UK AND US EDUCATION SYSTEM

UK and Us Education System



UK education system

Primary and secondary (K-12) Education

Over 90% of students in the UK attend state-funded public schools. Approximately 8.5 million children attend one of 30,000 schools in England and Wales, Scotland, 830,000 children attend some 5000 schools, including preschools and other special schools, and Northern Ireland is sending 350,000 children to 1300 public schools( Lissaur Robinson2000). Elementary schools usually include both boys and girls as apprentices. Middle school can be either single sex or coeducational.

Elementary school children attend primary school for 6 years, from 5 to 11. Elementary school may be housed in one building with two offices: infants and young or in separate schools, children (5 to 7) and Junior (7 to 11).

Secondary School offers 5-year courses for students of all ability levels. Promotion to a higher class every year is not dependent on exam results, it is almost automatic. Pupils are never the same year.

National Curriculum in England, Wales and Northern Ireland

By law, all children in England and Wales between the ages of 5 and 16 years should receive a full-time education, while in Northern Ireland, children should begin at age 4. For children under 5 years of state-funded kindergartens and preschools are available for a limited number of hours per week. After 16 years of age, students can attend six colleges or other form of further education (Tomlinson2001). Both options offer educational courses in addition to more specific vocational and applied subjects.

National core curriculum subjects are: English (Welsh as a core subject in Welsh schools), mathematics, science, design and technology, information and communication technology, history, geography, modern foreign languages, music, art and design, physical education, and citizenship. In addition to these basic subjects of several other required courses, such as religious education.

After five years of secondary education, students take exams in a range of issues at the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (Falmer 2001). GCSE is a subject of examination set and marked by an independent board of review. Students typically take up to ten (there is no upper or lower limit) GCSE examinations in different subjects, including mathematics and English.

Following the adoption of GCSEs, students may leave secondary education, on the contrary, they may choose to continue their education in vocational colleges, or they can accept a higher level of secondary school examinations known as AS-levels after an additional year of training. After two years of study, students can receive the level of (an abbreviation of Advanced Level) examinations required for university admission in the UK.

Ratings and transcripts

American concept of school transcript is not familiar in Britain. Schools in the UK do not rank students within their year, at the present time, the main standards of GCSE, SCE and AS results and level of expertise.

There is no official method of equating British and American primary and secondary educational qualifications. Education systems are completely different and attempts to compare them must be done on a strictly ...