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3. EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITAIN

As in the case of so many other aspects concerning British culture and

civilization, the framework of the educational system is largely very old,

but, besides the old “models” some others, surprisingly new, can be

discovered.

As elsewhere in the world, the first institution responsible for the

preoccupations concerning education/learning was Church, just from the

first stage of the Middle Ages; the educational system continued todevelop along the Renaissance to our modern age when culture, in

general, and, education, in particular, became “mass culture” and “mass

education”; this is a characteristic feature for Britain, where, starting with

the 19th century, education was to be considered from this perspective.

3.1 The Educational System. The Development

and the Learning Progress over the Centuries

Some knowledge regarding the school history is essential for

understanding the present and current developments, preoccupations and

concerns regarding the educational system in Great Britain.

Christianity, by Church activity, can be considered as the first promoter

of learning and education over the entire area of the former Roman

Empire, as an efficient way of communicating in ecumenical matters,and not only. At that time, Latin was the official language within the

Catholic Church used as a means of communication in theological

studies. Some famous scholars of that remote time, were among others,

Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scottus, Roger Bacon.

Beginning with the 6th century, after the population had been converted

to Christianity, Church had the possibility, due to its central position, to

set up the first schools in England; at that moment, they were mainly

intended to prepare young people for priesthood.



However, here and there, some other types of schools were also

established either by kings or rich individuals, schools which, included

different disciplines of study such as: the “liberal arts of the trivium”,

including grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, of “the quadrivium”, including

arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, and later on, medicine.

Those schools were mostly confined to the sons of the aristocratic, rich

and influential families, while the majority of the population received no

formal education, being illiterate.

In the centuries to come, the church as well as some wealthy

philanthropists established an increased number of schools which

provided elementary education for a minority of children; they generally

received only a basic instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic.

Thus, in the very beginning, the monasteries were the only places of

learning, but later on, other schools, and even the first universities also

started to be set up in Europe, while education became more specialized

and institutionalized. The Oxford University was established in the12th century (1160) by a number of scholars expelled from the University

of Paris, as a consequence of the dispute between the king Henry II and

archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Beckett and the latter’s murder; some

years later, a group of dissidents from Oxford went to Cambridge and

established another university, in 1289.

In time, the universities became more and more emancipated from the

religions authority, more lay in spirit and more autonomous. Any person

intending to get a position in the administration of the county (as a

governor or clerk) should have acquired specific skills in some of these

famous universities.

The Renaissance meant, by its humanistic approach of studies, a newimpulse towards liberal learning placed in the service of the individual

and his earthly ideals; the new sources of inspiration represented by the

discovery of the Latin and Greek classics meant a real renewal of the old

theological scholastic learning.

Thus, some examples of scholars, famous at their time, are Sir Francis

Bacon and Baron Verulam important representatives of the English

Renaissance, real authorities in the field of natural science.



Soon, under the influence of the Renaissance and its emancipated

thinking, another important event took place: the Reformation, extended

within the Catholic Church in many European countries, including

England, Scotland and Ireland. The Reformation highly influenced the

further development of learning, mainly by causing the translation of theBible in other languages, and, in this way, by making these languages not

only a means of popular worship, but also an accepted means of

communication among scholars. (The first authorized version of the

Bible in English was published in 1611; however, some previous

versions were known: the translation done by John Wycliff in 1380, and by

Thomas Cranmer in 1539). The Renaissance determined the flourishing of

modern learning. Thus, new learning centres were established called

“Societies” or “Academies”; they were dedicated to the study of naturalscience unlike the traditional universities, dedicated to humanities.

Some of the most famous learning centres of this kind were the Royal

Society in England (1660) or the Irish Royal Society in Ireland (1795) etc.

