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WELCOME TO EDUCATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

A highly sought after educational destination

With world famous universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, and schools such as Eton and Harrow, the UK attracts thousands of pupils and students from across the world

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Great! You have arrived here because you are actively considering studying in the UK, or someone simply with an interest in UK education.

Either way, read on to acquaint yourself with a brief background on the history of education in the UK as well as the UK education system.

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A brief, cursory history of education in the UK:

Little is known of education in the Roman period or survived Rome's departure in the fifth century AD. The arrival of St Augustine in 597 marks the first known instance of any form of formal education, with the establishment of the first cathedral school at Canterbury in 598. Thereafter, education was closely linked to the church and primarily served religious purposes. Study of Latin to read religious texts and music for church choirs.

Subsequent development of education served the required needs of the time. Taking a snapshot of a later period, the English public school system laid great emphasis on sports and a disciplined, hierarchial system to cultivate manly character building, team spirit, and qualities of leadership to provide the officer corps for the military and administrators for the empire.

Fast forward to today, when all the emphasis is on academic excellence, league tables, and the creation of a cohort to produce the artificial intelligence of tomorrow.

For a more detailed account of the history of education in the Uk, good sources are: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_education_in_England and https://www.education-uk.org/history/timeline.html.

Education Structure in the UK:

The UK education structure can be highly confusing: pathways, state, private, primary, secondary, key stages, years, etc. While as an international student or parent you may have a clear idea of what you want, narrowing down to A'Levels or a university degree, it may be worthwhile to familiarise yourself with the whole educational system so as to understand where you are entering in the overall matrix. For others who may wish to find an optimal entry point from the viewpoint of a cost-benefit analysis it may be helpful to know whether there are state institutions that thay can access.

We think the easiest way to deal with this topic is to start off by making a distinction between the state and the private sectors. We will commence by making the state sector the baseline. We will then superimpose the private sector and outline the differences. Although at first glance the state sector may not be of direct interest to many international seekers, this is not always the case. For example, We know of a Japanese family who were temporarily located to London by their Japanese firm, lived in the premiere resudential area of St John's Wood and were eligible to send their five year old daughter to the local state primary school. We are certain there must be many other such cases. Moreover, there are many aspects of the state system which also apply to the private sector. It should be noted that this difference only applies at the level of schools, not to universities.

The State Sector:

Full-time education in schools is compulsory for all children between the ages of 5 (4 in Northern Ireland) and 16. After this (secondary school), a person may leave school but must go on to some form of further education or training till the age of 18.

There are five stages of education: Early years, primary, secondary, further education (FE) and higher education (HE). These are common to all the four nations of the UK. Other terms that come into play are age years, key stages, SATS,

The national curriculum sets out the programmes of study and attainment targets for all subjects at all 4 key stages in all local-authority-maintained schools in England

Early Years: Ages birth to 5.

  • Regulatory Framework: The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework guides learning and development
  • The EYFS only applies to schools and early years providers in England. There are different early years standards in Scotland and early years standards in Wales.
  • Providers: Nurseries, preschools, childminders, and primary school reception classes.
  • Financial provisions: In England since September 2010, all three and four year olds are entitled to 15 hours of free nursery education for 38 weeks of the year. In Wales, children are entitled to a free part-time place the term following a child’s third birthday until they enter statutory education. In Scotland, Local authorities secure a part-time funded place for every child starting from the beginning of the school term after the child's third birthday. All children are entitled to receive a full academic year’s worth of pre-school education in the academic year before they are eligible to, and expected to, start primary school. In Northern Ireland the Government ensures that at least one year of pre-school education is available to every family that wants it.
  • Areas of learning: Taught through games and play
    • Communication and language, personal, social and emotional development, physical development, literacy, mathematics, understanding the world, expressive arts and design
  • Assessments:
    • Child’s progress will be reviewed when they’re between 2 and 3 by an early years practitioner or health visitor
    • Their class teacher will assess them at the end of the school year when they turn 5.
    • The assessment is based on classroom observation - child will not be tested. It uses the early learning goals, which can be found in the early years framework

Primary School: 5 - 11 years old; Year groups 1 - 6; Key Stage 1 & Key Stage 2

The primary stage in England covers two age ranges: infant (5 to 7 or 8) (Key Stage 1) and junior (up to 11 or 12) (Key Stage 2).

In Scotland and Northern Ireland there is generally no distinction between infant and junior schools.

In Wales, although the types of school are the same, the Foundation Phase has brought together what was previously known as the Early Years (from 3 to 5-year-olds) and Key Stage 1 (from 5 to 7-year-olds) of the National Curriculum to create one phase of education for children aged between three and seven.

Most public sector primary schools take both boys and girls in mixed classes. .

The major goals of primary education are achieving basic literacy and numeracy amongst all pupils, as well as establishing foundations in science, mathematics and other subjects. Children in England and Northern Ireland are assessed at the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. In Wales, all learners in their final year of Foundation Phase and Key Stage 2 must be assessed through teacher assessments.

