The state-funded education system is divided
into stages based upon age:[10]Early Years Foundation Stage (ages 3–5); primary
education (ages 5 to 11),
subdivided into Key Stage 1 (KS1) Infants (ages 5 to 7) and Key Stage 2 (KS2) Juniors (ages 7 to 11); secondary
education (ages 11 to 16),
subdivided into Key Stage 3 (KS3; ages 11 to 14) and Key Stage 4 (KS4; ages 14 to 16), post-16 education (ages
16 to 18); and tertiary
education (for ages 18+).[11]
At age 16 the students typically take exams
for the General Certificate of Secondary Education or other Level 1/2 qualifications. While education is compulsory until 18, schooling is only compulsory to
16, thus post-16 education can take a number of forms, and may be academic or
vocational. This can involve continued schooling, known as "sixth form" or
"college", leading (typically after two years of further study) to A-level qualifications (similar to a high school
diploma in some other countries), or a number of alternative Level 3 qualifications such as BTEC, the International Baccalaureate or the Cambridge
Pre-U. It can also include work-based apprenticeships or traineeships, or volunteering.[12][13]
Higher education often begins with a
three-year bachelor's
degree. Postgraduate degrees include master's
degrees, either taught or by research, and doctoral level research degrees that usually takes at least
three years. Tuition fees for first degrees are up to £9,000 per academic year
for English, Welsh and European Union students, although these are set to rise to
£9,250 for students starting from 2017.[14]
The Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) covers national school examinations and
vocational education qualifications. It is referenced to the European Qualifications Framework, and thus to other
qualifications frameworks across the European
Union.[15] The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ), which
is tied to the RQF, covers degrees and other qualifications from
degree-awarding bodies.[16] This is referenced to the Qualifications Framework of the
European Higher Education Area developed under the Bologna
process.[17]
History of English
education
Until 1870 all schools were charitable or
private institutions, but in that year the Elementary Education Act 1870 permitted local governments to complement the
existing elementary schools in order to fill any gaps. The Education
Act 1902 allowed local
authorities to create secondary schools. The Education
Act 1918 abolished fees for
elementary schools.
Legally compulsory
education
Full-time education is compulsory for all
children aged 5 to 18, either at school or otherwise, with a child beginning
primary education during the school year he or she turns 5. Children between
the ages of 3 and 5 are entitled to 600 hours per year of optional,
state-funded, pre-school education. This can be provided in
"playgroups", nurseries, community childcare centres or nursery
classes in schools.
The age at which a student may choose to stop
education is commonly known as the "leaving age" for compulsory
education. This age was raised to 18 by the Education and Skills Act 2008; the change took effect
in 2013 for 16-year-olds and 2015 for 17-year-olds. From this time, the school
leaving age (which remains 16) and the education leaving age (which is now 18)
have been separated. State-provided
schooling and sixth-form education are paid for by taxes.
All children in England must currently
therefore receive an effective education (at school or otherwise) from the
first "prescribed day", which falls on or after their fifth birthday
until their 18th birthday, and must remain in school until the last Friday in
June of the school year in which they turn 16. The education leaving age was raised in 2013 to the year in
which they turn 17 and in 2015 to their 18th birthday for those born on or
after 1 September 1997. The prescribed days
are 31 August, 31 December and 31 March. The school year begins on 1 September
(or 1 August if a term starts in August).
The Compulsory stages of education are broken
into a Foundation Stage (actually covering the last part of optional
and first part of compulsory education), four Key
Stages, and post-16 education (sometimes unofficially termed Key Stage 5), which
takes a variety of forms including Sixth
Form (covering the last 2
years of Secondary Education in schools).
Schools and stages
Below is a table summarizing the most common
names of the various schools and stages. Grammar
schools are normally
state-funded but selective schools, admitting children from 11 years old
onward, but there are exceptions such as Manchester Grammar School.
