Education In England
England has one of the finest educational
system in the world. All English
children between ages 5-16 must attend
school. About 90 percent of the students
go to schools supported entirely or
partly by public funds. The rest of the
students attend private schools. The
Department of Education and Science and
local education authorities supervise
England's school system. England's
educational system tries to give all
children an education suited for all thier
abilities. For many years, every
child has to take a test called an 11-plus
examination after attending
elementary school from ages 5 through 11. This test
determines which three
specialized high schools--grammer, secondary-modern, or
technical-- a child
would attend from ages 11 to 16. Grammer schools prepared
students for
college entrance. Secondary-modern schools provided a general
education.
Technical schools offer technical training, just like the United
States.
Englands public schools are famous for their great college
preparation
courses. Every single public high school has at least one college
course, and
they have been running these courses for hundreds of years.
Institutions of
higher education in England include universities, technical
colleges, and
colleges of commerce, art, and agriculture. Two of the greatest
and most famous
universities in the world, Oxford and Cambridge, are in
England. The country's
largest traditional university is the University of
London, which has about
65,000 students. But England's Open University
has about 120,00 students. It has
no regular classrooms. Instruction is
carried out through the radio, television,
and written correspondence!