Infant School: 5 - 7 years old, Key Stage 1

Key Stage 1: Year groups

  • Year 1 (age 5 - 6):
  • Year 2 (age 7 - 8): The year when SATs testing takes place for Key Stage 1

Junior School: 7 - 11 years old, Key Stage 2

Key Stage 2: Year groups

  • Year 3 (age 7 - 8):
  • Year 4 (age 8 - 9):
  • Year 5 (age 9 - 10):
  • Year 6 (age 10 - 11): The year when SATs testing takes place for Key Stage 2

Secondary School: 11 - 16 years old (Year groups 7 - 11; Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, GCSE))

This completes the compulsory phase of education in the UK and culminates in the basic educational qualifications, GCSEs

In England secondary schools can be of the following types:

  • Non-selectiveComprehensive schools, controlled by the local authority (LA), taking pupils from the local catchment area
  • Selective Grammar schools, may or may not be controlled by LA
  • Academies not controlled by LA
  • Free schools not controlled by LA
  • Faith schools not controlled by LA

Key Stage 3: Year groups

  • Year 7 (age 11 - 12):
  • Year 8 (age 12 - 13):
  • Year 9 (age 13 - 14):

Key Stage 4: Year groups

  • Year 7 (age 14 - 15):
  • Year 8 (age 15 - 16): Sit GCSE exams

Further Education: 16 - 18 years old (Year groups 12 - 13; new Key Stage 5, A'Levels, BTECs)

Further education (FE) is education beyond the compulsory stage leading to GCSE but below Higher Education (HE). It is usually study for A'Levels for university (HE) entrance but may also be for vocational qualifications, such as BTECs

  • Mostly studied in sixth forms of secondary schools (their upper or senior schools)
  • Also in sixth form colleges, and further education colleges.

The Private Sector:

The first difference is that international pupils have access to private sector schools for studies up to GCSEs & A'Levels, which they don't have in the state sector. So, essentially there is no choice. International pupils must enter the private sector if they wish to study for GCSEs and A'Levels in the UK.

There are many reasons why UK pupils choose private schools:

  • Not in the catchment area of a good state school.
  • Unable to meet the entrance requirement of a state selective grammar school.
  • Wish to have the sporting facilities of a private school.
  • Wish to study subjects like Latin and Classical Greek not part of the national curriculum followed by state schools.
  • Wish to be in the company of other pupils of a similar background.
  • Wish to have the ethos of a traditional private school with its House system and competitive sports matches against similar schools.
  • Wish to have the history and traditions of an ancient, renowned private school.
  • Wish to follow in the footsteps of a parent who went to that school.

Private schools age ranges:

  • Pre Prep: ages 3 - 8
  • Prep: ages 8 - 13: Sit Common Entrance exams for entry to full private school (11+ and 13+)
  • Full range School: ages 13 - 18

Listung of private schools in the UK:

UK Universities:

Listung of universities in the UK:

Cost of education in the UK:

In the state education system compulsory education in the UK up to school leaving age of 16 and then to another 2 years of further training to age 18 is free to all UK residents choosing to stay in the state sytem. Thereafter, if proceding to an university or a higher education college, tuition fees need to be paid.

For UK pupils opting for private education and international pupils fees can vary widely in private schools. At university or higher education college UK students pay the maximum fee stipulated by the government for that particular academic year although HE colleges can be noticeably lower. International students pay significantly more although some colleges and universities have a much lower differential between UK and international students.

Oversight and Regulation of the education system in the UK:

The UK government, through its Department for Education (DfE), is responsible for children’s services and education, including early years, schools, higher and further education policy, apprenticeships and wider skills in England.

DfE is a ministerial department with, like other departments of the UK government, a rather complex structure. It is headed by the Secretary of State for Education, currently The Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson MP under the Starmer government, supported by three Ministers of State and four Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State at the top level. All the eight members of this group are elected Members of Parliament (MPs) of the UK parliament at Westminster belonging to whichever political party is currently in power.

This political level is then supported at the next level of the hierarchy by a Management team comprising fourteen members, of whom seven are non-executive board members.

To add an additional level of complexity, governance of the educational system in the UK is a a devolved matter, with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments. The UK Government is responsible for England, whilst the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively.

Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level. State-funded schools may be selective grammar schools, non-selective comprehensive schools, academies, or even faith schools.

Schools in the UK are divided into free state schools for UK residents and fee paying independent private schools (formerly euphemistically known as Public Schools) for both UK and overseas residents.

There are Regulatory Bodies sponsored by or associated with the DFE that assist the latter in implementing its policies at the lowest, coal face, level. The more notable of these are: Ofqual, Ofsted, ISI and OfS.

Ofqual is: The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. It regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England. Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are regulated by each respective national government. Among its duties is the regulation of examining boards such as AQA, OCR, Pearson (Edexcel), and WJEC (Eduqas) which set exam papers, mark student work, and award grades for GCSEs, AS, and A level examinations.

Ofsted is: The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills in England. It inspects services providing education and skills for learners of all ages and also inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people. It inspects and regulates state and some independent schools, nurseries, childminders, and preschools, fostering and adoption agencies, residential care homes, and children's homes, colleges and training providers. Inspections in Wales are carried out by Estyn, in Scotland by Education Scotland and in Northern Ireland by the Education and Training Inspectorate.

ISI is: The Independent Schools Inspectorate. Whereas Ofsted inspects state funded schools, ISI inspects independent schools in England, which are members of associations affiliated to the Independent Schools Council.

OfS is: The Office for Students. It is the independent regulator of higher education, such as universities in England. It is assisted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). In Scotland, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) play key roles in regulating higher education. In Wales, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (now part of the Welsh Government) oversees higher education. In Northern Ireland, the Department for the Economy oversees higher education.

Thus, it can be seen that anyone considering a UK education can be fairly confident of entering a well established and regulated educational environment.

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