Higher Education in The U.K.

There are more than 60 universities in the U.K. The leading universities are Cambridge, Oxford and London. English universities differ from each other in traditions, general organization, internal goverment, etc. British universities are comparatively small, the approximate number is about 7-8 thousand students. Most universities have under 3000 students, some even less than 1500 ones. London and Oxford universities are international, because people from many parts of the world come to study at one of their colleges. A number of wellknown scientists and writers, among them Newton, Darvin, Byron were educated in Cambridge.

A university consists of a number of departments: art, law, music, economy, education, medicine, engineering, etc.

After three years of study a student may proceed to a Bachelor's degree, and later to the degrees of Master and Doctor. Besides universities there are at present in Britain 300 technical colleges, providing part-time and full-time education.

The organization system of Oxford and Cambridge differs from that of all other universities and colleges. The teachers are usually called Dons. Part of the teaching is by means of lectures organized by the university. Teaching is also carried out by tutorial system. This is the system of individual tuitio organized by the colleges. Each student goes to his tutor's room once a week to read and discuss an essay which the student has prepared.

Some students get scholarship but the number of these students is comparatively small. There are many sociaties and clubs at Cambridge and Oxford. The most celebrating at Cambridge is the Debating Sociaty at which students discuss political and other questions with famous politicians and writers. Sporting activities are also numerous.

The work and games, the traditions and customs, the jokes and debates - all are parts of students' life there.

It should be mentioned that not many children from the working-class families are able to receive the higher education as the fees are very high (more than L1000 a year). Besides that special fees are taken for books, for laboratory works, exams and so on.

19Election in UK.

There are five types of elections in the United Kingdom: United Kingdom general elections, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, elections to theEuropean Parliament, local elections and mayoral elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. General elections have fixed dates, and must be called within five years of the opening of parliament following the last election. Other elections are held on fixed dates though in the case of the devolved assemblies and parliaments, early elections can occur in certain situations. Presently, six electoral systems are used: the single member plurality system(First Past the Post), the multi member plurality system, party list PR, the single transferable vote, the Additional Member System and the Supplementary Vote.

Elections are administered locally: in each lower-tier local authority, the actual polling procedure is run by the Returning Officer and the compiling and maintenance of the electoral roll by the Electoral Registration Officer (except in Northern Ireland, where the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland assumes both responsibilities). TheElectoral Commission only sets standards for and issues guidelines to Returning Officers and Electoral Registration Officers, but is responsible for nationwide electoral administration (such as the registration of political parties and directing the administration of national referendums).

21An outstanding person in GB.

Kings and Queens: Queen Elizabeth 1, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth 2

Politicians: Winston Churchil, Baroness Margaret Tetcher

Writers and poets: William Shekspeare, Daniele Defoe, Charls Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Dame Agatha Christie

Philosophers and Economists: Francis Bacon,

Inventors and Scientists: Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin

Actors and actresses, filmmakers: Sir Charlie Chaplin, Dame Elizabethe Taylor, Alfred Hitchock, Hugh Grant, Orlando Bloom, Kiera Knightley, Daniele Redkliffe

Musicians and singers: Sir Elton John, Phil Collins, George Michael, Robbie Williams

23Main political parts of UK.

Three parties dominate politics in the House of Commons. They all operate throughout Great Britain (only the Conservative and Unionist Party stands candidates in Northern Ireland). Most of the British Members of the European Parliament and the National Assembly for Wales represent one of these parties:

§ Conservative and Unionist Party, centrist to right-wing (traditionally centre-right and pragmatic; has always been a diverse and not always harmonious coalition) (306 seats in the House of Commons)

§ Labour Party, centrist to Left-wing (traditionally socialist; is now a broad socialist and trade unionist to social liberal and social democratic party) (258 seats)

§ Co-operative Party (all Co-operative Party MPs are also Labour MPs as part of a long-standing electoral agreement)

§ Liberal Democrats, centrist to centre-left (heavily influenced by social liberalism). (57 seats)

See also: Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom 2004-2009

[edit]Political parties with elected representation at a national or international level

