Secondary Education

Middle School, High School or Secondary School

Years 7-9, age 11 to 14

Upper School or Secondary School

Years 10-11, age 14 to 16 GCSE examinations

Upper School, Secondary School, or Sixth Form College

Year 12 or Lower Sixth, age 16 to 17 AS-level examinations

Year 13 or Upper Sixth, age 17 to 18 A2-level examinations.

The costs for a normal education in the United Kingdom are as follows:

• Primary: Free

• Secondary: Free

• Further (Secondary) Education in either a sixth form or college: Free (if under 19 in that particular academic year or on a low income).

• Higher/Tertiary Education (University): A tuition fee of up £3,000 per annum
"Public Schools" are actually private schools and are not run by the State.

First Form, age 9 to 10. Second Form, age 10 to 11. Third Form, age 11 to 12. Lower Fourth, age 12 to 13. Upper Fourth, age 13 to 14. Lower Fifth, age 14 to 15. Upper Fifth, age 15 to 16. Lower Sixth, age 16 to 17. Upper Sixth, age 17 to 18.

All levels of education are provided by "Public" schools which charge by reputation. These fees can vary from £5000 per annum to £30000 per annum for Eton, for example.

There are 102 universities in England. The most famous two are The University of Oxford, situated in the city of Oxford, which is the oldest university in the English-speaking world and Cambridge University, which are sometimes referred to collectively as Oxbridge. The two universities have a long history of competition with each other.

When Henry II of England forbade English students to study at the University of Paris in1167, Oxford began to grow very quickly.

Both are collegiate universities, consisting of the university's central facilities, such as departments and faculties, libraries and science facilities, and then 39 colleges and 7 permanent private halls (PPHs) at Oxford and 31 colleges at Cambridge.

Cambridge has produced more Nobel prize laureates than any other university in the world, having 80 associated with it, about 70 of whom were students there.Both Oxford and Cambridge are on rivers, Oxford is on the Thames (which is called the Isis on its way through the city) and Cambridge is on the Cam.

Other notable universities include colleges of the University of London, such as Imperial College, one of the strongest homes of science in the world, the London School of Economics and such newer groups as the "Redbrick" universities, built in Victorian times, such as the University of Manchester and Birmingham University.

The Open University (OU) was founded on the belief that communications technology could bring high quality degree-level learning to people who had not had the opportunity to attend campus universities. Many of its students tended to be older and had for a variety of reasons missed the opportunity of higher educa­tion in their youth.

Law

English law, the law of England and Wales (but not Scotland and Northern Ireland), is known generally as the common law (as opposed to civil law).Because common law consisted of using what had gone before as a guide, "ancient useage", common law places great emphasis on precedents. Thus a decision of the highest court in England and Wales, the House of Lords (the judicial members of which are referred to as Law Lords) is binding on every other court in the hierarchy, and they will follow its directions.

The British police are 49 similar but independent police services which operate in the United Kingdom. The largest is the Metropolitan Police Service in London, better known as the London Met or Scotland Yard, named after the original locationof their headquarters.

Religion

Christianity arrived in Britain in the first or second centuries and existed independently of the Church of Rome after it was founded in the 5^th century. The Protestant Church of England, or Anglican Church, is the official state church in England. The British monarch must belong to it, but all other English people may worship as they choose.Canterbury Cathedral, dates back to Roman times, the first recorded part of the building being erected in 740 AD.Many English people belong to other Protestant churches, known as Free Churches. The largest Free Churches include the Baptist, Methodist, and United Reformed churches.The Church of England has about 27 million members, but most of them do not attend services regularly. There are about 4 million other Protestants and about the same number of Roman Catholics in England. The Catholic church is headed by the archbishop of Westminster. England also has about 1 million Muslims, about 400,000 Sikhs, about 300,000 Jews, and about 300,000 Hindus.

On March 12,1994 the Church of England ordained its first female priests.

Sport

Football

The most popular sport in England, both spectator and participant, is football As it is so widespread internationally, it is described here mainly in linguistic and commercial terms. However it must be noted that the game almost certainly originated in England.

Football is more commonly known as soccer in certain English-speaking nations where the word football refers to a rival code of football developed within thatnation, specifically Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland and the United States, and also in nations where Rugby football is more popular, such as Wales, New Zealand and South Africa.

• "All I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football." - Albert Camus, French philosopher, novelist and goalkeeper

Cricket

As with football, cricket originated in England.Although it is perhaps followed by more people in India, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean and South Africa, the game remains essentially 'English".

Squash

Squash is an indoor racquet sport which was, until recently, called "Squash Rackets". It is becoming one of the most popular participant sports in England.

The game is played by two players, with 'standard' rackets (or occasionally four players for doubles) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball. In the more popular and widespread "International" (originally English) version of the game, the court is 9.6 m long by 6.4 m wide. The "American" version of the game uses a harder ball and a court 5.4 m. wide. The court has a 45 cm high panel called the "tin" at the base of the front wall, and "out" lines 2.1 m high at the back wall and 4.5 m high at the front wall. These "out" lines are joined by a raking "out" line on each side wall.

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