать обучение; подготовительный класс колледжа; бесплатный; каникулы.

 

3. Answer the following questions.

1. From what age is education in the United Kingdom compulsory?

2. What are the establishments for pre-primary education?

3. What is the difference between nursery schools and playgroups?

4. How many state schools are there in Great Britain?

5. What does the LEA do?

6. At what age do children go to primary schools?

7. What subjects do children take in secondary schools?

8. What kind of exam do the pupils take at the age of sixteen?

9. When do the pupils take GCSE A-level?

10. Are there any entrance exams in British universities?

 

4. Make up sentences using the following table.

At the age of

pupils children

Go to take

nursery schools. GCSE 0-level playgroups, secondary schools, primary schools. GCSE A-level.

5. Compare British and Russian schools. Speak on the following:

• age of admission to schools;

• term of compulsory education;

• subjects;

• exams;

• uniform;

• admission to colleges and universities.

 

6. Fill in the blanks with the following words:

boarding; run; comprehensive; year; graduates; facilities; mixed; public

Mike goes to a... school in Birmingham. He is thirteen and is in his third... now. His parents wanted to send him to a... school but Mike was against it. He likes his school and his studies, and he thinks that if he went to a... school, he would miss his home. The school he goes to is.... Mike has a lot of friends at school both among boys and girls. The classes...from nine am till quarter past four pm. Mike’s favorite subject at school is IT. He says he wants to become a programmer when he.... Besides, he is fond of sports. He plays football and volleyball. The school he goes to has excellent sports....

 

7. Read and translate into Russian.

Eton is one of the oldest public schools in Great Britain. It is a single-sex school. Today it is a secondary school for approximately 1,280 boys between the ages of 13 and 18, all of whom are boarders. Boys live in Houses. There are about fifty boys in each House. Every House has its House Master. For academic purposes, the School is divided into five Blocks, from F to B. Boys normally spend one year in each block, moving up in September. On arrival in the School, a boy is assigned a Tutor by his House Master. The Tutor’s principal function is to assist House Masters in monitoring academic performance; he also fosters his pupils’ personal, cultural, and social development. His pupils, come to him in small groups once a week for a Tutorial, in which they follow a programme of Study Skills, Personal-Social-Health Education (PSHE – designed to raise a boy’s awareness of moral, social, and health issues), and topics chosen by the Tutor. When the boy becomes a Specialist, i.e. when he enters С and embarks on A-level work, he chooses a new Tutor. This will normally be a Master who teaches what is likely to be the boy’s principal A-level subject. There are thirty-seven scheduled schools (i.e. lessons) a week in which formal teaching taken place, but almost all boys have one or more reading schools (i.e. free periods). Boys are taught in divisions (i.e. sets or forms) normally containing about ten or twelve boys of broadly similar ability in the case of Specialists and about twenty in the case of Non-Specialists. In each block, a programme of regular out-of-school work is laid down.

There are a lot of facilities in Eton. Computing (along with Design and Technology, Music, Drama, and Art) forms a compulsory part of the syllabus during the first year and is an optional subject thereafter. In the Design Centre there are facilities for woodwork, metalwork, silver work and electronics. A huge number of boys have music lessons, and there are numerous bands, orchestras, and small groups. Most departments have a building of their own where the boys are taught.

 

8. Speak about schools in Great Britain.