Education in Great Britain. Бояринцева Е.И - 5 стр.

of what they learn at school. It supports Education–Business partner-             Courses are run by some 500 institutions of further education,
ships and aims to bring closer links between schools and industry so        many of which also offer higher education courses.
that young people develop skills to help them succeed in the labour               A wide range of national vocational qualifications, designed
market. All young people in full-time education are entitled to ca-         mainly for people in work, are based on national standards that define
reers information and guidance. In England and Wales pupils can take        the competence, knowledge and understanding that employers need.
up work experience placements at any time in their last two years of
compulsory schooling. In Scotland the Education for Work pro-               Higher Education
gramme also develops business-education links.                                     Higher education, consisting of degree and equivalent courses,
       Students who choose to continue their studies after 16 – about       has experienced a dramatic expansion. Today one in three young peo-
two-thirds – work for academic (i.e. study for examinations which           ple enters higher education compared with one in six in 1989. Higher
lead to higher education) or vocational qualifications which are the        education is provided at universities, "the new universities" (former
main standard for entry to higher education or professional training.       polytechnics which became known as "new universities" in the early
These include the General National Vocational Qualification (GNVQ),         nineties) and other establishments of higher and further education.
mainly taken between the ages of 16 and 18, which is designed to pro-              There are some 170 universities and higher education institu-
vide a broad-based preparation for a range of occupations and higher        tions, which enjoy academic freedom. First degree courses are
education; the academic General Certificate of Education Advanced           mainly full time and usually last three years (four in Scotland), with
(A) level examination taken at the age of 18 or 19, and the Advanced        longer courses in subjects such as medicine. Universities offer courses
Supplementary (AS) examination.                                             in a wide range of subjects. The oldest and best known universities are
                                                                            in Oxford, Cambridge, London, Liverpool, Durham, Edinburgh, Bris-
Further Education and Training
                                                                            tol, Cardiff, Birmingham. A university consists of a number of facul-
       About 2.5 million students are enrolled in further education,        ties: divinity / theology, economics, engineering, agriculture, com-
much of which is work-related. Further education is for persons over        merce and education. After three years of study, a student may proceed
compulsory school age, and consists of full-time and part-time educa-       to a Bachelor’s degree and later to the degree of Master and Doctor.
tion. It comprises all forms of public education except secondary (be-      The Bachelor’s Degree (Bachelor of Commerce, Science or Music) is
tween ages of 11 and 15), i.e. grammar, modern and comprehensive            given to students who pass exams at the end of three to four years of
schools as well as independent / private schools, university education      study. Bachelors’ degrees are at two levels, Honours and Pass. In
and teacher training. The main sub-divisions of vocational education        some cases the Honours Degree is awarded for intensive study and
are technical, commercial, art, agricultural and horticultural. Aca-        examination in one, two or perhaps three related subjects, while the
demic work and professional training differ from college to college.        Pass (or General) degree may be somewhat broader. In some cases the
Some colleges provide "sandwich" courses or short full-time block           Honours degree is given to the students who are more successful in
release courses. There may be several patterns for sandwich courses: 6      their examination.
months in college and 6 months in industry / office; alternatives are 4/8          The first post-graduate degree is that of Master, conferred for
and 6/10. Many students between 15 and 18 attend mainly part-time           a thesis based on at least one year’s full-time work. Everywhere the
courses, either by day release or block release from employment, or         degree of Doctor of Philosophy is awarded for a thesis which is an
evening courses. Part-time training also includes correspondence            original contribution to knowledge.
courses and distance learning as well as refresher courses.                        The British universities have their own way of life and traditions
                                                                            which are carefully preserved. For example, sometimes you can see

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