Education in England

Education in England

Department for Education Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Secretary of State (Education) Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (with BEIS)[2]	Damian Hinds Sam Gyimah
National education budget (2008–09)
Budget	£62.2 billion[3][4]
General details
Primary languages	English
System type	National
Compulsory education	1880
Literacy (2003[5])
Total	98 %
Male	99 %
Female	99 %
Enrollment
Total	11.7 million
Primary	4.50 million (in state schools)[6] (2016)
Secondary	2.75 million (up to year 11 in state schools)[6] (2016)
Post secondary	Higher Education: 1,844,095[7](2014/15) Further Education: 2,613,700[8](2014/15) Total: 4,457,795 (2014/15)
Attainment
Secondary diploma	Level 2 and above: 87.4% Level 3 and above: 60.3% (of 19 year olds in 2015)[9] Level 2 and above: 81.0% Level 3 and above: 62.6% (of adults 19-64 in 2014)[8]
Post-secondary diploma	Level 4 and above: 41.0% (of adults 19-64 in 2014)[8]

Education in England is overseen by the United Kingdom's Department for Education. Local government authorities are responsible for implementing policy for public education and state-funded schools at a local level.

England also has a tradition of independent schools (some of which call themselves "public schools") and home education; legally, parents may choose to educate their children by any permitted means. State-funded schools are categorized as selective grammar schools or comprehensive schools. Comprehensive schools are further subdivided by funding into free schools, other academies, any remaining Local Authority schools and others. More freedom is given to free schools, including most religious schools, and other academies in terms of curriculum. All are subject to assessment and inspection by the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, or Ofsted.

The state-funded education system is divided into stages based upon age:^[10] Early Years Foundation Stage (ages 3–5); primary education (ages 5 to 11), subdivided into Key Stage 1 (KS1) Infants (ages 5 to 7) and Key Stage 2 (KS2) Juniors (ages 7 to 11); secondary education (ages 11 to 16), subdivided into Key Stage 3 (KS3; ages 11 to 14) and Key Stage 4 (KS4; ages 14 to 16); Key Stage 5 is post-16 education (ages 16 to 18); and tertiary education (for ages 18+).^[11]

At age 16 the students typically take exams for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) or other Level 1/2 qualifications. While education is compulsory until 18, schooling is compulsory to 16, thus post-16 education can take a number of forms, and may be academic or vocational. This can involve continued schooling, known as "sixth form" or "college", leading (typically after two years of further study) to A-level qualifications (similar to a high school diploma in some other countries), or a number of alternative Level 3 qualifications such as Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC), the International Baccalaureate (IB), Cambridge Pre-U, WJEC or Eduqas. It can also include work-based apprenticeships or traineeships, or volunteering.^[12][13]

Higher education often begins with a three-year bachelor's degree. Postgraduate degrees include master's degrees, either taught or by research, and doctoral level research degrees that usually take at least three years. Tuition fees for first degrees in public universities are up to £9,250 per academic year for English, Welsh and European Union students.^[14]

The Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) covers national school examinations and vocational education qualifications. It is referenced to the European Qualifications Framework, and thus to other qualifications frameworks across the European Union.^[15] The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ), which is tied to the RQF, covers degrees and other qualifications from degree-awarding bodies.^[16] This is referenced to the Qualifications Framework of the European Higher Education Area developed under the Bologna process.^[17]

History of English education

Until 1870 all schools were charitable or private institutions, but in that year the Elementary Education Act 1870 permitted local governments to complement the existing elementary schools in order to fill any gaps. The Education Act 1902 allowed local authorities to create secondary schools. The Education Act 1918 abolished fees for elementary schools.

Women's colleges were established in the 19th century to give women access to university education, the first being Bedford College, London (1849), Girton College, Cambridge (1869) and Newnham College, Cambridge (1871). The University of London established special examinations for women in 1868 and opened its degrees to women in 1878.^[18] University College Bristol (now the University of Bristol) became the first mixed higher education institution on its foundation in 1876,^[19] followed in 1878 by University College London (which had held some mixed classes from 1871).^[20]

Legally compulsory education

Full-time education is compulsory for all children aged 5 to 18, either at school or otherwise, with a child beginning primary education during the school year they turn 5.^[21] Children between the ages of 3 and 5 are entitled to 600 hours per year of optional, state-funded, pre-school education. This can be provided in "playgroups", nurseries, community childcare centres or nursery classes in schools.

