Text 2. Pre-reading task.

1. What do you already know about the system of higher education in Great Britain?

1. Look through the text and find the answers to the folloing questions:

1. Where can higher education be obtained from in Great Britain?

1. Do the majority of young people proceed to higher education in Great Britain?

1. Name the three types of British universities.

1. What degree is usually taken in final examinations after the first three years of study?

1. What can you say about the teaching system in British universities?

1. Why is adult education so important?

1. Where can further education be obtained from?

Higher education in Great Britain can be obtained from a university, a college (or institute) of higher education or at alternative college. What usually identifies most of these institutions is that a student, after a prescribed period of study and after passing his examinations will receive a degree and become a graduate of his institution. However, only a small percentage of the age group in Britain proceeds to higher education, in contrast to the higher rates in many major industrial nations.

The universities

There were twenty-three British universities in 1960. After a period of expansion in the 1960s, there are now forty-six, with thirty-five in England, eight in Scotland, two in Northern Ireland, and one in Wales. They can be broadly classified into three types. The ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge (composed of their many colleges) date from the twelfth century, but until the nineteenth century they were virtually the only English universities and offered no place to women. However, old universities had been founded in Scotland, such as St.Andrews (1411), Glasgow (1450), Aberdeen (1494), and Edinburgh (1583). The second group comprises the `redbrick' or civic universities such as London, Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester, which were mainly created between 1820 and 1930. The third group consists of the new universities founded after the Second World War, and later in the 1960s. Many of the latter, like Sussex and East Anglia, are set in rural countryside.

Only about 10 per cent of British students leave university without finishing their courses. The successful majority aim for a good degree in order to obtain a good job, or to continue in higher education by doing research (master's degrees and doctorates). The bachelor's degree (Bachelor of Arts or Science, BA or BSc) is usually taken in final examinations at the end of the third year of study, although degree courses do vary in length in different subjects. For example, engineering is often 4 years while medicine and architecture are usually 7 years. The final degree is divided into first-, upper-second, lower-second, third-class honours, and pass.

Teaching is mainly by the lecture system, followed up by tutorials (small groups) and seminars. Many university students may live on campus in university accomodation, while others may choose to live in rented property outside the university. Few British students choose universities near their parents' homes.

Other ways to obtain technical education

Polytechnics existed for some time in Britain in one form or another. But most of the recent institutions were created in the 1960s. The Polytechnics were initially seen as the “people's universities”, and were designed for specific tasks. But they have developed to such an extent that they are now equivalent to universities in many ways. All have higher degrees and research capacity, and since 1991 the Government has decreed that they should all be granted university status.

Today, the former polytechnics have a wide range of arts and science courses at both degree and sub-degree level. Students may study for a degree or a diploma in a professional skill and may be on a full-time or part-time course.

Further and Adult Education

An important aspect of British education is the provision of further and adult education, whether by voluntary bodies, trade unions, or state institutions. The present organizations originated to some degree in the thirst for knowledge which was felt by working-class people in the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century, particularly after the arrival of state education and mass literacy. Today, local authorities provide such educational opportunities in colleges of further education, technical colleges, and colleges of commerce. These institutions offer a considerable selection of subjects at basic levels for a wide range of part-time and full-time students. Many of these institutions also provide opportunities to students to take university entrance examinations.

Adult education is provided by these colleges, the universities, the Workers' Educational Association (WEA), evening institutes, and local societies and clubs. There has been a recent expansion of continuing-education projects, as well as programmes specifically designed for adult employment purposes. Adult courses may be vocational (relating to a person's job or search for a job) or recreational (for pleasure), and cover a wide range of activities.

There are several million part-time students at these various institutions, and their ages range from 16 to 80 and beyond.