Vypracovala: Mgr. Silvie Reitharová Great Britain II Vypracovala: Mgr. Silvie Reitharová

The Political System of Great Britain In every country political power can be divided into three parts in Great Britain: the legislative power is represented by: the Parliament the executive power is represented by: the Government lead by the Prime Minister the judicial power is represented by: The Supreme Court

The PARLIAMENT The Parliament consists of three parts I) the sovereign Today the sovereign’s role is mostly formal II) The House of Lords The members are called peers They are not elected by people, they are named by the sovereign There are hereditary and life peers III) the House of Commons The main law-making body of GB The members are elected every five years

The GOVERNMENT A general elections must be held every five years ( or more frequently) The party which wins forms the Government and her leader becomes the Prime Minister The party which is the second forms the opposition Tony Blair has been the Prime Minister of Great Britain for the second term The main political parties in Britain are The Conservative Party and the Labour party Whitehall - the seat of the government

The Royal Family Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the official head of the country She was born on 23rd April 1926 Her “surname” is Windsor The name of the dynasty is not old it used to be long and German (Saxon-Coburgh-Ghotta) but during the World War I it was changed to English name Windsor The Queen is a hard working lady Every day of her life is planned in details, her life isn’t easy at all Her biggest hobbies are dogs and horses She also loves all her family, especially her grandchildren

The Queen Elizabeth has been the Queen for quite a long time Her father King George VI died in 1952 Elizabeth was a young Princess, she was only 26 when she had to become the Queen She was crowned in Westminster Abbey in February 1953 Her mother, Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon was born in 1900 and died in 2002 They called her Queen Mother or simply Queen Mum and she was the most favourite member of the Royal Family The Queen Queen Mother

The Queen and her family In 1947 Elizabeth married Prince Philip Mountbatten They have four children Prince Charles was born in 1948 Princess Ann was born in 1950 Prince Andrew was born in 1960 Prince Edward was born in 1964 Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh Princess Ann Prince Andrew, the Duke of York Prince Edward, the Duke of Wessex Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales

The heirs to the throne Prince Charles is the next to the throne In 1981 he married Lady Diana Spencer and they had two sons Prince William, the Prince of Wales - born in 1982 Prince Henry – born in 1984 They are the next ancestors to the crown after their father In 2005 Charles married for the second time, he married Lady Camilla Parker-Bowles Prince William Charles and Camilla Prince Henry

The School System The school year is divided into three terms Pupils and students have to wear uniforms A lot of children and young people study at boarding schools where they spend most of their childhood and youth They only come home on holidays (especially in summer) Schools organize all parts of their students´ life.Not only the education but also their hobbies and leisure time activities

School attandance is compulsory at the age of 5 to 16 At the age of 5 children start their education at elemantary schools At the age of 11 or 12 everybody starts their education at secondary school Schools are mostly state but there are also PUBLIC schools which are private.They are often boarding and single-sexed The most famous public shools are for example Eaton, Harrow and Ruggby

At the age of 16 everybody takes an exam called GCSE-general certificate of secondary education. It is also called O-level It is the simpliest way how to finish one´s education However you are not quallified at all if you leave school after passing this exam! Most students continue their studies for next two or three years and then they pass other kinds of exams, especially A- level and AS-level

There are several good universities in England For studying at most of them you only need to pass A-level or AS-level and you don´t have to pass any entrance exams Only for studying at the best universities – Oxford and Cambridge you need more You have to be a very good student at secondary school, you have to pass AS-level very well and you have to pass some entrance exams and some entrance interviews To get to those universities isn´t easy and to study there is very hard and expensive (if you are not able to get some kind of a scholarship) However to be a gratuate of Oxbridge is the best recommendation for any employer in the world!