The education system in England Comparison between the old system and the new system of education The english education system is relatively different from the french education system for the structure, financing, programm, administration. Education is divided in England into primary school, secondary school and university. For many years secondary Education has been a debate because two ways of seeing education are opposed: the old model, which was selectiv and the new model, which is more egalitarian. Recently there is again a debate about education because of reforms of the labour Party. First we will see how the school system is structured, and then we will explain the different levels of education and the comparison between the old and the new system. 1. The schools system in England a) Authorities responsible for education First it is interesting to know who is responsible for education. • The Secretary of State for Education is responsible for the education policy in England. And the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has control over changes in the educational system. • The Local Education Authorities (LEA), which were created by the 1901 “Balfour” Education Act” have a local authority and they are primarily responsible for public spending on schools and for admissions to most schools. b) Two parallel sectors There are 2 parallel school systems, the state sector and the private sector. -In the state sector, schools are financed by the government and administrated through Local Education Authorities (LEA). No financial contribution to a child’s education is required of parents until further education. -Schools in the private sector are known as independent (or public) schools. They rely for finance only on fees charged to parents. c) Categories of schools in the state sector Since 1998 there are four categories of mainstream primary and secondary school in England: Community, Foundation, Voluntary controlled, Voluntary aided. The types of school are defined by who employs the staff, controls admissions and owns the land and buildings. Schools in all the categories have a lot of in common. They work in partnership with other schools and the LEAs, and they receive funding from LEA. They have to deliver the national curriculum. But each category has its own characteristics. 2. Educational structure Secondly I will explain the educational structure. a) Pre-school and primary school or Infant School (5 until 11 years old) •

In England, the nursery or kindergarten isn’t financed by the state. During a long time only private Institutions took care of children from the age of 3 months to 5. For all four-year-old children a free nursery education is now provided. And the government is working with local authorities to develop a network of children’s centers.

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School is compulsory for all English children from the age of five to sixteen. Primary School begins at the age of five and finishes at the age of eleven. In some regions of England, pupils attend a Lower (primary or First) School before going to a middle School and then a High School or Upper School.

b) Secondary education (11 until 16 or 18) • Secondary education is between 11 and 18. It was changed in the 1970’s. There is an ongoing debate about the merits of this new system, which was called comprehensive system. This system results from a policy decision taken by the 1965 Labour government and implemented by Circular 10/65, an instruction to local education authorities. This discussion is for or against this comprhensive system. This had to replace with the historically Tripartite system. The Tripartite system was established by the Butler Education Act of 1944 and managed all the secondary education. It defined the modern split between Primary and Secondary at age 11. With this system the children had to take the eleven plus examination or 11 plus test in their last year of primary education and were sent to secondary modern, secondary technical or grammar schools depending on their perceived ability. Also the old system was very selectiv : only the best pupils could go to grammar schools, which was the only general schools. As opposed to grammar schools the principle of equality of opportunity underpins comprehensive education, because comprehensive schools accept children of all academic levels. In 1970 the incoming Conservative government continued the process. In 1975 the majority of local authorities in England had abandoned the 11 plus examination and moved to a comprehensive system. Since the 1970’s the comprehensive system dominates British secondary education system and currently educates over 90% of secondary pupils. However there are still now some grammar schools. In fact, some local authorities still run a selective secondary school system with grammar schools. There are around 150 state grammar schools in England. There has been some debate about whether to stop admission by academic ability, but no steps have been taken. Since 1997 the Labour party has a new education policy. The previous Labour focus on the comprehensive system was changed to a focus on adapted education to each child’s ability. Critics see this as a reminiscent of the intentions of the old system. Specialist schools were created, which teach the national curroculum and a few specialist branches of knowlegde (for example business studies). These schools allowed to select 10% of their pupils. • The National Curriculum Since the educated Reform Act of 1988 there is the National compulsory Curriculum to ensure that all state schools around the country are following the same courses. Most private schools follow the national Curriculum. It is made up of the following subjects: English, Design and technology, geography, Maths, Information technology, Music, Sciences, art, Physical education, History, Modern foreign Language. The National curriculum is divided into four stages, called Key stage, which depend on pupils’ ages and subjects are studied. • Public Examinations The most important public Examinations are GCSE (General Certificate of secondary Education) at the end of primary school and GCE “A”Level (General certificate of education Advanced Level) at the end of secundary school.

c) Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE) Further Education was for students over 16 taking courses at various levels up to the standard required for entry to higher education. This education was reformed by Curriculum 2000. A report was published in 2004, which recommended the introduction of a diploma that would bring together both vocational and academical qualifications and ensure that all pupils had a basic set of core skills. Higher Education is all post-school courses above A level standard. Courses are available at universities, college, institutions of higher education and institutions of further education. In conclusion education is in England complex because of many possibilities depending on being in private sector or state sector, and on what the children do after 16. Education is still in discussion because of the big number of students who leave school at 16 and can’t integrate the society because they haven’t much diplomas. Precisly Tony Blair is planing to reform education. The debate between the old and the new system is also about the democratisation of schools and whether all the students should be allowed to continue their studies until the Alevel or if each student should receive an appropriate education and adapted to his level.