Further Education (Post-School Education)
In the UK there are a number of ways to continue one’s education after leaving secondary school at 16 or 18.
Most post-school education is provided at universities, polytechnics, colleges of further or higher education, adult education centres or various specialized colleges.
At the age of 18 students take the A-level exam, which is the main standard for entry to university education and to many forms of professional training.
Students taking A-levels study traditional subjects such as a foreign language (French), Physics or History.
To enter a university students need 2 or 3 A-levels.
Entrance to British universities depends on satisfactory GCSE & A level results.
Applicants are admitted (accepted) usually after an interview by the university or college concerned.
Students do not normally apply to the university they wish to enter, but apply through the Universities’ Central Council on Admissions (UCCA).
Oxford & Cambridge Universities take part in the UCCA but also have a system of entrance examinations & interviews by individual colleges.
Only about a third of school leavers go on to higher education.
One of the reasons is fierce competition to get into a university.
Not everyone who gets A levels is admitted.
To be admitted an applicant usually needs 3 A levels with high grades. Grades at A level go from A, the highest, to E.
Most universities require 2 Bs & 1 C grade (BBC).
The system of higher education includes:
universities & polytechnics
colleges of higher education
advanced courses in the further education.
The British h.e. system is still more selective & class-divided than secondary education, particularly so far as the oldest universities are concerned.
Most cities in the UK have both a university & a college of h.e.
There are 91 universities & about 120 polytechnics & other institutions of h.e. nowadays.
Universities offer three- & four-year degree courses (degree-level courses).
A number of subjects take a longer course: Medicine, Architecture, foreign languages include a year abroad.
Polytechnics & colleges offer not only degree courses but also other qualifications, such as Higher National Diploma (HND) & some others.
Bcs. entrance to the higher education is selective, the majority of students successfully complete their course of study & get their first degrees.
Most 1st degrees are bachelor’s degrees: (they are for:)
Bachelor of Arts (BA) or
Bachelor of Science (BSc)
On obtaining a bachelor’s degree, a person may go on studying for 1 or 2 more years, he may take research course leading to higher degrees.
(A higher degree is a postgraduate degree taken after a first degree) which are:
a Master’s degree – Master of Arts (MA)
Master of Science (MSc)
Postgraduate students may then proceed to research degrees, such as:
Master of Philosophy (PhM)(MPhil)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - is rewarded for some original research in Arts or Sciences after a three year period of research.
For historical reasons, Oxford & Cambridge Universities award MA degrees to all 1st degree graduates without requiring them to take a further examination.
In the older Scottish universities Master is used for a 1st degree in arts subjects.
Over 90 % of full-time students receive grants & scholarships.
All the students on a university degree course are automatically eligible for a grant, awarded by a student’s LEA.
The amount of the grant depends on the level of income of the student’s family.
But the sums paid are not sufficient to cover all the students’ expenses.
That is why many students work during the holidays.
But it is difficult to find such jobs & some students are dropping out, they fail to finish their course.
Dropouts constitute about 15 % of the students.
Teaching is provided through lectures & tutorials (small group seminars).
A university is headed by a Chancellor – he is an official head of various universities. He is appointed for life & attends the university only on formal occasions once or twice a year. He is not paid.
The real head of a university is the Vice-Chancellor. He runs the university, he is the executive & administrative head of a university, usually elected or appointed for a fixed number of years from among the senior members of the university.
Some universities, like Oxford & Cambridge, are divided into colleges.
Others (Redbricks) are divided into various faculties (2 meanings) & each faculty has a number of departments.
Higher education has experienced a dramatic expansion since the1980s.
In order to maintain British expertise [,eksp2:’ti:z] in technology, the government have been expanding higher education & research in electronics, engineering & computer science by making available extra student places, offering bursaries (a scholarship or grant awarded to a student) to able young students to study for engineering degrees, & by providing additional staff & research fellowships (the money given to graduates to allow them to continue their studies at an advanced level).