Key stage
|
Year
|
Final exam
|
Ages
|
State funded school name
|
State funded Alternative name
|
State funded selective school name
|
Fee paying private school name
|
Fee paying entrance exam name
|
Foundation
|
Nursery
|
3-4
|
Primary
|
Infant
|
Pre-preparatory
|
|||
Foundation
|
Reception
|
4-5
|
Primary
|
Infant
|
Pre-preparatory
|
|||
KS1
|
Year 1
|
5-6
|
Primary
|
Infant
|
Pre-preparatory
|
|||
KS1
|
Year 2
|
6-7
|
Primary
|
Infant
|
Pre-preparatory
|
|||
KS2
|
Year 3
|
7-8
|
Primary
|
Junior
|
Prep school
|
|||
KS2
|
Year 4
|
8-9
|
Primary
|
Junior
|
Prep school
|
|||
KS2
|
Year 5
|
9-10
|
Primary
|
Junior
|
Prep school
|
|||
KS2
|
Year 6
|
SATS, (They may also take an Entrance exam to get
in to secondary school of choice).
|
10-11
|
Primary
|
Junior
|
Prep school
|
||
KS3
|
Year 7
|
11-12
|
Secondary (Can be referred to as Lower school
in some schools)
|
High school
|
Grammar school
|
Prep school
|
||
KS3
|
Year 8
|
12-13
|
Secondary (Can be referred to as Lower school
in some schools)
|
High school
|
Grammar school
|
Prep school
|
||
KS3
|
Year 9
|
13-14
|
Secondary (This is the year the GCSE options
are chosen in most schools).[25]) (Can be referred to as Lower school in some schools)
|
High school
|
Grammar school
|
Prep school
|
||
KS4
|
Year 10
|
14-15
|
Secondary
|
High school
|
Grammar school
|
Senior school
|
||
KS4
|
Year 11
|
15-16
|
Secondary
|
High school
|
Grammar school
|
Senior school
|
||
KS5
|
Year 12/First Year Of College
|
16-17
|
Secondary/College
|
Sixth form/College
|
Grammar school
|
Senior school
|
||
KS5
|
Year 13/Second Year Of College
|
17-18
|
Secondary/College
|
Sixth form/College
|
Grammar school
|
Senior school
|
St Barnabas Church of
England Primary School, Oxford
Some 93% of children between the ages of 3 and
18 are in education in state-funded schools without charge (other than for
activities such as swimming, theatre visits and field trips for which a
voluntary payment can be requested, and limited charges at state-funded boarding schools[26]).
Since 1998, there have been six main types of
maintained (state funded) school in England:
·
Academy schools, established by the 1997-2010 Labour
Government to replace poorly-performing community schools in areas of high
social and economic deprivation. Their start-up costs are typically funded by
private means, such as entrepreneurs or NGOs, with running costs met by Central
Government and, like Foundation schools, are administratively free from direct
local authority control. The 2010 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition
government expanded the role of Academies in the Academy Programme, in which a wide number of schools in non-deprived areas were
also encouraged to become Academies, thereby essentially replacing the role of
Foundation schools established by the previous Labour government. They are
monitored directly by the Department for Education.[30]
·
Community schools (formerly county schools), in which the local
authority employs the schools' staff, owns the schools' lands and buildings,
and has primary responsibility for admissions.
·
Free schools, introduced by the Conservative-Liberal
Democrat coalition following the 2010 general election, are newly established
schools in England set up by parents, teachers, charities or businesses, where
there is a perceived local need for more schools. They are funded by taxpayers,
are academically non-selective and free to attend, and like Foundation schools
and Academies, are not controlled by a local authority. They are ultimately
accountable to the Secretary of State for Education. Free schools are an
extension of the existing Academy Programme. The first 24 free schools opened
in Autumn 2011.
·
Foundation
schools, in which the governing body employs the staff and has
primary responsibility for admissions. School land and buildings are owned by
the governing body or by a charitable foundation. The Foundation appoints a
minority of governors. Many of these schools were formerly grant maintained schools. In 2005 the Labour
government proposed allowing all schools to become Foundation schools if they
wished.
·
Voluntary Aided schools, linked to a variety of
organisations. They can be faith schools (often the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church), or non-denominational
schools, such as those linked to London Livery
Companies. The charitable foundation contributes towards the capital
costs of the school (typically 10%), and appoints a majority of the school governors.
The governing body employs the staff and has primary responsibility for
admissions.[31]
·
Voluntary Controlled schools, which are almost always
church schools, with the lands and buildings often owned by a charitable
foundation. However, the local authority employs the schools' staff and has
primary responsibility for admissions.
In addition, 3 of the 15 City Technology Colleges established in the 1980s still remain, the
rest having converted to academies. These are state-funded all-ability
secondary schools which charge no fees but which are independent of local
authority control. There are also a small number of state-funded boarding schools.
