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11 d'agost de 2007
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EDUCATION SYSTEM IN ANGLOSAXON COUNTRIES

 

1 The education system

 

The basic features of the British educational system are the same as they are anywhere in Europe: full-time education is compulsory up to the middle teenage years; the academic year begins at the end of summer; compulsory education is free of charge. There are three recognised stages, with children moving from the first stage (primary) to the second stage (secondary) at around the age of eleven or twelve. The third (tertiary) stage is ?further? education at university or college.

 

Children under 5 receive pre-school education. Some go to playgroups several times a week and take part in structured play (play with some educational purpose). Others go to a nursery school or to the nursery department or kindergarden of a school.  The emphasis is on acquiring social skills rather than academic ones. The availability of pre-school education varies from area to area, and parents often have to pay for it. Children are required to be in full-time education between the ages of 5 and 16. Different areas of Britain have different school systems. In some areas children receive their primary education at an infant school and then a junior school, or at a primary school that combines the two. At about 11 they begin their secondary education at a comprehensive school, a grammar school or a high school. The comprehensive schools are being complemented by new City Technology Colleges specialising in transferable skills.  There are also other new schools catering for those gifted in such subjects as music. And in recognition of the multiethnic dimension of British society, so called ?faith schools? have also been set up. In other areas children go to a first school at age 5, a middle school at 8 and an upper school from 13 onwards. Some pupils especially those hoping to go to university stay at school for the sixth form or go to a sixth-form.

 

Most children go to state schools. Until 1988 these were all responsible to a Local Education Authority (LEA). LEAs obtain their funding from central government and the council tax. In 1988 encouraged to opt out of LEA control and become grant-maintained. These schools receive money direct from central government are run by a board of governors consisting of parents and members of the public. In Scotland and Northern Ireland most schools are still managed by local authorities.

 

Some children go to independent schools run by private organisations, for which their parents have to pay fees. A few go to public schools. Younger children may attend a private preparatory school until the age of 13, Some parents may  send their children to private schools, even if this is against their principles, because they think that their children will receive a better education. Most primary and secondary schools offer a rage of extra-curricular activities, including sports, music, community service, and trips to places of interest. ?Secondary schools also give careers advice and help students to prepare for having a job by arranging short periods of work experience with local businesses.

 

2 Standards in education

 

Since 1988 the subjects to be taught in state schools have been laid down in the National Curriculum, which also sets the standards to be achieved. Children have to study the core subjects of English, mathematics and science, and also the foundation subjects of technology, geography, history, art, music, and physical education. Older children take a foreign language. The National Curriculum does not apply in Scotland, and schools there are free to decide how much time they devote to each subject. Children do standard assessment tests at ages 7, 11 and 14. At 16 students take exams for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) or the Scottish Certificate of Education. Some may take GNVQs (General National Vocational Qualifications) in work-related subjects. Some students go on to study for A levels in three or four subjects.

 

Schools are visited regularly by OFSTED inspectors, and schools whose pupils are not making adequate progress or in which discipline is poor risk being closed down. School performance tables are published annually to show how well students in individual schools have done in tests and exams.

 

Many students go to university and study for a bachelor?s degree. Others study for a certificate or diploma at a college of further education. Most courses at these colleges train people in a particular skill and combine periods of study with work experience.  Some people can attend evening classes run by adult education institutes. Open learning schemes enable people to obtain recognised qualification such as a degree from the Open university or a qualification in accountancy, without having to leave their job.

 

3 The public school system

 

The first major schools to be established in England, called public schools, are in fact private in the sense that they are fee-paying. Their foundation was associated with the Church. Eton, Winchester, _Westminster and Harrow are regarded as the top public schools, and until recently they have been largely schools for boys. Only 7% of schools are independent, and the public schools are perceived to provide the best education for the children of the most privileged and powerful in English society. Stereotypical public schools:

 

         Are for boys only from the age of thirteen onwards, most of whom attended a private ?prep?

         Take fee-paying pupils (and some scholarship pupils who have won a place in a competitive exam and whose parents don?t pay)

         Are boarding schools (students live there during term-time)

         Are divided into houses, each house being looked after by a housemaster

         Make some of the senior boys perfects, which means that they have authority over the other boys and have their own servants called fags, who are appointed among the youngest boys

         Place great emphasis on team sports

         Enforce their rules with the use of physical punishment

         Have a reputation for a relatively great amount of homosexual activity

         Are not at all luxurious or comfortable.