Education continued to develop towards its peak in the 19th century,

which became an age of extensive education; the people engaged in the

field of learning were active in making known both the great cultural

tradition of the past and the achievements of their contemporaries. Some

important names worth-mentioning include Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)who made known the German learning and Goethe’s work in Britain;

John Ruskin (1819-1900) an academic art critic, who extolled the

greatness of the Gothic architecture and the special art of the late

medieval period, prior to Raphael; Mathew Arnold (1822-1888), who

admired the culture of the past and the French cultural life of his

contemporaries. A special mention should be made of John Stuart Mill

(1806-1873); he was an important literary historian and critic, a feminist

and a “teacher of liberty”. His brilliant mind created a series of essayswhich represented the fundamentals of later important sciences, such as

modern logic and political economy. ( A System of Logic – 1843;

Principles of Political Economy – 1848; On Liberty – 1859). Another

important trend which appeared during the Victorian Age, was

agnosticism∗ developed by Thomas Henry Huxley, and supported by

∗ Trend starting from Lamarck and Darwin and combined with the hermeneutic, textual and

historical interpretation of the Bible; it represented the commitment of giving up the

intellectual authority of the Bible.



numerous writers and intellectuals (One of them was Mary Ann Evans/

George Eliot).

All these scholars represent reference names not only for the British

culture, but for the European one as well.

The cultural preoccupations and the thinking trends determined the

emergence of different schools of literary and cultural criticism. An

outstanding example is that of the Pre-Raphaelite school, known as an

“avant-garde” and unorthodox one, with anti-Victorian accents; it

included among others the painters John Everett Millaes (1829-1896),

William Holman Hunt (1827-1910), the poet and painter Dante Gabriel Rosette.

Learning and education have already been highly valued in Great Britain,

and not accidentally, since the oldest times, many statesmen were

scholars themselves or had scholars as their counsellors; here are some

examples: Henry VI of Lancaster, he himself a scholar, was patron of

learning., establishing the Eton College in 1440.; Elisabeth I was known

as a cultivated woman and patron of art, giving her name to a famous

age. Her support to the theatre and drama made this genre the most

brilliant in the English culture and worldwide accepted as a referencevalue; during the reign of King James I Stuart the Bible translation was

authorized, a fact already discussed as an important event and a turning point

in the English culture; the translation is known as King James Bible.

Besides the heads of state famous for their interest in learning and the

strong support given to education and culture, there is a large number of

leaders’ advisers selected for their specially educated abilities and

knowledge from among the best learned individuals of their days.

Such a person was Thomas Becket chosen by Henry II as his friend and

adviser, or Thomas Morus, one of the most famous minds of the

Renaissance and the writer of “Utopia” who was the adviser of

Henry VII; Edmund Spenser, was the secretary to the Lord Deputy of

Her Majesty’s Governor of Ireland during Elisabeth’s reign, while the

poet John Milton was Cromwell’s secretary.



All these famous personalities, and many, many others were the

offsprings of an old and well established educational system and select

universities; over centuries they have been producing elites, person well

instructed in different fields of culture besides the professional skills.

The educational system represents a factor which highly explains and

marks the accepted “greatness” of the British culture, as well as the

impressive reactions of the common people to both special events and

everyday life situations.

However, until the 19th century, real educational opportunities for most

children were still non-existent, the state playing no central role in the

school system.

The school structure was fragmented and developed randomly; thus,

there were all kinds of schools, provided by the different churches in

Britain (Roman Catholic, The Church of England, Nonconformist

churches, etc.) which protected their independence from state and secular

interference; side by side with them, there were the old grammar and

public schools attended by the sons of the middle and upper classes. The

young people coming from the working class still received no formal or adequate education.

The early 19th century meant the first state preoccupation and implication

in educational matters. Thus, in 1833, Parliament supplied finance for the

construction of school buildings, while grants were made to local

authorities for being used in their local areas for educational purposes.

It was only in late 19th century that an “ Education Act ” was passed

(1870), by which boards for local areas were created in the country, tolook over the educational system; besides, the Act established a dual

system of schools, namely that of the state elementary schools supplying

“non-denominational” training, and the religious voluntary schools

serving “denominational” needs, and financially supported by the state.

In 1880, a national system of education was set up, which provided free

and compulsory elementary schooling for all children between 5 and 10.



But, these schools provided education only at an elementary level, while

the secondary education remained the field of independent, private

sector, largely opened only to those people who could afford paying fees

for educational service.

