Education System in the United Kingdom (UK)
There is devolution in United Kingdom’s (UK) education with each country having its separate system. For instance, the Scottish government is responsible for Scotland, the UK government for England, Northern Ireland Executive government for Northern Ireland and the Welsh government for Wales (Dowty, 2000; Gearon, 2013). The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Education oversees all matters related to education in the UK. Local governments are mandated to implement public education’s policies and other state-funded schools at the local level. Moreover, in UK, there is a tradition of home and independent schooling where children education by parents is by any legal means they may deem suitable.
Discussion
The United Kingdom (UK) has a well-structured education system where literacy levels are at 99% among men and women. There are four major parts of the UK education system that include Primary Education, Secondary Education, Further Education, usually referred to as key stage 5 and includes all community colleges and the sixth form (grades 12 and 13), and Higher Education (universities) (Phillips, 2000). It is mandatory for every child in the UK to attend primary and secondary school between the age of 5 to 16 years. Moreover, there is division of the education system into key stages that include Key Stage 1 attended from 5 to 7 years, Key Stage 2 from 7 to 11 years, Key Stage 3 from 11 to 14 years and Key Stage 4 from 14 to 16 years (Dowty, 2000; Great Britain, 2007).
Normally, key stages 1 and 2 consist at primary school level until 11 years of age where the child moves to secondary school level and culminates stages 3 and 4. Assessments are done at every stage with the most pertinent assessment occurring at about the age 16 when a final exam of General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE’s) is done (Gearon, 2013). Upon completing GCSE’s, students can either pursue further education and later join higher education or join the working world. According to Riggall and Sharp (2008), the education system comprises of five major parts that are;
- Pre- school education offered for children between ages 3 to 5 years. There are 600 hours to children of the state-funded education that is optional. The provision of these hours is at the nursery and community childcare levels.
- Primary Education that usually starts at the age of 5 to 11 years and comprises the key stages 1 and 2
- Secondary education that lasts from age 11 to 16 and the students undergo stages 3 and 4 where they do their GCSE at the age of 16.
- Any UK student who is aspiring to join college or university undertakes further education. When students finish secondary education, they can join further education where they take their GNVQ’s, BTEC’s, A- levels, or other qualifications.
- Higher education: The higher education comprises universities and colleges. Students at this level begin by acquiring a three-year Bachelors degree. Afterward, students can pursue postgraduate degrees that include Master’s and Doctorate degrees that take at least three years. These degrees are primarily for international students who are admitted directly into the UK higher education system after completion of education equivalent to UK’s further education in their home countries.
State funded schools
About 93 percent of children in the UK between ages 3 to 18 learn in a state- funded schools where they are not charged except for miscellaneous activities. There are six types of state-funded and maintained schools in the UK as discussed below.
- Academy schools
The Labor government established these schools as a replacement of the poor performing community schools especially in regions experiencing high economic and social deprivation. Local NGO’s and entrepreneurs fund these schools while the running costs are the responsibilities of the government.
- Community schools
These schools were previously known as County schools. The local authority owns these schools and also employs the school staff, owns buildings and school land and admits students at primary level (Riggall & Sharp, 2008).
- Free schools
The Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition introduced these schools after the general elections in 2010. Parents, teachers, charities and businesses usually set up the schools. The schools are funded by taxpayers and are free from local authority control. The Secretary of State for Education is the head of these schools (McQueen, 2014).
- Foundation schools
The government employs the staff and is responsible for admissions in these schools. The government owns the school land and other buildings.
- Voluntarily aided schools
These are schools that are linked to a variety of organizations that are either none- denominational or faith schools. The charitable foundation appoints a majority of the school governors and provides capital costs. The governor’s employ staff and does all the admissions.
- Voluntarily controlled schools
These schools are mostly owned by churches where charitable foundations own buildings and land. The local authority, however, is responsible for the employment of the school staff and does the school admissions. The Office regularly inspects all state-funded schools in the UK for the Standards in Education and later publishes reports on education quality in a particular school regularly. If schools are found to be providing sub- standard education, the governing body may be replaced and other senior staff.
Independent schools
Hansen and Vignoles (2005) explain that about 7 percent of all school-going children in the UK attend schools that are run privately and require payment of a fee by parents. Some of these institutions offer scholarships for those students having special skills while others offer bursaries to assist those from not well off backgrounds. Most of these schools do not teach the National Curriculum, and the teachers need not have qualification in teaching.
Further education colleges and Sixth form colleges
After the completion of their studies in either state or independent schools, students will usually sit for the GCSE examination. Here students will mostly study courses to do with key communication skills, number application, and information technology.
Education by means other than schooling
Parents in the UK are allowed to educate their children at home. Parents need not be qualified as teachers. McQueen (2014) explains that they give formal lessons or follow the national curriculum. This Elective Home Education teaching ranges from structured homeschooling to less structured schooling. Parents who opt to educate their children at home are not provided with financial support by the state.
Higher Education
After the completion of Further Education, students will normally join universities to study an academic degree. According to Carter (2004), University education of all public universities is largely state financed. However, this trend has changed since October 2012 when about 9000 pounds has been paid annually to finance undergraduate education. The most prestigious universities in the country are contained in the Russell group. The state controls all university admissions though the Office of Fair Access (OFA) but it does not control university syllabuses (Dowty, 2000). The first degree offered by UK universities is the Bachelors degree that usually takes three years to complete. However, many higher learning institutions now offer an undergraduate masters degree that takes four years to complete.
Postgraduate education
Upon successful completion of the first degree, students are allowed to pursue a postgraduate degree in their area of choice (Carter, 2004). This provision might be in the form of a Masters degree that takes one year to complete or Doctorate that takes three years. The fees vary depending on the course taken and the university chosen. However, students who perform well are potentially eligible for full scholarships (Hansen & Vignoles, 2005).
Conclusion
Every child in the UK is required to attend primary and secondary education from age 5 to 16 years by law (Great Britain, 2007). However, attending school is not compulsory, and some parents choose to educate their children at home. About 94 percent of all children in the UK get free education while the remaining 6 percent attend independent fee-paying schools. All schools run by the government follow the same national curriculum.
