2. The second stage is secondary education from 11 to 16/18 years old. Children must go to school until the age of 16, and pupils may stay on for one or two years if they wish.
Free secondary education is available to all children in comprehensive schools, which are not selective – children don’t have to pass an exam to go there. Books are lent to the pupils free. Comprehensive schools in the UK are for all abilities and sexes. They develop the talents of each individual child, and the older children, according to their perceived abilities, are put into “sets” for mathematics or languages, sometimes across all subjects. But some schools teach all subjects to “mixed ability’ classes. Comprehensive schools teach wide range of subjects in arts, crafts, woodwork, domestic science, modern languages, sciences, technical areas and computer studies. All pupils move to the next class automatically at the end of the year.
“Private education” must take care of itself. The Education authorities do not prescribe a detailed programme of learning or determine what books and materials should be used. They only offer a national specification of learning objectives.
Private preparatory schools are for pupils aged up to 13. They are very expensive and prepare children for very famous in the UK public schools which are free from state control. The fundamental requirements are very high and they accept pupils on the basis of an examination. Most of them are boarding schools. The education is of a high quality, the most able go ahead. The discipline is very strict, corporal punishment has been recently banned in state schools, but in most public schools it is still allowed. At 18 most public school-leavers gain entry to universities. Public schools are famous for their ability to lay foundation of a successful future by giving their pupils a good academic background, self-confidence, distinctive customs and attitudes, the use of specialized items of vocabulary, the wearing of distinctive clothes, and perhaps, most important of all, the right friends and contacts. Public schools educate the ruling class and have a deep and lasting influence on their pupils.
Grammar school teaches academic subjects to prepare children for university, professions, managerial or other highly-skilled jobs. It is usually by competitive entry. At university many Grammar school children rub shoulders with those from the public schools and often acquire their accent and attitude. Secondary modern school has a more practical and technical bias.
Nearly all schools work a five-day week, with no half-day. Schools usually divide their year into three “terms”. Each school day is divided into periods of 40-50 minutes with 10-20 minutes breaks between them.
Some schools give pupils tests every week or month to see if they are making progress. The school-leaving exams are set by independent examining boards and held in May/June. There is no unified school-leaving exam or school leaving certificate. In practice, nearly all pupils do exams in English language, maths and a science subject. The number of passes they obtain is shown on the certificate.
The school’s function is to train a pupil’s mind and his character should be formed at home. But the “troublemakers” don’t leave their characters at home when their minds go to school and many of them have personality problems. When they are late or violate various school regulations they may be punished or detained in school after ordinary hours for truancy. There are some rewards, medals and prizes for the best pupils.
At the age of sixteen people are free to leave school if they want to. Educational Reform has introduced City Technology Colleges. A number of Colleges of Further Education do vocational training courses for particular jobs and careers, for example in engineering, typing, cooking or hairdressing. Most school leavers do not find employment immediately and do not want to go to FE College. They may take part in training schemes (the Young Opportunities Scheme) which involve on-the-job training combined with part-time college courses. Some young working people are given “day release’ so they can follow a course to help them in their job.
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