SECONDARY EDUCATION

The majority of pupils attend non-selective comprehensive schools. These largely take pupils without reference to ability or aptitude and provide a wide range of secondary education for all or most children in a district. Comprehensive schools take pupils in the 11 to 18 age-range. In addition there are middle schools (from 8 to 12 or from 9 to 13), and also there are some parts of the country which have retained selection at the age of 11, after which a minority go to the more prestigious grammar schools (there remain today 166 grammar schools) and the majority go to secondary modern schools.

Before 1965 a selective system of secondary education operated throughout England. Under that system a child of 11 had to take an exam (known as “an 11-plus”) which consisted of intelligence tests covering linguistic, mathematical and general knowledge and which was to be taken by children in the last year of primary schooling. The object was to select between academic and non-academic children. Those who did well in the examination went on to a grammar school, while those who failed went to a secondary modem school or technical college. Grammar schools prepared children for national examinations Education (GCE) at ordinary and advanced levels. These examinations qualified children for the better jobs, and for higher education. The education in secondary modern schools was based on practical schooling, which would allow entry into various skilled and unskilled jobs.

Many people complained that it was wrong for a person's future to be decided at so young an age. The children who went to “secondary moderns” were seen as “failures”. Critics argued that the 11-plus examination was socially divisive, increasing the inequalities between rich and poor and reinforcing the class system. The government in 1965 abolished the 11-plus and tried to introduce the non-selective education system in the form of comprehensive schools, that would provide schooling for children of all ability levels and from all social backgrounds, ideally under one roof.

Nowadays under the National Curriculum far greater emphasis at the secondary level is laid on science and technology. Accordingly, ten subjects have to be studied: English, history, geography, mathematics, science, a modern foreign language (at secondary level), technology (including design), music, art, and physical education (PE). For special attention there were chosen three of these subjects (called “core subjects”): English, science, mathematics (and sometimes, in the secondary schools, a foreign language). Seven other subjects are called “foundation” or “statutory subjects”. Besides, these and other subjects are grouped into departments and teachers work in teams to plan work.

Most common departments in comprehensive schools across the country are:

· Humanities Department: geography, media studies, history, economics, English literature, drama, PE, social science;

· Science Department: chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics;

· Language Department: German, French, English language;

· Craft Design and Technology Department: information and communications technology, computing, home economics, and photography.

The latter department (often known as CDTD) brings together the practical subjects like cooking, woodwork, needlework and metalwork with the new technology used in those fields. Students might design a T-shirt on computer using graphics software and make up the T-shirt design. Students might also look at ways to market their product, thus linking all disciplines.

Education in Britain is not solely concentrated on academic study. Great value is placed on visits and activities like organising the school club or field trips, which are educational in a more general sense. The organisation of these activities by teachers is very much taken for granted in the British school system. Some teachers give up their free time, evenings and even weekends to do this “unpaid” work. At Christmas teachers organise concerts, parties and general festivities. It is also considered a good thing to be “seen” to be doing this extra work since it is fairly essential for securing promotion in the school hierarchy.

Classes of pupils are called “forms” (though it has recently become common to refer to “years”) and are numbered in secondary school from one to six, beginning with first form. Nearly all schools work a five-day week, and are closed on Saturdays. The day starts at about nine o'clock with three hours of lessons (divided by short breaks) in the morning and two more hours of lessons after the lunch break. School normally finishes between three and four, for younger children the day is shorter. The lunch break or “dinner hour” usually lasts about an hour-and-a-quarter.

Instead of one very long holiday in the summer with very short breaks at other times, as in the rest of Europe, English schools usually divide their year into three “terms”, starting at the beginning of September

Passage from one year to the next one is automatic. At the age of 14 pupils are tested in English, maths and science, as well as in statutory subjects. When they reach the age of 14 – 15, in the 3rd or 4th form, pupils begin to choose their exam subjects (called subject “options”) and work for two years to prepare for their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) qualifications. Since 1988, most sixteen-year-olds have taken the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) or the Scottish Certificate of Education (SCE) in five, ten or even fifteen subjects. The exams are usually taken in the 5th form at the age of 16, which is a school-leaving age. The GCSE must be taken in “core subjects”, plus three, four or five other subjects (usually chosen in discussion with teachers, from a list). But there is no “free choice” because of the timetables and demands for a coherent education. One of the subjects must be practical, another must be part of “social studies” – geography, history, etc. Academic pupils will be able to choose mostly academic subjects, those who find schoolwork more difficult can concentrate on practical and technical subjects.

The actual written (and sometimes practical) exams (sometimes two papers in each subject) are set by independent examination boards, and are marked anonymously by outside examiners, though they must be approved by the government and comply with national guidelines. There are several examination boards in Britain and each school decides which board's exam its pupils take.

Most exams last for two hours; marks are given for each exam separately. There is a complicated (and changing) system of marking. Exams are usually marked out of 100, and then are “converted” into grades from A to G (grades А, В, С are considered to be “good” marks). This means that there is far less subjective impression of whether this or that pupil deserves a good mark or a not-so-good mark.

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