During the first decades of the 20th century a number of Acts were passed

which extended the secondary education to young people of lesser

means, by providing scholarships to clever elementary schoolchildren, or

by establishing a few state secondary schools (the Balfour Act, 1902; the

Fisher Act, 1918).

In spite of these attempts for expanding the provisions for secondary

education, the non-fee-paying sector was still limited in the early20th century, and inadequate for the society demands. Under these

circumstances, the state primary and secondary system was entirely

reorganized in 1944 under a new legislation (the Butler Act), which

profoundly influenced the further development of an educational system

which is still valid, in spite of many discussions and controversies.

A Ministry of Education was set up, with a national educational service

covering the whole country; the Ministry’s role was to draw up theeducational policy guidelines, while the local education authorities

(LEA) were to decide upon the specific forms of schooling in their areas;

the system was a decentralized and flexible one, able to adapt the

educational requirements to the demands of the specific areas. Two types

of schools were accepted and are still coexisting: county (primary and

secondary) schools provided by the LEA of each county, and voluntary

schools (elementary) established by religious or other groups (Muslims,

Hindus, etc.) and partially financed by local authorities. The intention of the Act was to provide universal and free primary and secondary

education in the country. However, the Act did not refer to the

independent sector of education on which it had no influence.



3.2 The School System Nowadays

According to recent statistics, some 9 million pupils are attending the

state and private schools nowadays, being taught by over half a million

teachers. Out of the high school graduates, one in three enters higher

education in universities and colleges. There are further educational

institutions, adult colleges and centres, as well as universities providing

continuing education for adults, an increase in older students’ interest inlearning being noticed in recent years.

The present state educational system in Great Britain emerges from the

Butler Act (1944) and it seems to be rather complicated. As a general

characteristic one may observe its complexity, with a diversity of schools

at different levels; state education is free, being financed from public

funds (It covers 93 p.c. of the pupils, while the rest of them attend

independent schools where the fees are paid by the parents who have

chosen this type of school for their children). Attendance at school is

compulsory for children from the age of 5, the school leaving age

being 16. Before the age of 5, state schooling is not compulsory,although there are lots of parents interested in finding school provisionsfor their infants, and there is a general lack of opportunities in this

respect. (It is estimated that only 25 p.c. of 3-4 years-olds attend a state

nursery education at present).

3.2.1 State Education

State education is divided into three stages: 1) “primary” from the age of

5 up to the age of 11; 2) “secondary” from 11 to 16; 3) further “post-

school training”. According to the Act in 1944, the state schools at the

secondary level were divided into grammar schools and secondary

modern schools, (sometimes, a third type, the secondary technical

schools or colleges, were in existence) the children being accepted to one

or another, according to the result of an examination. (“The 11-plus

examination”, consisting of intelligence tests and covering linguistic,



mathematical, and general knowledge). The children sat in for the exam

in the last year of primary education and those who passed it were

accepted in grammar schools, while those who failed had to attend the

other type(s) of schools. The grammar schools prepared the children for

G.C.E. (General Certificate of Education) at the age of 16, at ordinary(O) and advanced (A) levels, qualifying them for entry into higher

education, professions or better positions. As regards the secondary

modern schools, the education was based, at least in the beginning, on

practical schooling with less examinations. Later on, an examination for

General Certificate of Secondary Education was introduced (G.C.S.E.).

Soon, the system became the battlefield of political parties, being

severely criticized by the Labour Party who considered the 11-plus

examinations “wrong in principle” as it determined the class-system perpetuation since most middle-class children predominated in the

grammar schools and higher education. Consequently, when the Labour

Governments came to power they tried to abolish the 11-plus

examination and secondary school division, by replacing them with non-

selective “comprehensive schools” providing the same education for all

children, irrespective of their ability level, aptitudes and social

background. In their turn, the Conservative Governments acted for the

preservation of grammar schools and the system of selection by 11-plus

examinations. Finally, it was the LEAs that were asked to choose thetype of school considered the best to their local needs, while the debates

about the comprehension schools vs. selection by examination, with

“for” and “against” options, continued. Meanwhile, the number of

grammar schools diminished dramatically, (most of them have turned

into independent ones) as well as of secondary modern schools; at

present, some 90 p.c. of state pupils move from primary to

comprehensive schools; sometimes, there are important differences in the

standards of these schools, some of them being really good, while others

suffering because of a multitude of problems of economic, social or educational nature.

