State primary and secondary schools

· compulsory education is free of charge, though parents may choose a private school and spend their money on educating their children. About 93% of pupils receive free education from public funds, while the others attend independent schools financed by fees paid by parents.

· there are three stages of schooling, with children moving from primary school (the first stage) to secondary school (the second stage). The third stage (sometimes called the tertiary level)provides further and higher education and includes colleges of further education, technical colleges, colleges of higher education, and universities.

There is, however, quite a lot that distinguishes education in Britain from the way it works in other countries. The most important distinguishing features are the lack of uniformity and comparatively little central control.

The educational system of England and Wales is extremely complex and bewildering. It is very difficult to generalize about particu­lar types of schools as schools differ from one to the other. This is to be expected, considering that each school is responsible for its own organization and curriculum: Administration of state schools (maintained schools) is decentralized. The Department of Education and Science is responsible for national educational policy, but it doesn't run any schools, and it doesn't employ teachers, or prescribe curricula or textbooks. These matters are left to the local education authorities (LEAs) who pass the responsibili­ty on to the school governing bodies, schools and head teachers. Each school has its own "board of governors", consisting of teachers, parents, local politicians, members of the local community, busi­nessmen and sometimes pupils. All schools are given a considerable amount of freedom. According to the law, only one subject is compulsory, that of Religious Instruction.

Schooling for children is compulsory from 5 to 16, though some provision is made for those under 5 (nursery schools, day nurseries), and some pupils remain at school beyond the minimum leaving age of 16, to prepare for further or higher education.

Education within the maintained school system usually comprises two stages — primary and secondary education. The majority of primary schools are mixed. In most counties these schools are subdivided into Infant schools (ages 5—7 and junior schools (ages 7—11/12).

Infant schools are largely informal. Children are encouraged to read, write and make use of numbers (the three Rs — reading, writing, arithmetic) and to develop their creative abilities. Subject teaching is rare. The work is based upon the pupils' in­terests as far as possible. Primary children do all their work with the same class teacher, except for physical education and music, which are often taught by specialist teachers.

The junior stage extends over 4 years. Teaching is often more formal than it is in infant schools. In junior schools children have set periods of Arithmetic, Reading, Composition, History, Geography, Nature Study and other subjects. (Some counties have "middle" schools rather than "junior" schools. In these counties children go to primary school from 5 to 7/8, middle school from 7/8 to 11/12 or 13 and senior school from 11/12 or 13 to 16.)

At this stage of schooling pupils were often placed in A, B, C or D streams according to their ability and attainment. The most able children were put in the A stream, the least able in the D stream. The lower streams either followed a simplified curricu­lum, or if there was a common curriculum, covered less material. Opposition to streaming has increased in recent years, and nowadays some schools have modified forms of streaming, some have unstreamed classes (mixed-ability classes/groups).

The usual age of transfer from primary to secondary school is 11. Till recently, most junior schoolchildren had to sit for the eleven-plus examination (Secondary Selec­tion Examination) which was important, for it concluded the primary stage of education and decided what kind of secondary school the child would attend. So the results of this exam affected the child's future. It usually consisted of an arithmetic paper, an English paper, and an intel­ligence test which played the dominant role because it was supposed to determine the child's inborn abilities, and his intellectual potential. The intelligence tests consisted of a large number of short questions (usually containing between 50 and 100). Here are some examples of typical questions:

1. Write two letters in the brackets (to continue the series: a z y a x w a v a (...) (...)

2. Write a word in the empty brackets so that the three things on the right go together like the three things on the left:

girl (two) feet:: horse (...) hooves

3. If 29384791 means "strength" what does 184 mean?

4. Underline the two words in the brackets which always go with the word outside:

Tree (park/leaves/birds/bushes/branches)

Etc.

Nearly all the intelligence tests had a time limit of half to three quarters of an hour. The pupils who could not cope adequately with such questions were labelled "retarded" ("unpromising") as early as the age of 11 and often began to believe in their own lack of ability.

Though under the pressure of progressive parents, teachers and educationists, the eleven-plus examination has now been abolished in most counties, the selective procedure at the age of 11 is still preserved in some areas, as children are admitted to different secondary schools on the results of various intelligence tests (which substitute for the abolished eleven-plus exam). Where such selection is practised, children are sent to grammar schools, technical schools or secondary modern schools.

The variety of types of comprehensive schools can be confusing. They can be organized in a number of ways, including schools which take the full secondary age-range from 11 to 18 (all-through schools); schools combining junior and senior comprehensive schools, whose pupils transfer to senior comprehensive schools at 13 or 14 (two-tier schools) and schools with an age-range of 11/12 to 16 combined with a sixth-form college or tertiary college for pupils over 16. A number of LEAs have quite a different comprehensive system. They have established middle schools covering various age-ranges between 8 and 13, and upper schools where pupils complete their secondary education. In areas with this system the schools for children from 5 to 8 are called first schools.

Comprehensive education became national policy in 1965 under the Labour government. But the Conservative government which came to power in 1979 is determined to re-establish selection in education, to broaden the types of schools that a child can attend, dependent upon parental choice. As the result of this policy some counties have retained the old selective system, some authorities have turned their maintained grammar schools into private schools. The following table illustrates the present organization of state primary and secondary schools in England and Wales (See page 22). Though by law all children must receive full-time education between the ages of 5 and 16, formally each child can remain at school for a further two or three years and continue his studies in the sixth form up to the age of 18 or 19 providing the school believes he can meet the requirements. Since the course lasts two years, it is usually subdivided into the lower sixth and the upper sixth. The sixth-form curriculum offers considerable opportunities for specialist study and is often aimed at university entry. The curriculum is narrowed to about 5 subjects of which the pupil will specialize in 2 or 3. The choice of subjects tends to divide the sixth form into two sides: the Natural Science side (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and the Arts/Humanities side (History, Geography, Latin, foreign languages). Pupils choose their own curriculum and take either a Natural Science course or Arts/Humanities course. In addition to their specialist studies, sixth-form pupils usually follow courses in general education — English Art, Music, Physical Training and other subjects. Grammar, technical and comprehensive schools give schoolchildren the opportunity to become sixth-form pupils. A great majority of secondary modern school pupils do not get this chance and leave school at the age of 16.

Most children in the sixth form are from middle-class families. They pass the exams (see below) due to private coaching. Working-class children rarely continue their education above the age of 16. Many of them try to get a job to earn money. Many of those who can afford to carry on can't pass the exams. Social reasons prevent working-class children from obtaining true educational opportunities.

Before leaving secondary school between the ages of 16 and 18 schoolchildren may take one of two sets of examinations. Schools have by law to publish their examination results. The main examinations for secondary school pupils at present are the General Certificate of Education (the GCE) exam and the Certificate of Secondary Education (the CSE) exam.

From the foregoing, it seems reasonable to conclude that the system of secondary education in England and Wales still has a long way to go to ensure that all children realize their optimum potential. According to official documents the modern educational system is supposed to provide equal opportunity for all, but in fact it sustains inequality. It - is still class-divided and selective. The comprehensive school brings about a general improvement in the system of secondary education but the Conservative government has tried to prevent the complete comprehensivization of education.

In summary then, one can say that there are two main tendencies in the secondary education system at present: 1) attempts at its unification, 2) selection in education. Further fundamental reorganization of secondary schooling is necessary to ensure true comprehensive education system in England and Wales.