Overview For Non-English Readers

I know it's a bit presumptious that I have any readers, but just in case there are I have included a brief description of the UK education system.

The first oddity is that private schools are referred to as Public schools, and the schools that most of the public go to are referred to as State schools.

In a Nutshell

In the UK education system pupils start in Primary school at 5 years old. They progress to Juniors around 7 years old. Then senior school is roughly from 11 to 16, at 16 they take examinations called GCSEs (General Certificate of School Education). They can leave school after that if they wish. If they do well with GCSEs they can take A'Levels (Advanced level education) which takes two years till they are around 18 years old. If the A'Levels go ok then University (often shortened to as uni) is an option to get educated to Degree standard.

Public Schools

This post is about the public education system, not the private one. The two overlap in many ways but are also very different.

I won't include the private schools because it requires entering the arcane world of boarding schools, crammers, and a whole eco-system. Many people don't like the private system because it gives an unfair advantage to your kids. But we all want to help our kids don't we?

Personally I have no objection to them. Everyone with children pay taxes that will allow their children to go to state school. The parents who send their childrent to Public school pay the tax and the public school fees, so they are actually supporting the state system regardless. However successive governments have put ludicrous barriers in the way of public schools, they have to explicitly provide help to state schools, and they can't run as charities any more so they have to charge VAT. The tables are pretty well stacked against them.

State Schools Overview

As with most education systems there is a progression based on age:

Primary School

Pupils start in Primary school at 5 years old.

Junior School

Pupils progress to Junior school around 7 years old.

Senior School

Pupils they enter senior school roughly from 11 to 16 years old. 

Some places have a middle school to complicate things. In other places senior school can be a Grammar school or what was once called a Comprehensive school. The Grammar schools tend to be more academic.

At 16 years old, pupils in they take examinations called GCSEs (General Certificate of School Education). They can leave school after that if they wish.

Sixth Form

These are either a continuation of senior school or there are now Sixth form colleges. There are a plethora of other types of shool at this point.

If they do well with GCSEs they can take A'Levels (Advanced level education) which takes two years till they are around 18 years old.

A'Levels take 2 years generally.

In Scotland there is a thing called a Higher. Which is somewhere between a GCSE and an A'Level. That's all I can tell you about that, it always seemed to be an oddity.

University

If the A'Levels go ok then University (often shortened to as uni) is an option to get educated to Degree standard.

Many universities offer foundation courses to make sure that all students have the requisite knowledge for their course. That shouldn't be needed but it's a real thing.

The labour government back in the late 90s and early 0s decided that all students regardless of background should be able to go to university. They came up with a student loan system that in theory made the cost a non issue. They kicked the cost of higher education 30 years down the line. It is due to explode within the next 5 years.

Armed with a Degree, in theory the world is your oyster.

Conclusion

The Nutshell opens up slightly bigger than I planned.

The UK education is a mess of old and new ideas existing at the same time.

Teachers have become more organised and have worked out better ways to get students through examinations.

There are still people who get through the eductation system without being taught to read and write, and still more who regard arithmetic as something that only other people need to know.