However, a permanent improvement of educational standards is taken

into consideration, and it has determined the introduction of a broad and

balanced curriculum at a national level; the curriculum was designed to

meet both the individual needs of pupils and the requirements of training

them in such a way as to be able to face the responsibilities and

experience of life, as adult people.



The National Curriculum consists of some core subjects, including

English, mathematics and science, history, geography, technology as

well as music, art, physical education and a modern foreign language, it

is considered reviewable in order to become better adapted in time and

more manageable.

With the large majority of pupils attending the comprehensive schools,

the main means for assessing the attainment of the Curriculum subjects

has become the G.C.S.E. (General Certificate of Secondary Education), a

system of national examinations at the secondary level, which are taken

in all types of schools in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The examination subject questions and marking are undertaken byspecially designed independent examination boards; for giving the final

grade, they take into consideration, besides the written examinations,

some project work and the pupil’s continuous assessment. The intention

is to obtain a more comprehensive evaluation of the pupil’s abilities; at

the same time, the prospective employers are offered a better image of

the candidate’s abilities.

The examinations are taken after five years of secondary education.

The third stage of state education is represented by “further education”,

meaning some more courses taken in education institutions after the age

of 16. Thus, after getting G.C.S.E. the willing ones can attend some more

advanced levels of education and training. One of them is represented by

the Sixth-form Colleges in case of England and Wales, with other forms

developed in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales as well. In other

cases the pupils can stay on at schools and continue their study for other

two years in preparation of the examinations representing the standard

for entry to higher education, or some other professional training. As aresult of these examinations (based on course work and written test

paper) they obtain the academic General Certificate of Education

(G.C.E.), Advanced (A) level. In case of sixth-form pupils, there are

Advanced Supplementary (AS) levels, enabling them to study a wider

range of subjects. This second examination which is also at a national

level has in view the pupils who are interested in being accepting at an

institution of higher education or the professions; they are interested in

getting high grades, because the competition for a place at a university or



college is really tough. For this examination the pupils can choose

between one and four subjects, but a number of three seems to be

generally required for admission into universities; this means

concentration on few subjects, which indicates an early specialization in

the British system of education.

Another form of education is represented by training course for acquiring

different vocational qualifications, GNVQ Advanced level (General

National Vocational Qualification); there are national standards which

define the competence, knowledge and understanding that future

employers need, and accreditation is awarded by the National Council.

Much of this form of education is work-related, the system being

flexible; the students have the possibility to attend part-time courseseither by day or block release from employment (for one/two days each

week), as well as evening courses.

3.2.2 Independent/Private Fee-paying Schools

There is a large variety of independent schools in Great Britain, ranging

from the ancient foundations to the new ones (including the experimentalschools), and form small kindergartens to large day and boarding

establishments. Some of the independent schools have been set up by

religious orders or ethnic minorities. They are fee-paying institutions,

with fees varying on an average between £ 300 a term (for a day pupil at

nursery age) to £ 4000 a term (for senior boarding pupils).

It is said that however good the state schools may be, the parents would

still prefer to send their children to an independent school if they couldafford paying the fee (48 p.c. of parents, Monpoll , 1987). Statistics show

that above 7 p.c. of school children attend independent schools which are

in a number of about 2,500.

These schools financing is dependent not only upon the fees paid by the

parents, but also upon investments, charitable gifts, endowments and tax-

exempt status. (There is no tax on the school income, in case it is used

only for educational purposes). Many of these schools offer scholarships

to the gifted pupils coming from less well-off families, and the



Government also provide funds (the Government’s Assisted Places

Scheme) for income-related financial assistance, so that some categories

of pupils can benefit from independent education.

