This document provides an overview of the English public education system. It discusses the structure including pre-university, pre-primary, primary and secondary schools. Primary schools educate children from ages 5 to 11 or 12, after which they enter secondary school which can last until age 19. The document also outlines teaching methods, examinations, term dates and the types of schools including public, private and independent. It notes the growth of public education in Britain since 1944 to meet the needs of a growing population and demand for scientists and technologists.
3. Intro To Author/Writer
This chapter is written by HAROLD C. DENT Professor
Dent, who was the Director of Sheffield University
Institute Of Education, and later assistant dean of the
Institute Of Education at the University of
London, served for several years as educational
correspondent for the London Times and as editor of
the Times Educational Supplement. He has served as a
headmaster of a British School and has written
fourteen books on British education and is editor of
the year book of technical education.
4. Following are the important points of A
Brief View Of English Public Education:
•Pre-University
•Pre-Primary
•Teaching Methods
•Primary & Secondary School
•System Of Schools
•Public Education In Britain
•Examinations
•Term Dates
•Modern Languages In Primary School (MLPS)
•Terminology Used In English Medium Schools
5. •Pre-University
Pre-University in England and Wales is organized in two stages. First, there are the
primary schools, which take the child from the age of five to the age of eleven or
twelve. Next, the child enters a secondary school, at which he may stay until perhaps
as late as nineteen. These schools are free.
•Pre-Primary
For pre-primary children aged two to five, there are voluntary Nursery schools. At age
five compulsory primary education begins for all children. Primary education is divided
into infant schools (five to seven) and junior schools, which enroll children from seven
to eleven or twelve. Boys and girls are usually educated together in Nursery schools
and are not separated.
•Teaching Methods
In these schools teaching methods may change, some teachers preferring to
emphasize class instruction, others relying on informal individual and group activities.
In the junior school the basic subjects of English and arithmetic are often taught in
formal classes, while work in history geography, nature study, music, art, and religious
instruction may be done in individual or group projects.
6. •Primary & Secondary School
All children by law must pass from a Primary School to a Secondary
School between the ages of ten and a half and twelve. The type of
public-supported Secondary school they attend is still, for the most
part, determined by the so-called “Eleven-plus” examinations which are
given by the local education authorities. When this examination is
given, the opinion of the teachers and the child’s entire record are taken
into consideration as well, and in some classes a pupil may be re-tested
if the original results do not seem accurate. All this information is used
to try to determine which form of secondary education will be best for
the individual and most suited to his/her abilities.
•System Of Schools
Outside of publicity supported system of schools at the primary and
secondary levels, are the independent schools, about 4,000 of them
ranging from small privately owned playgroups to the famous “public”
schools, such as Eton & Harrow.
7. Public Education In Britain
Public education in Britain has been marked by tremendous
growth since the passage of the act in 1944. Thousands of
new schools have been built, the supply trained teachers has
more than doubled, and the amount of money pledged to
education by Parliament has soared.
Three principal causes have been responsible for this rapid
growth and development:
1. The need to provide the best facilities for a rapidly
growing population of young people.
2. The demand of the “Atomic Age” for scientists and
technologists on a scale never before imagined.
3. The realization by the public that, as Sir Winston Churchill
said in the “House Of Commons”, the future belogs to the
highly educated nations.”
8. •Examination
There is an exam held mostly 2 times in a year called mid
terms and finals. After passing final exams the student is
promoted into next class or level.
•Term Dates
Term dates means that date on which an examination is held
and in English education system mostly term dates are in
March and in the month of September.
•Modern Languages In Primary School (MLPS)
In English medium schools there are many modern languages
are used such as English, Spanish, French and many more
languages that are used in English school systems.
9. •Terminologies In English Medium Schools
In English medium schools there is a terminology that ther
should must be 1 principal, vice principal and head of
department and many other head staff in school.