The private (independent) system
About 7% of all children go to private schools. There are three levels of private schools: primary schools (age4-8) and preparatory (prep) schools (8 to 13). At the age of 13 children take an examination. If they pass they go on to a public school where they usually remain until they are 18. Many prep and most public schools are boarding schools. Be careful, although these schools are called “public” they are, in fact, private, and it can be very expensive to send a child to such a school.
You can see that the British education system is rather confusing.
Examinations
The public examinations taken by British schoolchildren are GCSE (The General Certificate of Secondary Education). Pupils usually take their GCSE at the age of 16. Some children take 3 or4; others take as many as 10 or11.
Pupils who have passed their GCSE may remain at school for another 2 years and take their “A” (Advanced) level exams. All grammar and most comprehensive schools have a six form, where pupils study for their ”A” levels. Any student who wants to go to a university needs to pass at least 2 or 3 “A” levels.
Further education
The following stage in the British educational system isFurther education.
Further education comprises all educational establishments for persons beyond school-leaving age. Further education may be academic or vocational. Institutions of further education are: collages of further education: technical, commercial (shorthand, book-keeping), art, agricultural, building and many other types of colleges. A large proportion of further educational establishments are independent or private.
The principle post-school institutions of higher education in Great Britain are 47 universities, they can be roughly divided: 1. Oxford and Cambridge; 2. The red brick universities; 3. The new universities.
The universities of Oxford and Cambridge date from the 12-13th centuries.
Oxford and Cambridge have dominated British education for seven hundred years. The university is like federation of colleges. It arranges the courses, the lectures and examinations and awards the degrees. The organizations system of the 2 universities differs from that of all other universities and colleges. The teachers are commonly called “dons”. Part of the teaching is by means of lectures organized by the university. Apart from lectures teaching is carried out by the tutorial system, for which these two universities have always been famous. This is a system of individual tuition organized by the colleges. Each student goes to his tutor’s room once every week to read and discuss an essay which the student has prepared. Oxford and Cambridge have a special role in England as educational institutions of the ruling class. The majority of Prime Ministers, political leaders, big businessmen mostly belong to the Oxford category, a class in itself. Oxford and Cambridge each consist of a number of residential colleges founded at different times.
2. The universities, which were founded between 1850 and 1930, including London University, are known as red brick universities. They were called so because that was the favourable building material at that time, though they are rarely referred to as “redbrick” today.
London University is the biggest of all modern educational establishments. The colleges in the university are essentially teaching institutions, giving instructions by means of lectures. The universities in England are autonomous units. Each has its own curriculum and the regulations differ from university to university. A university consists of a number of faculties: arts, natural sciences, engineering, medicine, law, music, agriculture, social and economic studies, commerce and education.
3. The new universities were all founded after World War II. Some of them quickly became popular because of their modern approach to university courses.
Besides universities there are polytechnics where it is possible to obtain a degree in some subjects. Polytechnics have a more practical, vocational approach. Departments of architecture, art and design, applied sciences, law, business studies, etc. can be found in them.
Admission to universities is by examinations or selection (interviews). Admission to universities, polytechnics and teacher training establishments is by interview. At Oxford and Cambridge there are also entrance examinations.
English meals
If you want to eat well in England eat breakfast three times a day.
(Somerset Maugham)
Nowadays it is usually only at mealtimes that families and sometimes friends come together. They sit around the table: they are hungry and want to eat but meal is a social occasion as well as a mean of satisfying one’s hunger. Perhaps that’s why they invite people to a meal and insist that children behave well at the table and pay great attention to table manners.
How many meals a day one should eat is a question that has never been answered. Some people say: “little and often”, they eat 8 or even 10 light meals a day. Others disagree: “one good solid meal a day is enough for anyone” And the average number? Probably four: breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner, maybe a few snacks from time to time and a light supper or a hot drink before bed.
The English breakfast
Imaging that you are staying in a hotel in England. You have a choice between an English breakfast and a Continental one. The English breakfast is much larger than the continental breakfast and probably much more expensive too.
Porridge is made by stirring oats [aut] (a type of cereal [sieriel]) in boiling water or milk. It is eaten hot with salt or sugar and hot milk. Porridge is a traditional Scottish food. Conflakes, shredded wheat and other cereals are sold in large packets. They are eaten cold, usually with sugar and milk.
Eggs can be cooked in four different ways for breakfast. A hotel menu may say “eggs to order”. This means that you can choose the way you want the eggs cooked: boiled, scrambled, poached or fried with bacon. When the eggs arrive on your plate you can do what some of the English do: add some salt and pepper and pour tomato sauce or brown sauce. You may finish your breakfast with toast and marmalade. In England the word marmalade usually refers to a special jam eaten only at breakfast time and made from oranges.
Elevences” and lunch
People in Britain like a midmorning break if possible. Offices usually have such a break at 10 or 11 that is why people often refer to this break as “elevences”. Workmen sometimes have such a break which they usually call a tea break.
Schools always have a 15to20 minutes break in the middle of the morning which is called simply “break”. This is a time when teachers and children usually have a cup of tea and a biscuit. Tea or coffee and biscuits are the usual refreshment at this time. Housewives or people who have retired like to use this time to invite people in for a chat. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that tea or coffee and biscuit is a common form of refreshment of any time.
Lunch is a large or small affair depending on whether you like to eat a big lunch or not. Workmen usually have their sandwiches or tea or whatever which they take with them to work. This is often called “a snack”. Some people who are white-collar workers prefer to have a more substantial meal in their canteen. There you can get a full lunch which is not too pricy and quite a wide range of meat dishes available too. Others who’d rather not hazard their stomach in a canteen may prefer to go out to eat in a restaurant, café or pub. Such places usually offer a not expensive lunch which is normally considered very good value. If the weather is nice you may prefer to go and sit in the park with your lunch and a newspaper.
Another popular type of lunch is fish and chips. People like to eat it with salt and vinegar. Fish and chips shops are famous throughout Britain.
Some people have their lunch at about 1 o’clock. They in fact tend not to make too much of lunch. It may be a bowl of soup followed by a light second course scrambled eggs or cold meat, left over probably from yesterday’s dinner or potatoes, salad and pickles with a pudding or fruit to follow. Sometimes they have a mutton chop, cheese or steak.
If you are a late riser you may decide not to bother with breakfast and have your breakfast and lunch combined (brunch). People whose main meal of the day is lunch very often call it dinner.