These educational institutions must be registered with the appropriateeducational department under whose control they are, being open to

inspections. It is possible that they may be asked to improve their

instruction or accommodation according to the agreed standards, to

remedy any important shortening, and to eliminate the teaching staff or

owner considered unsuited for the profession. The independent school

sector includes the pre-preparatory schools (age 4-8), preparatory schools

(age 8-13), public schools (age 13-18) and other independent

establishments (age 11/13-18); they vary a lot as regards quality or reputation.

It is worth mentioning that the terms “primary”/”secondary” education

do not refer to independent schools where the transfer age from one level

of education to another is usually thirteen and not eleven. The pre-

preparatory schools/departments are for younger children, while the

preparatory schools (for boys, girls or mixed) – about 600 in number –

prepare the pupils for entry to senior schools.

These schools are generally very small, (50-100 pupils) boarding or dayalso, accommodated in country houses or in small towns; the classes are

very small, the headmasters/teachers having the possibility of a close

personal interest in the real development of each and every pupil.

Many of the pre-preparatory/preparatory schools are private in its full

sense, being operated as private enterprises with the schoolmaster often

as its owner, but working himself as a teacher; these schools are under

the control of governing bodies. They prepare the children for the

entrance examination to some public schools, to which they aresometimes closely attached; this is a real advantage for the pupils whose

parents want them to study on with a public school, as the state system

does not offer any training in this respect. Thus, the change from one

system to another would be very difficult for the children, even if

possible, for adaptation reasons. Besides, these schools more often enjoy

beautiful surroundings and good playing fields absolutely wonderful for

the young ones.



Independent schools for older pupils are often referred to as “public

schools”, but they are not “private” in the full sense, and not “public” at

all; they do not try to have any profit out of their activity, they have only

to balance their budget (They belong to different well known

associations such as “The Headmasters’ Conference”, “The Governing bodies’ Association, the Society of Headmasters and Headmistresses of

Independent Schools”, “The Girls’ Schools Association”, “The Governing

Bodies of Girls’ Schools Association”).

There are roughly 250 public schools in Great Britain nowadays,

including a number of ancient Grammar schools, some other schools

several hundred years old, side by side with others founded during the

past 120 years up to our modern times. (However, the modern publicschools system is not older than one hundred years).

When the average Englishman, as well as a foreigner thinks about public

schools, they generally have in view one of the old institutions, famous

worldwide, such as: Winchester (founded 1382); Eton (1400);

St. Paul’s, London (1509); Harrow (1571); Rugby (1567); Shrewsbury

(1552); Charterhouse (1611); Merchant Taylors’, London (1561);

Westminster, London (1561); etc.

The years when they were founded are really impressive, but there are

some other schools even older: St. Peter’s, York (627) or St. Alban’s,

Herts (948).

The public schools are considered to play a significant role in British

education and a pupil ‘s acceptance at such an institution is difficult, as

the demand is high and the places are limited; if the parents have decided

to send their child to a public school, the arrangements must be done

some years in advance (some jokes say that this should be done when the baby is three days old), by direct contact with the school authorities, in

order to put his name on a list. Anyway, the child will be finally accepted

only after passing an entrance examination, centrally arranged. (Common

Examination for Entrance to Public School); but the decision of

admission belongs entirely to school authorities who take into account

some other factors; among them, the headmaster’s report of the

preparatory school the pupil comes from, or the general impression on

the pupil’s personal character.



Each public school has something specific to itself, its customs and

traditions, uniforms and ties, even a language of its own. There is much

interest paid to sports, maybe not so much as in the past, but the pupils

are still encouraged to play cricket, football or other games, to row on a

neighbourhood river or practise some other physical activities. It isconsidered that, in this way, the pupil will understand what the “team

spirit” is, and that on the playing grounds he learns more than simply the

technicality of the game. At the same time, they are encouraged to form

their own associations for the pursuit of various interests, the final goal

being the acquisition of knowledge in organizing collective activities,

and jointly following these interests. It is said that nobody can claim that

public schools are somehow better in offering instruction than other

schools, but their attempt is to provide and develop a formativecharacter; maybe under the influence of Plato “they try to create

condition in which the mind can develop in breadth as well as depth -

and not only the mind but the whole personality as well ” [4, p. 161]. This

is determined by the whole atmosphere of the school which develops and

“breeds a combination of loyalty and competitiveness”. Thus, it is also

said that by the pupils’ training for a certain kind of activity in the future,

the public school’s main objective is the training of characters.

