As someone who has taught in London for nearly two decades, it often becomes apparent that parents who were educated abroad struggle to understand the system here in the UK. It’s not surprising, as the system is mired in historic and political twists and turns that make it baffling even for people who were educated here. Also the UK is made up of four nations, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The systems in England and Wales are very similar, whilst there are variations in Northern Ireland, and huge differences in Scotland. This article will deal with some of the most important things to know about the system in the most populous part of the UK, England.
Public, Private, State?
One of the first things to clear up is this one: a public school in most countries means one that is free to attend and that is generally run by the government. That’s not the case here in the UK. When you hear the term public school in England, people are referring to private schools, also known as independent schools, to whom you must pay fees for attendance. Yes, that’s right: the meaning here is the opposite of the meaning elsewhere. Strictly speaking, public schools in England refer to a small subset of the oldest and most “prestigious” private schools such as Harrow, Eton and so on. These are for students over the age of 11, whereas younger children can attend another type of private school known as a preparatory or prep school.
The term public school is quite a loaded, political, phrase. A high proportion of goverment ministers, judges, senior civil servants and journalists have attended such schools. Given that only 7% of the population are educated in the independent sector, hearing figures such as 65% of senior judges attended such schools has given rise to concern that social mobility is compromised by systemic issues within education and employment. Being called a “public school boy” is generally not meant as a compliment.
State schools then, are those that are free to attend, being funded by the government, and that generally do not select by ability or other criteria.
Grammar Schools
Another subject that can provoke an emotive response is that of grammar schools. Confusingly grammar schools could be state or private, but generally the term is taken to mean a state funded school that selects its students by ability. This means that students reaching the end of the primary phase of education (10-11 years old) will take an academic test commonly called the 11+. The results of the 11+ will determine if they can attend a selective school. This could be a private school or a state grammar school.
Initially grammar schools were private, with a proportion of places awarded by scholarship and funded by the state. This then expanded in the 1940s to schools which were entirely state funded and that students would attend based on ability. Students that could pass with a high enough mark (e.g. the top 20% of the student population) would then be able to attend their local grammar school. Other students would attend a school known as a secondary modern which did not select by ability and was available to all.
Grammar schools were intended to allow progression to university, whereas secondary moderns were intended to allow pupils to progress to local colleges or the workplace. Even the qualifications that could be taken by students in secondary modern schools were restricted. This stark early division of children into academic and non-academic was popular with parents whose children benefitted from the system, but not with others.
The grammar school system was gradually dismantled from the mid 1960s onwards. So called comprehensive schools were open to all students without academic selection and with a wide range of subjects that could be studied.
From a peak of around 1300 grammar schools in the 1960s, there are now just 163 state grammar schools in England, and over 3000 non-selective state secondary schools. The ones that remain are very popular with parents whose children can get into them, however research by UCL’s Institute of Education showed that there is no benefit for the most able students attending such schools, who are equally happy and make no less progress in a non-selective school. The impact on non-selective schools in an area with grammar schools can be negative, with performance tables for such areas dominated by the grammar schools.
Progression
In England and Wales, school years are determined by the age of the child based on an academic year starting on the 1st of September. Pupils progress through the following stages during their education:
- Nursery ( under 4)
- Infant (4-7): Reception, Year 1, Year 2
- Primary (7-11): Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6
- Secondary (11-16): Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10, Year 11
- Post 16 (16-18): Year 12, Year 13
Pupils start their formal education after the age of 4. In England this year is called reception. Progression from school year to school year is automatic up to the age of 16, so for example when a reception student completes the reception year (and so will have turned 5 before September the 1st) they will progress to Year 1. There is no exam to sit that will determine whether the student will progress to the next year unlike in some countries.
The different age ranges in primary and secondary schools are named as follows:
- Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) – Reception
- Key Stage 1 (KS1) – Year 1 to 2
- Key Stage 2 (KS2) – Year 3 to 6
- Key Stage 3 (KS3) – Year 7 to 9
- Key Stage 4 (KS4) – Year 10 to 11
- Key Stage 5 (KS5) – Year 12 to 13
Some schools will arrange their curriculum so that KS3 is covered by the end of Year 8. In such schools, KS4 will then comprise Year 9 to Year 11.
Qualifications
At the end of KS3, students are expected to make a choice about a small set of subjects that they would like to continue on with in KS4. English, maths and science are compulsory and some schools will force students to choose a language and a humanities subject (either geography or history). This leaves 3 to 4 subjects that the student can choose from, e.g. art, media studies, music, computer science etc.
Successful completion of KS4 should result in the award of a qualification for each subject studied. The most common of these qualifications is called a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). This is awarded on the basis of final examinations at the end of KS4, which are assessed outside of the school to ensure fairness. Some subjects such as music and art are also assessed on coursework conducted in school.