English state-funded primary schools are
almost all local schools with a small catchment area. More than half are owned
by the Local Authority, though many are (nominally) voluntary controlled and
some are voluntary aided. Some schools just include infants (aged 4 to 7) and
some just juniors (aged 7 to 11). Some are linked, with automatic progression
from the infant school to the junior school, and some are not. A few areas
still have first schools for ages around 4 to 8 and middle schools for ages 8 or 9 to 12 or 13.
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English secondary schools are mostly comprehensive, although the intake of
comprehensive schools can vary widely, especially in urban areas with several
local schools. Nearly 90% of state-funded secondary schools are specialist schools,
receiving extra funding to develop one or more subjects in which the school
specialises, which can select up to 10% of their intake for aptitude in the
specialism (though relatively few of them have taken up this option). In a few
areas children can enter a grammar school if they pass the eleven
plus exam, there are also a number of isolated fully selective
grammar schools and a few dozen partially selective schools.[32] A significant minority of state-funded schools are faith schools, which
are attached to religious groups, most often the Church
of England or the Roman Catholic Church.
All state-funded schools are regularly
inspected by the Office for Standards in Education, often known simply
as Ofsted. Ofsted publish reports on the quality of education at a particular
school on a regular basis. Schools judged by Ofsted to be providing an
inadequate standard of education may be subject to special measures,
which could include replacing the governing body and senior staff.
Independent schools
Approximately 7% of school children in England
attend privately run, fee-paying independent schools. Some independent schools
for 13-18 year olds are known for historical reasons as 'public schools' and for 8-13 year olds as 'prep schools'. Some schools offer scholarships
for those with particular skills or aptitudes, or bursaries to allow students from less financially
well-off families to attend. Independent schools do not have to follow the
National Curriculum, and their teachers are not required or regulated by law to
have official teaching qualifications.
Education by means other than schooling
The 1944
Education Act (Section 36) stated
that parents are responsible for the education of their children, "by
regular attendance at school or otherwise", which allows children to be
educated at home. The legislation places no requirement for parents who choose
not to send their children to school to follow the National Curriculum, or to
give formal lessons, or to follow school hours and terms, and parents do not
need to be qualified teachers.[34] A small but increasing numbers of parents do choose to educate
their children outside the conventional school systems.[35][36][37] Officially referred to as "Elective Home Education",
teaching ranges from structured homeschooling (using a school-style curriculum) to
less-structured unschooling.[38][39] Education
Otherwise has supported parents
who wished to educate their children outside school since the 1970s. The state
provides no financial support to parents who choose to educate their children
outside of school.
Post-16 education
Students at both state schools and independent
schools typically take GCSE examinations, which mark the end of compulsory education in
school. Above school-leaving age, the independent and state sectors are
similarly structured. In the 16–18 age group, sixth form education is not
compulsory, but mandatory education or training until the age of 18 is being
phased in under the Education and Skills Act 2008.
This took effect for 16-year-olds in 2013 and
for 17-year-olds in September 2015. While students may still leave school on
the last Friday in June, they must remain in education of some form until their
18th birthday.
Sixth form colleges / further education colleges
Students over 16 typically study in the sixth
form of a school, in a separate sixth
form college, or in a Further Education (FE) College. Courses at FE
colleges, referred to as further education courses, can also be studied by adults over
18. Students typically study Level 3 qualifications such as A-levels, BTEC
National awards and level 3 NVQs. Some 16–18 students will be encouraged to
study Key Skills in Communication, Application of Number, and Information
Technology at this time.
Apprenticeships and traineeships
The National Apprenticeship Service helps people 16 or more years of age enter apprenticeships in order to learn a skilled trade.
Traineeships are also overseen by the National Apprenticeship Service, and are
education and a training programmes that are combined with work experience to
give trainees the skills needed to get an apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships come in four levels:
Intermediate (level 2), Advanced (level 3), Higher (level 4 – 7) and Degree
(level 6 – 7). Intermediate apprenticeships are equivalent to 5 GCSEs at A* –
C, Advanced to 2 A-levels, Higher to a foundation degree or above, and Degree
apprenticeships to a bachelor's or master's degree.
A study in 2014 found that unemployment rates
among former apprentices one year after completing their apprenticeships were
one-third those of university graduates one year after finishing their degrees.
A 2015 study by the Sutton Trust found that, while average net lifetime earnings for those who had completed
level 5 apprenticeships were higher than those for graduates from non-Russell Group universities, most apprenticeships offered
were at levels 2 and 3, providing little improvement over earnings from
secondary school qualifications. The report also found that apprenticeships had
a lower perceived value compared to degrees in Britain than in many other
countries