As mentioned before, there are a lot of other independent schools inaddition to the public ones, as this type of education has permanently

grown, representing an attraction for the parents, in spite of the still

limited number of places and high fees; however, due to different

insurance schemes the payment of school fees has become possible,

offering opportunities for the less well-off to be independently educated.

There is enough criticism about the independent sector, being said that it

perpetuates the class distinction, as it is based on the ability of some

parents to pay for education; there were some political attempts(The Labour Party) to abolish these schools by trying to remove their

charitable and tax exemption status, and by eliminating the assisted

places schemes. “ But independent schools are now firmly established,

and for many provide an element of choice in what would otherwise be a

state monopoly an education” [31, p. 251].

In Scotland, the educational system is generally different from that of the

rest of the country; the policy of the system is decided by the Scottish



Education Board, the “public schools” are state institutions, being

supported from public funds, while the comprehensive schools were

established a long time ago.

A significant role in the administrationand management of these schools is

played by the school board consisting

of parents, staff members and co-

opted members.

The transfer of pupils from primary to

secondary education takes place at the

age of 12, and the way in which thefinal examination is organized is different from one area to another.

Northern Ireland also shows differences in the educational system. Here,

there are different categories of schools established on religious grounds,

Catholic or Protestant; besides, there are “integrated schools”,

encouraged by the state policy through immediate government funding in

view of breaking down the sectarian barriers; there are more than

20 integrated schools in Northern Ireland providing education for some

4,000 pupils. The comprehensive schools are less numerous, the transfer from primary to secondary education taking place at the age of 11, after

an entrance examination in case of grammar schools, where, generally,

the performances are considered high.

3.3 Higher Education

After having obtained the GCE “A” level, the pupils may continue their

education with an institution of higher education, a university or other

college, for a period of at least three years in England and Wales, an four

years in Scotland; there are some four-year courses in England/Wales as

well, and the medical and veterinary courses require five years of study.

At the end of the period of study and after passing the examinations,

the student becomes the graduate of the respective institution, receiving

a degree.

GLASGOW UNIVERSITY



There are variations regarding the degree titles; thus, for the first degree,

the most common titles are those of Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor

of Science (BSc) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and for the

second degree (post-graduate degree), Master of Arts (MA), Master of

Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D); in Scotland, the title of Master is used for the first degree in arts and subjects.

The BA or BSc is usually taken as a

result of the final examination at the end

of the last year of study, but, sometimes,

the continuous assessment over the

whole period of study is also considered.

Generally, the students work hard inorder to get a good degree as, according

to it, they can obtain a good job, or

continue their higher education in

research with MA/MSc or Ph.D.

The MA/MSc is conferred for a thesis based on the activity of one year,

sometimes longer; usually, there are no regular courses for this degree,

although some universities offer seminars for post-graduate students.

The Ph.D is given for a thesis, which represents an important

contribution to the field of science and knowledge under consideration.

For those who do not possess the GCE

“A” level or equivalent qualifications,

there are foundation courses and

appropriate tests offering them access

for enrolment on a course of higher

education. In Scotland, SWAP (ScottishWide Access Program) was specially

designed to support both the adult

students and those lacking the entry

requirements in enrolling higher education.

There is a permanent preoccupation at the Government level for

increasing the number of young people attending higher education

institutions, with the expectation of one in three young people graduating

a university or college at the beginning of the 3

rd

millennium. With the

LONDON UNIVERSITY

CAMBRIDGE

KINGS COLLEGE CHAPEL



polytechnics and some other higher education establishments being given

the status of University in 1992, there are, at present, 83 universities in

Great Britain, 12 of them being in Scotland. There are two important

universities in Northern Ireland: the University of Ulster as well as of Belfast.