Another common qualification is called BTEC, which also features an external examination, but the majority of the qualification is assessed through coursework, and so this qualification suits practical subjects.
A strange quirk of the system in England and Wales is that competing awarding bodies (often called exam boards) are able to issue qualifications in the same subject. For my own subject for example, the Oxford Cambridge and RSA (OCR) awarding body is the most popular. However, a school could choose to use the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) or Pearson Edexcel (Edexcel) and there are a number of others. International schools abroad that choose to teach UK qualifications often use the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) awarding body, as do many independent schools in England. BTEC qualifications can only be awarded by Edexcel.
Post 16
In England, Year 11 students are given the results of their GCSE and BTEC qualifications on the last Thursday of August. These determine what the student might do next. GCSEs and BTECs studied during KS4 are known as Level 2 qualifications. GCSEs are graded 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest grade achievable. Any grade above 4 in GCSE results in the gaining of a single Level 2 pass. Below 4 would be a single Level 1 pass. BTECs are graded Pass, Merit, Distinction and Distinction star. These roughly translate as:
- Pass = GCSE grade 4,
- Merit = GCSE grade 6
- Distinction = GCSE grade 7
- Distinction* = grade 8/9
Progression now is determined by the results of those exams. If students choose to stay on in school, they can study a qualification called an Advanced Level (A Level) or a Level 3 BTEC. Schools may have a general entrance requirement (for example “Must achieve at least 6 GCSEs at grade 5 and above”) as well as individual subject requirements (“Must have studied GCSE Computer Science and achieved at least a grade 6”).
So state schools are now in effect also selecting based on ability, using recent examinations to determine what courses a student should be allowed to study. Students themselves can also choose to study elsewhere if they want, and if they have achieved an impressive set of results might be in strong demand.
If there is no suitable course available, an alternative option is to attend a Further Education College (FE college or just college), which allows the student to retake Level 2 qualifications or choose from a much wider range of courses which might lead directly to employment. A third option is to apply for an apprenticeship, which is comprised of work and some classroom based training. To do this, you need to apply to an employer and be successful in being taken on as an apprentice. They will then be responsible for ensuring that you receive suitable training on the job and in the classroom.
University Admission
There was a time in England (prior to the 1990s) when it was perfectly possible to leave schools with GCSEs or A Levels and gain employment in a variety of professions without attending a university. Since then, it has become increasingly common for professions to require a university qualification. Teaching and nursing are just two examples. The A Level has therefore become a qualification for selecting students’ university destination.
UK universities are amongst the best in the world so competition for places is fierce. A Levels are awarded grades from A* to E and the most competitive courses and professions would expect a set of 3 A Levels ranging from A*A*A* to maybe A*AA.
Applications to UK universities are made through a central system called UCAS, which students are guided through by their teachers during the latter part of Year 12 and the beginning of Year 13.
Types of State School
This could merit an entire article on its own, as the system in England now has been further complicated by reforms started in the 1990s and expanded and accelerated since 2010. Most schools prior to that time were controlled by local authorities, for example the London Boroughs or English counties such as Hertfordshire, Berkshire and so on. Some schools were run by faith groups. To that mix we can now add Academies, Multi Academy Trusts, City Technology Colleges, and Free Schools. Broadly these are characterised as follows:
- Community Schools: no selection, overseen by a local authority
- Faith schools: selection by religion and other admissions criteria
- Academies: no selection*, but has freedom over the curriculum
- Multi Academy Trust: no selection*, can run a group of schools
- Free School: no selection*, established by parents or other groups
- City Technology Colleges: no selection, specialised e.g. engineering
Community and faith schools have to follow the National Curriculum, a standardised curriculum introduced in the 1990s. Faith schools can vary their teaching of Religious Education according to their preferences. Academies don’t have to teach the National Curriculum but most do choose to do so. Academies can be established in partnership with businesses, or with a particular faith. Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) can be a pair of schools or a chain of up to 76 in the case of one MAT. They often take over schools previously deemed to be providing a poor standard of education. There is no strong evidence that this type of school structure has improved the provision of education in England.
Free schools are free in the sense that they have the same freedoms as other academies, and are free to attend as are all state schools. They can be formed by parents, teachers or other local groups. They have also been controversial, many having been abandoned due to low pupil numbers, and some were highly politicised with high profile parent founders. However there have been some successes, and as community schools cannot be opened any more, all newly opened schools have to be free schools or academies.
I hope that was a useful overview of a very broad topic.
* Whilst some schools are not selective in the strictest sense, they can select by other means, for example musical ability, or by placing the student within ability bands