British economy, principal industries, industrial centres

Great Britain is an old naval and highly developed industrial power. It is rich in mineral resources, the most important of them being coal and iron. Next to coal and iron the chief minerals found on the British Isles are: the building stone, marble, granite, lid, tin, copper, zinc, salt, china clay. Having found rich deposits of mineral resources, Britain was able to create a powerful heavy industry with different branches of industries. Britain’s largest manufacturing is the iron and steel industries. Aluminium and other non-ferrous metals are also important products.

The electrical and electronic engineering industry is engaged in manufacture and installation of a wide variety of equipment including all types of power generation, motors, telecommunications and broadcasting equipment, electronic equipment and systems, etc. Electronics is one of the most important sectors of British industry, which is developing fast and wide.

The motor vehicle is the largest single manufacturing industry in Britain. The industry is concentrated in Birmingham, Coventry, London, etc.

Britain is a major producer and exporter of agricultural tractors, especially of wheel tractors.

Birmingham and Coventry are major centres of the tractor industry.

Britain’s aerospace industry is one of the largest and most comprehensive in Western Europe. The products of the industry include civil and military aircraft, helicopters, hovercraft and space vehicles.

Britain has a long established tradition for shipbuilding.

The chemical industry. The manufacturing of all kinds of chemicals, soup, lubricating oils and greases, fertilizers and mineral oil refining are included within this group of industries. The largest concentration of the chemical industry is in the South Lancashire and in the West Midlands. The chemical industry is developing intensively, placing the country among the major chemical exporting nations in the world.

The textile industry proved to be one of the most extensive industries in England; large quantities of cotton and woolen goods and artificial silk are produced and exported. Leeds is the centre of the chief woolen manufacturing district situated on the eastern side of the Pennines and it is also the first in manufacture of clothing. Manchester is the centre of cotton industry situated on the western part of the Pennines.

The British leather and leather footwear industries are among the most important industries and Great Britain is the world’s largest exporter of both leather and leather footwear

System of education in Great Britain

Great Britain has a great number of various types of schools. These are nursery schools (day nurseries, kindergartens, crèches, play groups), primary schools (the infant department, junior department); middle schools; secondary schools, independent (private schools) public schools, preparatory schools. But there are however only three main systems:

The comprehensive system

More than 90% of children who go to state schools in England and Wales go to schools in the comprehensive system, a system introduced in the 1960s. Children go to a primary school at the age of 5. Depending on the policy of the Local Education Authority they may go directly to the upper school, usually called the comprehensive school, at the age of 11.Alternatively, they may go to a middle school for 3 or 4 years before going to the upper school. the comprehensive system is non-selective. This means that all children go from one school to another without taking any exams and without being selected according to their abilities.

The selective system

In some area of Britain you can still find a different and older system of education introduced in 1944. This is a selective system: children are selected for certain schools according to their ability. All children go to a primary school until the age of11.Then they take an examination called 11+. Those who are successful go to a grammar school where they receive a more academic education. Those who fail the exam go to a secondary modern school, where they receive an education which is less academic and more intended to train them for a job when they leave at the age of 16.