The Open University as well as the Independent University of

Buckingham represent additional institutions of higher education. All

British Universities are private institutions, having their own governing

councils; they are established by royal Charter or by Act of Parliament,

and are considered independent although, in practice, they are dependent

upon government money, which is supplied to the “Universities Funding

Council”, for distribution to universities. It is considered that it means,

sometimes, a tight control from the authorities, and the governmentinterference with the running of the universities; such policies

determined some opposition from the latter. Anyway, Universities enjoy

academic freedom, appointing their own staff, deciding upon the students

to admit, providing their own syllabuses and courses, and awarding their

own degrees.

There are more types of universities in Great Britain. The first to be

mentioned are the ancient ones, Oxford and Cambridge (composed of

more colleges), the only English universities until the 19th

century, andwhere only the men were admitted.

The universities in Scotland can

also be considered as belonging to

the group of universities of ancient

origin and distinctive quality; they

were established in the 15th and the

16th centuries: St. Andrew (1411),

Glasgow (1450), Aberdeen (1494)and Edinburgh (1583). It is known

that the universities in Scotland

have always had among their

students the most gifted young people from all social strata of society,

being really democratic, enjoying a high prestige and an old tradition of

scholarship granting. On the other hand, Oxford and Cambridge are very

similar in many respects, and, at the same time, different from the others

in Great Britain; they are also difficult to understand. One of their

ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE,

CAMBRIGE



common feature is that, besides being very old, both of them are based

on colleges, each of these colleges with an average of about 300 students;

they are very expensive in comparison with other universities, but, unlike

the public schools, they have ceased to be attended only by the sons of

those belonging to the upper and upper-middle classes; this is due to thegrants offered by the public authorities to those who have won a place at

one of the colleges, but whose parents are not well-off enough to cover

the fees for studies and the living cost at the university.

Oxford University is a collection of twenty-three colleges for men and

five for women, which were set up at different dates, over centuries,

starting with the 12th century; they are a sort of federation of colleges,

each of them acting as a parallel and equal institution among the others.

It is the university that “ prescribes syllabuses, arrange lectures, conducts

examinations and awards degree, but there is not a special place which

can be recognized as the University” or an area which can be called a

“campus” [2, p. 171].

Each college is run by a number of Fellows, between twenty and thirty;

they are also responsible for teaching their own students, the head of the

college being elected from them (The title used for each head of a collegevary with the college: “Master” for the Balliol College, “President” for

the Magdalene College, “Lector” for Exeter, “Provost” for Oriel,

“Principal” for Jesus and so on).

The teachers are known under the name of “dons”, and they usually

deliver one or two lectures a week on subjects representing their area of

study and research. Students’ attendance at lectures is not compulsory,

but the students have the possibility of choosing attendance at any

lectures they consider of interest for them out of a list of lectures given by the dons, and published at the beginning of each term.

This system has the advantage of developing the students’ independent

thinking and judgement in decision making.

Another important aspect of teaching is the individual tuition and which

is represented by the “tutorial system”, in fact, the main foundation of

these universities greatness.



The system, organized by colleges, consists in the existence of “tutors”;

they are Fellows with the college, guiding the activity of the

undergraduates assigned to them, in their own subjects. Each student has

to meet his tutor weekly in order to discuss with him an essay which he

has written, enjoying the obvious advantage of a constant and personal

contact with the teacher. When the student’s topic of study is out of the

teacher’s area of interest he may be assigned for it to another don in the

college, or even to one in another college.

The second group of universities are those known as the “ red brick” or

civic universities, and they were set up between 1850 and 1930.

In many ways, they are different from Oxford and Cambridge.

One of the oldest universities in this group was that founded at Durham,

in 1832; in 1836, the University of London, consisting of more colleges,

was also given a charter; nowadays, there are more than 40,000 students

studying in its twenty colleges placed in the various part of the capital,

with other 30,000 students being trained outside the colleges.