The age at which a student may choose to stop education is commonly known as the "leaving age" for compulsory education. This age was raised to 18 by the Education and Skills Act 2008; the change took effect in 2013 for 16-year-olds and 2015 for 17-year-olds. From this time, the school leaving age (which remains 16) and the education leaving age (which is now 18) have been separated.^[22] State-provided schooling and sixth-form education are paid for by taxes.

All children in England must currently therefore receive an effective education (at school or otherwise) from the first "prescribed day", which falls on or after their fifth birthday until their 18th birthday, and must remain in school until the last Friday in June of the school year in which they turn 16.^[13][23][24] The education leaving age was raised in 2013 to the year in which they turn 17 and in 2015 to their 18th birthday for those born on or after 1 September 1997.^[22] The prescribed days are 31 August 31 December and 31 March.^[25][26] The school year begins on 1 September (or 1 August if a term starts in August).^[27]

The Compulsory stages of education are broken into a Foundation Stage (actually covering the last part of optional and first part of compulsory education), 4 Key Stages, and post-16 education (sometimes unofficially termed Key Stage Five, which takes a variety of forms including 6th Form (covering the last 2 years of Secondary Education in schools).

State-funded schools

St Barnabas Church of England Primary School, Oxford

Main article: State-funded schools (England)

Some 93% of children between the ages of 3 and 18 are in education in state-funded schools without charge (other than for activities such as swimming, theatre visits and field trips for which a voluntary payment can be requested, and limited charges at state-funded boarding schools^[32]).

Allerton High School, a typical former secondary modern school in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Since 1998, there have been six main types of maintained (state-funded) school in England:^[33][34][35]

• Academy schools, established by the 1997-2010 Labour Government to replace poorly-performing community schools in areas of high social and economic deprivation. Their start-up costs are typically funded by private means, such as entrepreneurs or NGOs, with running costs met by Central Government and, like Foundation schools, are administratively free from direct local authority control. The 2010 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government expanded the role of Academies in the Academy Programme, in which a wide number of schools in non-deprived areas were also encouraged to become Academies, thereby essentially replacing the role of Foundation schools established by the previous Labour government. They are monitored directly by the Department for Education.^[36] In 2018 it was reported that several academies were struggling financially and running deficits.^[37]
• Community schools (formerly called county schools), in which the local authority employs the schools' staff, owns the schools' lands and buildings, and has primary responsibility for admissions.
• Free schools, introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition following the 2010 general election, are newly established schools in England set up by parents, teachers, charities or businesses, where there is a perceived local need for more schools. They are funded by taxpayers, are academically non-selective and free to attend, and like Foundation schools and Academies, are not controlled by a local authority. They are ultimately accountable to the Secretary of State for Education. Free schools are an extension of the existing Academy Programme. The first 24 free schools opened in Autumn 2011.
• Foundation schools, in which the governing body employs the staff and has primary responsibility for admissions. School land and buildings are owned by the governing body or by a charitable foundation. The Foundation appoints a minority of governors. Many of these schools were formerly grant maintained schools. In 2005 the Labour government proposed allowing all schools to become Foundation schools if they wished.
• Voluntary Aided schools, linked to a variety of organisations. They can be faith schools (about two thirds Church of England-affiliated; just under one third Roman Catholic Church, and a few another faith), or non-denominational schools, such as those linked to London Livery Companies. The charitable foundation contributes towards the capital costs of the school (typically 10%), and appoints a majority of the school governors. The governing body employs the staff and has primary responsibility for admissions.^[38]
• Voluntary Controlled schools, which are almost always faith schools, with the lands and buildings often owned by a charitable foundation. However, the local authority employs the schools' staff and has primary responsibility for admissions.

In addition, three of the fifteen City Technology Colleges established in the 1980's still remain; the rest having converted to academies. These are state-funded all-ability secondary schools which charge no fees but which are independent of local authority control. There are also a small number of state-funded boarding schools.

