BRITISH EDUCATION SYSTEM

BRITISH EDUCATION SYSTEM

Something we have recently learned about are the differences between Spanish and British cultures. One of these culture aspects is the education system, although we haven’t specifically talked about it. That’s why I wanted to talk about this topic.

Maybe some of you think that the requirements, aspects, features, etc. of the educational system of Britain are the same as, for example, Spain; and just because of the fact that the United Kingdom belonged to the European Union. Actually, they are quite similar, but one of the aims of this entry is to make you realise the concepts they use for each stage.

In the UK, if we want to talk about the very beginning of the educational learning period we allude to pre-school, or as they call it, nursery. It is where children go from age three to four, until they start primary school, also known as elementary school by American people.

There, in primary school, they start what they call reception or year R, which is the first year in school. And there, each year you go by is enumerated as Year 1, Year 2, etc. and so all the way up to Year 6. By that point, children should be 11 years old, and when they turn 12 they start high school; also referred colloquially speaking as big school and, in a formal way, as secondary school.

Something that really stands out is the fact that, since Year 7, which means 12 years old, every secondary school has its own specialism such as arts, sciences, sports, technology, etc. In Spain, we don’t have the opportunity to choose our speciality until the Year 11, comprised by 16 years old teenagers. Then, when they arrive to Year 11, they do the GCSE’s, which are different exams you have to do in order to get the General Certificate of Secondary Education.

Then, you’ll have choices to make. You can either decide to stop your education (in the UK you can stop your education at 16, just like in Spain) or you can go on to study the Sixth Form or College, which are both considered as the Bachillerato in Spain. The main difference between college and Sixth Form is that they consider that, traditionally speaking, a Sixth Form is attached to your secondary school, so you can do Year 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 in the same place, while in colleges, you have to do Year 12 and 13 in a completely separate institution. Another important difference between these two is that, in a college, you can choose to study things which are not academic such as hairdressing, plumbing, etc. while in a Sixth Form, there are just A-Level grades like Maths, Science, History, etc.

Finally, the moment to go to University arrived. A fact that shocked me is how expensive can a university be; according to a teaching video, the fees for going to a university in the UK are from 3.000 to 9.000 £ a year. Obviously, education in the UK can be done for free only until you get to university, because then it’s a choice, and not a compulsory stage. Another interesting fact I found is that, in the UK, public school means private school, meaning paid, while in the US public school means state school, that is, free.

At this point, I couldn’t really tell if I would have liked to be educated in the United Kingdom after learning about all this, but, to be honest, there are some features and nuances which drew my attention such as the fact that you can choose your speciality since 12 years old, something that I would have really liked to experience.

So, what do you think about this and what would have you done if you had had the opportunity to be born in either the UK or Spain?

Amín Ezzahiri

EPD 11

Revised by José Antonio Poderoso Miranda