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The UK Educational System
The ages of compulsory education in the UK are from 5 to 16 years. There are two parallel systems, the State system which is completely free to pupils and the fee-paying Private Sector which will be described later. The UK examination system is described here.
State Education System
The first important thing to note is that education arrangements across the UK are not uniform, particularly for Scotland and Northern Ireland which have their own systems. However, England and Wales have similar systems and will be described here although it should be noted that even here, the patterns vary in different regions.
The education year for most UK educational institutions normally starts in September. The cut-off point for ages is the end of August, so normally children must be of a particular age on the 1st of September in order to join classes for that year in that month.
Primary Education
This divides into two parts, Infant and Junior:
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Infant for ages 5-7 years
- Year 1, 5-6 years
- Year 2, 6-7 years
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Junior for ages 8-11
- Year 3, age 7 to 8
- Year 4, age 8 to 9
- Year 5, age 9 to 10
- Year 6, age 10 to 11
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Secondary Education for ages 11-16
Middle Years (may be in a Middle School, High School or Secondary School)
- Year 7, age 11 to 12 (originally known as First Form/Year in secondary system)
- Year 8, age 12 to 13 (originally known as Second Form/Year in secondary system)
- Year 9, age 13 to 14 (originally known as Third Form/Year in secondary system)
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Upper School (High School or Secondary School)
- Year 10, age 14 to 15 (originally known as Fourth Form/Year in secondary system)
- Year 11, age 15 to 16 (originally known as Fifth Form/Year in secondary system)
Beyond Compulsory Years (Secondary School, High School, Community College)
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University
Most university courses in England and Wales last three years. Sometimes there are optional placements in what are called sandwich courses that lengthen the courses by one year. UK degree courses tend to be more specialised than those found in many other countries. Normal entry to degree courses are with A levels where typically a range of grades is specified in a provisional offer, eg to take up a place the applicant must obtain particular grades such as ABB.
Masters programmes normally last one year full-time.
PhD programmes last three years full-time and rarely have a taught component. Normally students register for an MPhil and after a successful review of progress are upgraded to PhD studies.
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The Private Sector
Running in parallel to the State sector, and catering for all ages, is a large private system of education.
Of particular note is that the main transition between the types of school is at the age of 13. Normally the schools for children below that age are called Prep (Preparatory) Schools where students study to pass the examinations, called Common Entrance (examinations in Mathematics, English, Science and other ubjects), which are used to allow entry to the Independent Schools; many of these are boarding schools and some are called Public Schools. The confusing name 'Public' refers to the fact that they are neither 'Private' as in students being educated privately at home or through some 'closed' system perhaps linked to the church; they are 'open' to the public (admittedly only if they can afford to pay the fees).
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UK Examination System
In the State system there is a national system of tests, known as SATs (Standard Assessment Tests) which are taken at the ages of 6, 10 and 13. These are not designed for selection into different pathways in education but more as a means of measuring the relative performance of individuals. An exception that can be found in some regions of England is the examination called the Eleven Plus which is used to sort pupils into different types of school at 11, typically Grammar schools for the more academic and Secondary schools. In the private sector the key examination is the Common entrance normally taken at age 13 which is used as an entrance examination for entry to Public/Independent school.
GCSE
Where the two systems of education converge is at the General Certificate of Secondary Education, GCSE (formally known as O level) which is normally a two year course taken by pupils at 16. As this coincides with the age of the end of compulsory education, it is both a school leaving qualification and also an entry to the two year programme leading to A (Advanced) level examinations. It is not a matriculation examination, each subject being independent of the others but normally it is considered that for success, students should gain good results in English and Mathematics. Grades run from A* down to G, with C being considered a 'pass'. Depending on the subject and examination board the assessment of each course may be by examination only or use an element of continuous assessment ie coursework. There is an international version of the GCSE called the IGCSE.
Advanced Level
A levels are the conventional route to University entrance in the UK. Typically students study just three or four subjects over a period of two years. Normally students choose the Sciences or the Arts for their group of subjects. Each A level consists of 6 units which are studied in two stages: Stage 1 AS level (Advanced Subsidiary) – three modules leading to an AS level result; Stage 2 – three further modules, which with the AS level results lead to a full A level grade. This has five pass levels ranging from A down to E.
Degree Level
Nearly all degrees awarded by UK universities are ‘Honours’ degrees. That means that the final mark is tranlated into a class in oneof these categories:
- First Class
- Upper Second Class
- Lower Second Class
- Third Class
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