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It is important to remember that the United Kingdom (UK) consists of four different countries : Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The school systems vary from country to country. We’ll deal only with the education system in England, to try and clarify the situation.
Let’s start by clarifying the different names given to all different schools in England.
There should be two main divisions, one corresponding to the age of the children, one corresponding to the way the schools are financed.
Under the Education Act of 1944, which was the basis of current law on education, the statutory system of education must be a continuous progression divided into three distinct stages, that is primary, secondary and higher education.
These three stages have been restated in the 1996 Education Act which has replaced the 1944 Education Act.
The statutory school age in England and Wales is from 5 years to 16 years. Children must start school in the term following their fifth birthday and young people must stay at school until the last Friday in June of the school year in which they attain the age of 16.
In accordance with the Education Act of 1996 (following on the Education Reform Act of 1988), compulsory education in England and Wales is divided into four « key-stages », four periods, normally related to the age of the majority of the pupils in a teaching group.
· Key-stage 1 : for pupils aged 5 (beginning of compulsory education) to 7
· Key-stage 2 : for pupils aged 7 to 11
· Key-stage 3 : for pupils aged 11 to 14
· Key-stage 4 : for pupils aged 14 to 16 (end of compulsory education)
Yet, this division into 4 periods does not correspond to a division into 4 types of schools. You could think of having infant school, primary school, secondary school and further education ; this is not the case !
More than half of primary schools will be called « infant with junior schools » and will care for children between 5 and 11, covering key stages 1 and 2.
Sometimes, the facilities are shared but there are separate headteachers : this if the combined school, with two different sections.
You can also find separate « infant schools » and « junior schools », although small infant schools tend to be very rare as uneconomic to run.
But there are other organisations : « first schools » from 5 to 8 or 9 and then « middle schools » from 8 to 12 or 9 to 13.
Legally, middle schools will be said « primary » schools when most of the pupils are under the age of 11 and « secondary » when the majority of pupils are over 11.
On secondary level, grammar schools and comprehensive schools cover key stages 3 and 4 and deal with pupils from 11 to 16.
Most of them are comprehensive schools, which are non-selective. They do not select pupils on grounds of ability.
On the contrary, grammar schools are selective. They offer academically oriented general education. Entrance is based on a test of ability, usually at 11.
On top of this first division, which is not as difficult as it first seems, you have another classification, this time depending on where the schools get their money from.
Most get their money from the state (93%). A state school is financed by public funds, which means that the money comes from the national and local taxes. Education in the state system is free of charge, and open to every child.
The rest being independent, meaning they are run privately and get their money only from the fees paid by the parents.
These independent, private schools got 7% of the total school population in 1996.
There are 0,54 million children in private schools in the Great Britain. These private schools are called :
« prep » schools at primary level (preparatory)
« public schools » at secondary level, be careful, this doesn’t mean what it seems to mean !
Let’s consider the sate education schools. In England and Wales, there are 8.5 million children in 30,000 state schools.
Within these state-education schools, there is a new division between
· LEA maintained schools
and
· grant-maintained schools
Grant-maintained schools represent a very little percentage, only 1000 schools in July 1997 (out of 30 000 state schools). Maintained schools are predominantly catholic. These schools, called GM schools for short, get their money, are funded directly from central government.
These grant-maintained schools include what is called « special schools », that is for children with « special educational needs » (SEN)
The LEA maintained schools are funded by Local Education Authorities (the LEAs). Two categories must be distinguished,
· county schools
and
· voluntary schools.
The county schools are totally financed and maintained by the State, by public funds through the local education authority.
Voluntary schools are those which were originally established by a foundation body, usually religious or charitable, and were subdivided into three categories by the Education Act of 1944 :
1. voluntary-controlled schools : usually established by the Church of England, whose total recurrent and capital expenditure are met by the local education authority.
2. Voluntary-aided schools
3. Special agreement schools
These schools were all originally established by a religious or charitable body before 1941 through an agreement between these bodies and the State. They receive all their recurrent expenditure through local education authorities.