Party	UK House of Commonsmembers	Scottish Parliamentmembers	National Assembly for Walesmembers	Northern Ireland Assemblymembers	European Parliamentmembers	Notes
Conservative and Unionist Party				N/A		Centre-right party which can be loosely divided into three categories, though with considerable overlap: TheThatcherites or Conservative Way Forward, who strongly support a free market and tend to be Eurosceptic, the economically moderate, oft more europhile but socially conservative One Nation Conservatives, and the socially conservative, deeply eurosceptic Cornerstone Group.
Liberal Democrats				N/A		Radical centrist, and socially progressive; strongly support greater European integration. Promote social liberalism; opposing what they call the 'nanny state', while supporting the welfare state for the basic necessities of life. The party's two dominant factions are the centre-left social democratic grouping, and the economic liberal, 'Orange Book' one.
Labour Party	258 (inc Lab Co-op)	46 (inc 9 as Lab Co-op)	26 (inc 4 as Lab Co-op)	N/A		Centre-left; historically allied to Trade unions; mixed market (Third Way) policies have replaced its earlier moresocialist platform in recent years, has still socialist MPs and Left-wing factions within the party such as the Socialist Campaign Group; supports greater Pro-Europeanism.
Democratic Unionist Party		N/A	N/A			More hardline Unionist party in Northern Ireland, has a socially right-wing political agenda, with historical ties to Protestant working classes, thus a centre-left economic history until recently.
Scottish National Party	6^[2]		N/A	N/A		Centre-left party in favour of Scottish independence.
† Sinn Féin		N/A	N/A		1^[3]	Left-wing Irish republican party that supports the unification of the island of Ireland as a 32-county Irish republic.
Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales	3^[2]	N/A		N/A		Centre-left party in favour of Welsh independence.
Social Democratic and Labour Party		N/A	N/A			Centre-left, irish nationalist party.
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland		N/A	N/A			Liberal party in Northern Ireland that aims to break down sectarian divisions between Catholics and Protestants. Has a neutral stance on the Constitutional issue of Northern Ireland's status and is linked with the Liberal Democrats.
Green Party of England and Wales		N/A		N/A		Generally Social Democratic, environmentalist party. Favours British republicanism
Ulster Unionist Party		N/A	N/A			Unionist party in Northern Ireland which is traditionally an amalgam of the political spectrum, considered more moderate than the Democratic Unionist Party.
Scottish Green Party			N/A	N/A		Generally Social Democratic, environmentalist party in favour of Scottish independence.
Green Party in Northern Ireland		N/A	N/A			Social Democratic, environmentalist party in Northern Ireland.
Traditional Unionist Voice		N/A	N/A			Conservative unionist party in Northern Ireland, opposed to the St Andrews Agreement.
UK Independence Party						Eurosceptic, Libertarian^[4] conservative and populist party which favours withdrawal from the European Union, small government and economic liberalism.
British National Party						Nationalist, far right, party who support withdrawal from the European Union, halting immigration and Third positioneconomics.

24 The capital of GB and biggest cities.The capital, seat of government, and largest city of the United Kingdom is London, which is also the capital of England.

England - The capital is London.

Scotland - The capital is Edinburgh.

Wales - The capital is Cardiff.

Northern Ireland - The capital is Belfast.

(The capital of the UK is London.)

25 Geographical position.

There are two large islands and several smaller ones, which lie in the north-west coast of Europe. Collectively they are known as the British Isles. The largest island is called Great Britain. The smaller one is called Ireland. Great Britain is separated from the continent by the English Channel. The country is washed by the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Great Britain is separated from Belgium and Holland by the North Sea, and from Ireland - by the Irish Sea.

In the British Isles there are two states. One of them governs of the most of the island of Ireland. This state is usually called the Republic of Ireland. The other state has authority over the rest of the territory. The official name of this country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But it is usually known by a shorter name - "The United Kingdom". The total area of Great Britain is 244,000 square km.

They say that the British love of compromise is the result of the country's physical geography. This may or may not be true, but it certainly true that the land and climate in Great Britain have a notable lack of extremes. The mountains in the country are not very high. It doesn't usually get very cold in the winter or very not in the summer. It has no active volcanoes, and an earth tremors which does no more than rattle teacups in a few houses which is reported in the national news media. The insular geographical position of Great Britain promoted the development of shipbuilding, different training contacts with other countries.

 

26 The famouse British paintors.

John Constable (1776-1837)

William Blake (1757-1827)