In the period between the end of the 19th century and the middle of the

20th, a lot of universities were set up in many industrial towns, first as

university colleges, in order to provide local higher education for those

unable to afford the living cost away from home. In the beginning, these

university colleges established in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham,

Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Reading, Nottingham, Leicester, Exeter, Hull

and in many other places trained the students for the London University

examinations, as they were not allowed to give degrees by themselves. In

time, as they grew bigger and better provided, they obtained independent

status, developing into genuine universities.

The third group consists of the universities founded after the Second

World War and in the 1960s. One category includes the Universities of

Keele, Staffordshire (1949), York, Lancaster, Sussex, Kent, Warwick,

Essex and East Anglia,; the specific characteristic of these universities is

their location in a campus built in a rural area, near a town which is

neither too large nor very industrialized.



Another category is represented by local technical colleges which gained

a special prestige in the 60’s and which were given the status of

universities; they are mainly situated in important industrial cities which

already had a university, but got a second one; for example, the

University of Aston in Birmingham, Salford near Manchester,Strathclyde in Glasgow, Bradford in Yorkshire and others.

They are mainly concentrating on science and technology, but with some

specialization on languages and social sciences as well.

The fourth group is represented by the “ new universities” set up in 1992;

that was the year when the decision was also made that polytechnics and

some other colleges should attain university status.

In Scotland the number of universities also increased, including the

University of Stirling, or that of Dundee.

Although the number of universities has permanently increased, there is a

strong competition to enter them, and unless a pupil got a high grade at

“A” level examination he might not find a place at a university.

As regards students’ grants, over 90 per cent of full-time students are

awarded a financial grant from their local education authorities (England

and Wales), covering tuition fees and maintenance expenses during the

term time.

(Similar schemes are administered by the Scottish Office Education

Department and the Northern Ireland Education and Library Board.

[53 p. 416]). The part of the grant representing maintenance expenses

depends upon the parents’ income, a fact which makes the students

complain, as many parents fail in making their contribution to thechildren’s education. Besides, in the 90’s, the grant level was frosen at its

current-level. However, the students have the possibility to get a “top-up

loan” from the Student Loan Company to help them pay the maintenance

costs. This loan has to be paid back at the moment when the student

graduates and gets a job.

There are also some limited access funds that are under the

administration of universities and which become available for students

facing financial difficulties.



3.4 The Open University

They were set up in 1969, with the courses starting in 1971, and with the

intention of offering a “second chance” to the people who had not the

possibility to benefit of the advantages of conventional higher education.

The Open University is non-residential, and, for the teaching purposes it

uses a combination of specially produced written texts, T.V. and radio

broadcasts, audio and videocassettes, CDs as well as some residential

schools.

There are not courses to be attended, the students, mainly employed,

receiving at home, by mail, the courses they need, as well as TV and

radio broadcasts or other means, including Internet services.

There is a network of part-time tutors and counsellors in the local areas,

who directly supervise the students’ activity by marking their written

tests and regularly meeting them for discussions on their progress.

Besides, during the academic year, special courses are held at the

universities/colleges headquarters on some weekends in order to give the

students the possibility to attend intensive activities.

It is important to mention that no formal academic qualification is

required from those who are eager to register with most of the open

universities, but their educational and training standards regarding the

degrees are similar to those of any other university.

Lately, similar institutions have been set up in many other countries.



3.5 Continuing Education for Adults

A remarkable aspect which is worth mentioning, is represented by the

British people’s growing interest in knowledge, even since the end of the

19th and the beginning of the 20th century, as a consequence of the

generalization of elementary state education and mass literacy.

Today, this “thirst” for knowledge is “quenched” by a wide range of training opportunities provided by further education institutions

(National Institute of Adult Continuing Education; Scottish CommunityEducation Council, etc), different kinds of colleges, adult centres

universities, the Workers’ Educational Association (WEA), – a voluntary

body –, local societies and clubs, etc. The courses offered can be either

vocational, being related to the employment of the persons attending

them, or recreational or cultural; in the latter case the courses are

followed for the mere pleasure of studying the respective subjects.

Besides, there are courses leading to academic or vocational

qualifications or others, which provide access to higher education.

british culture and civilization 3

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