The School Education in Great Britain

The aim of education in general is to develop to the full the talents of both children and adults for their own benefit and that of society as a whole. It is a large-scale investment in the future.

The educational system of Great Britain has developed for over a hundred years. It is a complicated system with wide variations between one part of the country and another. Three partners are responsible for the education service: central government – the Department of Education and
Science (DES), local education authorities (LEAs), and schools themselves.
The legal basis for this partnership is supplied by the 1944 Education Act.

The Department of Education and Science is concerned with the formation of national policies for education. It is responsible for the maintenance of minimum national standard of education. In exercising its functions the DES is assisted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate. The primary functions of the Inspectors are to give professional advice to the
Department, local education authorities, schools and colleges, and discuss day-to-day problems with them.

Local education authorities are charged with the provision and day-to- day running of the schools and colleges in their areas and the recruitment and payment of the teachers who work in them. They are responsible for the provision of buildings, materials and equipment. However, the choice of text-books and timetable are usually left to the headmaster. The content and method of teaching is decided by the individual teacher.

The administrative functions of education in each area are in the hands of a Chief Education Officer who is assisted by a deputy and other officials.

Until recently planning and organization were not controlled by central government. Each LEA was free to decide how to organize education in its own area. In 1988, however, the National Curriculum was introduced, which means that there is now greater government control over what is taught in schools. The aim was to provide a more balanced education. The new curriculum places greater emphasis on the more practical aspects of education. Skills are being taught which pupils will need for life and work.

The chief elements of the national Curriculum include a broad and balanced framework of study which emphasizes the practical applications of knowledge. It is based around the core subjects of English, mathematics and science ( biology, chemistry, etc.) as well as a number of other foundation subjects, including geography, history, technology and modern languages.

The education reform of 1988 also gave all secondary as well as larger primary schools responsibilities for managing the major part of their budgets, including costs of staff. Schools received the right to withdraw from local education authority control if they wished.

Together with the National Curriculum, a programme of Records of
Achievements was introduced. This programme contains a system of new tests for pupils at the ages of 7, 11, 13 and 16. The aim of these tests is to discover any schools or areas which are not teaching to a high enough standard. But many believe that these tests are unfair because they reflect differences in home rather than in ability.

The great majority of children (about 9 million) attend Britain’s
30,500 state schools. No tuition fees are payable in any of them. A further
600,000 go to 2,500 private schools, often referred to as the “independent sector” where the parents have to pay for their children.

In most primary and secondary state schools boys and girls are taught together. Most independent schools for younger children are also mixed, while the majority of private secondary schools are single-sex.

State schools are almost all day schools, holding classes between
Mondays and Fridays. The school year normally begins in early September and continues into the following July. The year is divided into three terms of about 13 weeks each.

Two-thirds of state schools are wholly owned and maintained by LEAs.
The remainder are voluntary schools, mostly belonging to the Church of
England or the Roman Catholic Church. They are also financed by LEAs.

Every state school has its own governing body (a board of governors), consisting of teachers, parents, local politicians, businessmen and members of the local community. Boards of governors are responsible for their school’s main policies, including the recruitment of the staff.

A great role is played by the Parent Teacher Association (PTA).
Practically all parents are automatically members of the PTA and are invited to take part in its many activities. Parental involvement through the PTA and other links between parents and schools is growing . The PTA forms both a special focus for parents and much valued additional resources for the school. Schools place great value on the PTA as a further means of listening to parents and developing the partnership between home and school. A Parent’s Charter published by the Government in 1991 is designed to enable parents to take more informed decisions about their children’s education.

Compulsory education begins at the age of 5 in England, Wales and
Scotland, and at the age of 4 in Northern Ireland. All pupils must stay at school until the age of 16. About 9 per cent of pupils in state schools remain at school voluntarily until the age of 18.

Education within the state school system comprises either two tiers
(stages) – primary and secondary, or three tiers – first schools, middle schools and upper schools.

Nearly all state secondary schools are comprehensive, they embrace pupils from 11 to 18. The word “comprehensive” expresses the idea that the schools in question take all children in a given area without, selection.

NURSERY EDUCATION. Education for the under-fives, mainly from 3 to 5, is not compulsory and can be provided in nursery schools and nursery classes attached to primary schools. Although they are called schools, they give little formal education. The children spend most of their time in some sort of play activity, as far as possible of an educational kind. In any case, there are not enough of them to take all children of that age group.
A large proportion of children at this beginning stage is in the private sector where fees are payable. Many children attend pre-school playgroups, mostly organized by parents, where children can go for a morning or afternoon a couple of times a week.

PRIMARY EDUCATION. The primary school usually takes children from 5 to 11. Over half of the primary schools take the complete age group from 5 to 11. The remaining schools take the pupils aged 5 to 7 – infant schools, and 8 to 11 – junior schools. However, some LEAs have introduced first school, taking children aged 5 to 8, 9 to 10. The first school is followed by the middle school which embraces children from 8 to 14. Next comes the upper school (the third tier) which keeps middle school leavers until the age of 18. This three-stage system (first, middle and upper) is becoming more and more popular in a growing number of areas. The usual age for transfer from primary to secondary school is 11.

SECONDARY EDUCATION. Secondary education is compulsory up to the age of 16, and pupils may stay on at school voluntarily until they are 18.
Secondary schools are much larger than primary schools and most children
(over 80 per cent) go to comprehensive schools.

There are three categories of comprehensive schools:

1) schools which take pupils from 11 to 18,

2) schools which embrace middle school leavers from 12, 13or 14 to

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