The English Education System Katie Shields Hort 4000 May 4, 2005

English Schools: K-12 Compulsory for children ages 5-16 Can be co-ed or single sex 93% attend state funded schools 7 % attend public schools –We would call these private schools Education beyond 11 th grade is optional

National Curriculum Determines the content that will be taught –Methods of teaching are left to the teachers and their schools Sets targets for learning Determines how performance will be assessed and reported Four key stages

All Stages Core curriculum subjects are English, Math, and Sciences Non-core curriculum subjects include design and technology, information and communication, and physical education

Key Stages 1 and 2 Stage 1: Ages 5-7 and Grades 1 and 2 Stage 2: Ages 7-11 and Grades 3-6 Also includes music, history, geography, and art and design as non- core subjects

Key Stage 3 Ages Grades 7-9 Also includes all the subjects of stages 1 and 2, as well as modern foreign languages, and citizenship as non-core subjects

Key Stage 4 Ages Grades 10 and 11 No longer includes music, history, geography, or art and design as non- core subjects Still includes modern languages and citizenship

Completing High School Graduation assessment based on General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), and AS (after an additional year of school) and A-Level (two additional years of school) examination results –Similar to the Grad Standards in Minnesota high schools –Taken in each subject –5 GCSE’s is equivalent to a high school diplpma –Also function as university entrance exams

College vs. University In Britain, the term college refers to high school Our education level is referred to as University or ‘Uni’ for short

University One third of high school students go on to University Undergraduate programs usually take 3 years to complete Professional Degrees are usually taken as 5 year undergraduate programs (i.e. medicine, law, teaching, veterinary medicine) Taught Masters Degree usually takes 1 year to complete Research Masters Degrees take 2 years to complete

Sources British Council – United States education-uk-system-k-12-education.htm education-uk-system-k-12-education.htm British Embassy - Education p?SID=341 p?SID=341 National Curriculum Online about_NC.shtml about_NC.shtml