Education beyond sixteen

At the age of sixteen people are free to leave school if they want to. With Britain's newfound enthusiasm for continuing education (and because the general level of unemployment is now high), far fewer sixteen-year-olds go straight out and look for a job than used to. About a third of them still take this option, however. Most do not find employment immediately and many take part in training schemes which involve on-the-job training combined with part-time college courses.

About half of those who stay in full-time education (who are studying beyond the age of 16) will have to leave their school, either because it does not have a sixth form or because it does not teach the desired subjects, and go to a Sixth-form College, or College of Further Education.

In England and Wales, for those who stay in education and study conventional academic subjects, there is more specialization than there is in most other countries. Typically, a pupil spends a whole two years studying just three subjects, usually related ones, in pre­paration for taking A-level exams, though this is something else which might change in the near future.

The independence of Britain's educational institutions is most noticeable in universities. They make their own choices of who to accept on their courses. There is no right of entry to university for anybody. Universities normally select students on the basis of A-level results and an interview. Those with better exam grades are more likely to be accepted. But in principle there is nothing to stop a university accepting a student who has no A-levels at all and con­versely, a student with top grades in several A-levels is not guaranteed a place. One more development in education in which Britain can claim to have led the world is the Open University. It was started in 1969. It allows people who do not have the opportunity to be ordinary students to study for a degree. Its courses are taught through television, radio and specially written coursebooks. Its students work with tutors to whom they send their written work and with whom they then discuss it either at meetings or through correspondence. In the summer they have to attend short residential courses of about a week.

The availability of higher education has increased greatly in the second half of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, finding a university place is not easy. Universities only take the better students. Because of this, and also because of the relatively high degree of personal supervision of students which the low ratio of students to staff allows, nearly all university students complete their studies — and in a very short time too. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, it is only for modern languages and certain vocational studies that students take more than three years. In Scotland, four years is the norm for most subjects.

Another reason for the low drop-out rate is that 'full time' really means full time. Students are not supposed to take a job during term time (normally about thirty to thirty-four weeks of the year). Unless their parents are rich, they receive a state grant of money which is intended to cover most of their living expenses during these times. This includes the cost of accommodation. A large proportion of students live 'on campus', (or, in Oxford and Cambridge, 'in college') or in rooms nearby, which tends to mean that the student is surrounded by a university atmosphere

However, the expansion of higher education is putting a strain on these characteristics. More students means more expense for the state.The government's response has been to reduce the amount of the student grant and to encourage a system of 'top-up' loans instead. As a result, many more students cannot afford to live away from home. In 1 975- it was estimated that 80% of all university students were non-local. This percentage is becoming lower and lower. In addition, a large number of students are being forced to 'moonlight' (that is, secretly do a part time job). A further result of increased numbers of students without a corresponding increase in budgets is that the student/staff ratio has been getting higher. All of these developments threaten to reduce the traditionally high quality of British university education. They also threaten to reduce its availability to students from low income families.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14