System of education in Britain

Secondary education, the second stage traditionally found in formal education, beginning about age 11 to 13 and ending usually at age 15 to 18. The dichotomy between elementary education and secondary education has gradually become less marked, not only in curricula but also in organization. The proliferation of middle schools, junior schools, junior high schools, and other divisions has produced systems with more than two stages.

Because of their wide influence throughout the world, it is appropriate to sketch briefly the educational patterns of a few major European nations and the United States.

France initiated a number of educational reforms beginning in 1968. Contemporary France has a first cycle of education for all children up to grade 5. The transitional grades 6 and 7 are followed by grades 8 and 9, which comprise the so-called guidance cycle, in which students pursue a certain core curriculum, a second foreign language, and a collection of electives. They must decide by the end of grade 9 whether to pursue the academic tracts in upper secondary school or to pursue vocational options. In principle, parents, students, and school counselors must reach an agreement on this decision, but appeal procedures exist to resolve differences.

Students 15 to 18 years of age enter either of two lycées, or high schools: (1) the lycée of general and technological education (examination taken at the end of these studies qualifies students for university entrance.

Vocational-technical secondary education includes a three-year selection of optional courses leading to one of the 30 or so technical baccalauréats. A student may instead opt for a one-year course conferring no particular qualification or may opt for apprenticeship training in the workplace.

In Germany, schools are the responsibility of the governments of the states, or Länder, and the structure of elementary and secondary education is not entirely consistent throughout the nation. In all states, however, the period of covers eight or nine grades. After this period, three basic options are available to the pupils. They may, after counseling by the elementary school teacher and upon the request of the parents, be placed in a Realschule, a proceed with their study of language, arithmetic, geography, history, science, music, art, and physical education. After completion of a four- or five-year program of studies at the Hauptschule, the pupil typically enters apprenticeship training.

In Germany the term “secondary school” refers to institutions offering courses leading to the “Certificate of Maturity” (the ), a qualification for entrance to an institution of higher education. The offers pupils further general education, some prevocational courses, and English-language study. At the age of 16, students conclude their program of studies and transfer to a vocational school or enter apprenticeship training.

If academically qualified, a pupil may also transfer to the Gymnasium. The Gymnasium, the third alternative for German youth, offers rigorous academic preparation for higher education. Like the lycée in France and the grammar school in England, the Gymnasium is designed for those students who have shown the most academic promise; and its curriculum, emphasizing languages, mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences, requires a high degree of diligence throughout all of the nine grades. Unsuccessful students in the Gymnasium may be transferred to the Hauptschule. At the age of 16, moreover, pupils may terminate their academic studies and enter a vocational school.

Students in the Gymnasium must pass an examination, the Abitur, entitling them to the Certificate of Maturity, if they are to be admitted to a German university. The content of the Abitur is adjusted to the focus of studies, such as classical languages or mathematics-science, chosen earlier by the student.

Great Britain’s current system of secondary education is the successor to a slightly older system that assigned students at age 11 to one of three types of schools by means of selection tests. From the 1950s and ’60s these schools were gradually replaced by a single type of school called a comprehensive school, which admits children irrespective of ability or aptitude and which offers both academic and vocational programs under one roof.

In Britain the first stage of education is called primary education and includes students from ages 5 (4 in Northern Ireland) to 11 (12 in Scotland). About 90 percent of students then attend comprehensive schools. These schools are organized in various ways, serving ages 11 to 18; 11–12 to 16; or 12–14 to 16–18. Most of the remaining students receive secondary education in secondary modern or grammar schools (these being remnants of the old tripartite school system), to which they are assigned after selective procedures at age 11.

System of education in Britain

secondary education

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