Higher education in great britain

Pupils going on to higher education or professional training usually take “A” level examinations in two or three subjects. Universities accept students mainly on the basis of their "A" level results, although they may interview them as well. In 1971 the Open University was started, where these formal qualifications are not necessary. Nearly a quarter of all adult part-time students follows its degree courses on radio and television.

There are forty-seven universities in Britain and thirty former polytechnics (now also universities), plus 350 colleges and institutes of higher education (some of which train teachers).

Undergraduate courses normally take three years of full-time study, although a number of subject take longer, including medicine, architecture and foreign languages (where courses include a year abroad). They lead in most cases to Bachelor's degree in Arts or Science. There are various postgraduate degrees, including Master of Philosophy. The last two are awarded for research in Arts or sciences.

Degrees are awarded either by the institution itself or by the Council for National Academic Awards, particularly in vocational areas. Students of law, architecture and some other professions can take qualifications awarded by their own professional bodies instead of degrees.

At present, students who have been accepted by universities or other institutions of higher education receive a grant from their local authority, which covers the cost of the course, and may cover living expenses. Parents with higher incomes are expected to make a contribution. Until 1990 the grant did not have to be paid back, but now a system of loans has been introduced.

The most famous universities are Oxford and Cambridge, called "Oxbridge". They are famous for their academic excellence.

Active Vocabulary

higher education-	высшее образование
to go on to higher education-	продолжать образование в вузе
professional training-	профессиональная подготовка
to take "A" level examinations in-	сдавать экзамены продвинутого уровня по ...
to accept students-	принимать студентов
on the basis of "A" level results-	на основе результатов экзаменов продвинутого уровня
to interview somebody-	провести собеседование с кем-либо
the open University-	Открытый Университет
formal qualifications-	формальные результаты
an adult student-	взрослый студент
a part-time student-	студент-заочник или вечерник
to follow a degree course-	проходить курс, ведущий к получению степени
a former polytechnics-	бывший политехнический институт
an institute of higher education-	ВУЗ
an undergraduate course-	курс для студентов
to take ... years-	занимать ... лет
full-time study-	дневное обучение
Bachelor's degree in Arts or Science-	степень бакалавра гуманитарных или естественных наук
a postgraduate degree-	ученая степень
Master of Philosophy-	магистр гуманитарных наук
to be awarded for-	присуждаться за
research in Arts or Science-	исследования в области гуманитарных или естественных наук
the Council for National Academic Awards-	Национальный Совет по присуждению ученых степеней
a vocational area-	область профессионального обучения
to take qualifications-	сдавать экзамены
a professional body-	профессиональный орган
to receive a grant-	получать стипендию
a local authority-	местный орган власти
to cover the cost of-	покрывать расходы на ...
living expenses-	стоимость проживания
to make a contribution-	возместить часть расходов
to pay back-	возвратить
to introduce a system of loans-	ввести сумму займов
to be famous for academic excellence-	быть известным великолепным качеством обучения

1. Answer the questions:

1. What is necessary to go on in higher education?

2. What types of higher educational establishments are there in the UK?

3. What courses of study do higher educational establishments offer?

4. What is the procedure of awarding degrees?

5. What are the conditions of receiving grants?

6. What are the Oxbridge universities famous for?

2. Make up a plan of the text. Retell the text using the plan.

3. Read the text and give the main information about Oxbridge.

OXBRIDGE

For seven hundred years two universities dominated in British education, and today they dominate more then ever, with fame enhanced by their isolation, and their sheer hypnotic beauty. Like Dukes, Oxford and Cambridge preserve an antique way of life in the midst of the twentieth century. Oxford and Cambridge have always provided a large number of permanents secretaries (White-hall civil servants), members of Parliament, and of the vice-chancellors of the universities. The students of Oxbridge make up, from the outside, at least, one of the most elite in the world. Less than one per cent of Britain's population goes to Oxbridge but, once there, industry and government woo them. AB.A. (Oxford) or BA (Cambridge) is quite different from an ordinary BA.

Oxbridge is only in session half the year, and the universities adjourn for four months in the summer - a relic from medieval times, when scholars had to bring in the harvest.

Slowly the population of Oxford and Cambridge has been changing. In the nineteenth century it was a mixture of some boys who were poor and clever, and others who were rich and idle. Only since in 1870s women have been admitted, and the women's colleges constitute only 12 per cent of the Oxbridge population, so that competition to reach them is fierce: at St Anne's, Oxford, only a small per cent of the candidates are chosen - mainly on the results of the written examinations.

The division between Oxbridge and Redbrick is sharp. It's absurd that four-fifth of undergraduates should be made to feel that they're inferior for life. In the civil service, politics and law there has been no visible breach in the supremacy of Oxbridge graduates. The division is essentially a class one. While a large per cent of Oxbridge undergraduates come from public schools, very few of Redbrick do: many public school boys would rather go straight into business, into the services foreign university, than go to a Redbrick university: they prefer no degree to a Redbrick degree.

In England Redbrick has been separated from the beginning. When Oxford and Cambridge were exclusively Anglican, the new Victorian universities were built to provide a liberal education for the poorer boys and dissenters of the provinces - and to give technological training. They grew up outside the old aristocratic pattern. Oxford and Cambridge graduates scorned them, and London University, which was founded in 1836, was referred to as that joint stock company in Gower Street!

Do you know? Do we have an analogy in our country?

1. That the word "University" (L. Universities) like the word "College" (l. Collegium) meant originally a society of people with a common enjoyment, it was only later that it came to be associated with scholarship.

- Can we say that we always receive a common enjoyment in a university?

2. That Tripos is a degree examination at Cambridge? In the past when the student went for his degree examination it took him sometime to show his knowledge of 3 subjects. (Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric) So he was allowed to bring a small stool or "Tripos" to sit on, and to this day the degree examinations at Cambridge are called "Tripos" examinations.

3. At Oxford the instruction is mainly given by the college tutors and lecturers, and by university professors and readers. All students are members of a college and of the university. They may attend all lectures they like.

The tutorial system in Oxford and Cambridge differs from that of all the other English Universities. Every student has a tutor. As soon as a student comes to Oxford he goes to see his tutor. The tutor plans his work, suggests the books he should read and sets work for him to do, for example an essay to write. Each week he goes to his tutor's rooms with 2 or 3 other students. The tutor discusses with them the work they have done; he criticizes in detail their essays and sets them the next week's work. Such lessons are called "tutorials".

4. The story of the University of Cambridge begins in 1209. Several hundred students and scholars arrived in the little town of Cambridge after having walked 60 miles from Oxford. These students were all churchmen and had been studying in Oxford, at that city's well-known schools. It was a hard life at Oxford for there was constant trouble, even fighting between the townsfolk and the students. Life in college was strict. The students were forbidden to play games; to sing (except sacred music); to hunt or fish or even to dance. Books were very scarce and all the lessons were in the Latin language; students were supposed to speak Latin even among themselves. In Cambridge there are 19 colleges; excluding two for woman students. Women students do not play a very active part in university life.