 

4 Exams and qualifications

 

GCSE: General Certificate of Secondary Education. The exams taken by most fifteen to sixteeen year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Marks are given for each subject separately. The sylabuses and methods of examination of the various examing boards differ. However, there is a uniform system of marks, all being graded from A to G. Grades A, B and C are regarded as good grades.

 

SCE: Scottish Certificate of Education. The Scottish equivalent of GCSE. These exams are set by the Scottish Examination Board. Grades are awarded in numbers (1 the best).

 

A levels: Advanced levels. Higher-level academic exams set by the examining boards that set GCSE exams. They are taken mostly by people around the age of eighteen who wish to go on to higher education.

 

SCE Highers: The Scottish equivalent of A-levels.

 

AS levels: Extra exams which have been recently added for 17 year-olds.

 

GNVQ: General National Vocational Qualification. Courses and exams in job-related subjects. They are divided into five levels, the lowest level being equivalent to GCSEs and the third level to A-levels. Most commonly, GNVQ courses are studied at Colleges of Further Education.

 

Degree: A qualification from a university. Other qualifications obtained after secoindary education are usually called certificate or diploma. Students studying for a first degree are called undergraduates. When they have been awarded a degree, they are known as graduates.

 

Bachelor?s degree: The general name for a first degree, most commonly BA Bachelor of Arts or BSC Bachelor of Science.

 

Master?s degree: The general name for a second postgraduate degree most commonly a MA or MSc.

 

Doctorate: The highest academic qualification. This usually carries the title PHD (Doctor of Philosophy).

 

5 Public exams

 

The organisation of the exams that schoolchildren take from the age of fifteen onwards exemplifies the lack of uniformity in British education. First, these exams are not set by the government, but by independent examining boards. Everywhere except Scotland (which has its own single board) each school or LEA decides which board?s exams its pupils take. Some schools even enter their pupils for the exams of more than one board. Second, the boards publish a separate syllabus for each subject. There is no unified school-leaving exam or school-leaving certificate. Nearly all students do exams in English language, Maths, and a science subject, and only some in technology o a foreign language (usually French). Many students take exams in three or more additional subjects. Third, the exams have nothing to do with school years. They are divorced from the school system. Most people who do these exams are school pupils, but formally it is individual people who enter for theses exams, not pupils in a particular year of school.

 

An example of the independence of the examining boards is the decision of one of them (The Northern Examinations Board) in 1992 to include certain popular television programmes on their English literature syllabus. This was against the spirit of the government?s education policy at that time. The idea of 100.000 school children settling down to watch the Australian soap opera Neighbours as part of their homework made government ministers very angry, but there was nothing they could do to stop it.

 

6 Types of university

 

There are no important official or legal distinctions between the various types of university in the UK. But it is possible to discern a few broad categories:

 

Oxbridge: this name denotes the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. They are federations of semiindependent colleges, which have their dining hall, library and chapel. Their staff are called fellows, and have the lowest student/staff ratio in Britain.

 

The old Scottish universities: By 1600 Scotland boasted four universities: Glasgow, Aberdeen, Edingurgh and St Andrews. The last one resembles Oxbridge. There is less specialization than at Oxbridge.

 

The early 19th century English universities: Durham was fouunded in 1832, the University of London in 1836. The central organisation is responsible for little more than exams and the awarding of degrees.

 

The older civic redbrick universities: Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. Their buildings were of local material, often brick, in contrast to the stone of older universities. They catered for local people.

 

The campus universities: These are purpose-built institutions located in the countryside but close to towns. Examples are East Anglia, Lancaster, Sussex and Warwrick. They have accommodation for most of their students on site. They tend to emphasise relatively new academic disciplines such as social sciences.

 

The newer civic universities: They were originally technical colleges set up by local authorities in the first half of the 20th century They are all financed by the central government.

 

The Open University: This is one development in education in which Britain can claim to have led the world. It was started in 1969. It allows people who do not have the opportunity to be ordinary students to study for a degree. Its courses are taught through television, radio and specially written coursebooks.

 

 

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