English state-funded primary schools are almost all local schools with a small catchment area. More than half are owned by the Local Authority, though many are (nominally) voluntary controlled and some are voluntary aided. Some schools just include infants (aged 4 to 7) and some just juniors (aged 7 to 11). Some are linked, with automatic progression from the infant school to the junior school, and some are not. A few areas still have first schools for ages around 4 to 8 and middle schools for ages 8 or 9 to 12 or 13.

An example of a Grammar School - in Sutton, London

English secondary schools are mostly comprehensive (i.e. no entry exam), although the intake of comprehensive schools can vary widely, especially in urban areas with several local schools. Nearly 90% of state-funded secondary schools are specialist schools, receiving extra funding to develop one or more subjects in which the school specialises, which can select up to 10% of their intake for aptitude in the specialism (though relatively few of them have taken up this option). In a few areas children can enter a grammar school if they pass the eleven plus exam; there are also a number of isolated fully selective grammar schools and a few dozen partially selective schools.^[39] A significant minority of state-funded schools are faith schools, which are attached to religious groups, most often the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.

All state-funded schools are regularly inspected by the Office for Standards in Education, often known simply as Ofsted. Ofsted publish reports on the quality of education at a particular school on a regular basis. Schools judged by Ofsted to be providing an inadequate standard of education may be subject to special measures, which could include replacing the governing body and senior staff.

Higher education

The chapel of King's College, Cambridge University.

London School of Economics Library Roof

A view from one of the postgraduate study carrels at the Clock Tower of Maughan Library, King's College London, one of the founding colleges of University of London.

Campus of New College Durham, a college of further and higher education

Built as a factory in the early 20th century, the William Morris building is now home to Coventry University's Faculty of Business, Environment and Society

The University of Birmingham, a 'Red Brick university'.

Higher education in England is provided by Higher Education (HE) colleges, university colleges, universities and private colleges. Students normally enter higher education as undergraduates from age 18 onwards, and can study for a wide variety of vocational and academic qualifications, including certificates of higher education and higher national certificates at level 4, diplomas of higher education, higher national diplomas and foundation degrees at level 5, bachelor's degrees (normally with honours) at level 6, and integrated master's degrees and degrees in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary science at level 7.^[57]

Historically, undergraduate education outside a small number of private colleges and universities has been largely state-financed since the 1960s, with a small contribution from top-up fees introduced in the 1990s,^[58] however fees of up to £9,000 per annum have been charged from October 2012. There is a perceived hierarchy among universities, with the Russell Group seen as being composed of the country's more prestigious universities.^[59] League tables of universities are produced by private companies and generally cover the whole UK.

The state does not control university syllabuses, but it does influence admission procedures through the Office for Fair Access (OFFA), which approves and monitors access agreements to safeguard and promote fair access to higher education. The independent Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education inspects universities to assure standards, advises on the granting of degree awarding powers and University title, and maintains the Quality Code for Higher Education, which includes the Framework for Higher Education Qualification.^[60] Unlike most degrees, the state has control over teacher training courses, and standards are monitored by Ofsted inspectors.^[61]

The typical first degree offered at English universities is the bachelor's degree with honours, which usually lasts for three years, although more vocational foundation degrees, typically lasting two years (or full-time equivalent) are also available in some institutions. Many institutions now offer an integrated master's degree, particularly in STEM subjects, as a first degree, which typically lasts for four years, the first three years running parallel to the bachelor's course. During a first degree students are known as undergraduates. The difference in fees between integrated and traditional postgraduate master's degrees (and that fees are capped at the first degree level for the former) makes taking an integrated master's degree as a first degree a more attractive option. Integrated master's degrees are often the standard route to chartered status for STEM professionals in England.^[62]

Adult education

Adult education, continuing education or lifelong learning is offered to students of all ages. This can include the vocational qualifications mentioned above, and also:

• One or two year access courses, to allow adults without suitable qualifications access to university.
• The Open University runs undergraduate and postgraduate distance learning programmes.
• The Workers' Educational Association offers large number of semi-recreational courses, with or without qualifications, made available by Local Education Authorities under the guise of Adult Education. Courses are available in a wide variety of areas, such as holiday languages, crafts and yacht navigation.

Qualifications Frameworks

The two qualifications frameworks in England are the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF), for qualifications regulated by Ofqual, and the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) for qualifications granted by bodies with degree awarding powers, overseen by the Quality Assurance Agency. These share a common numbering scheme for their levels, which was also used for the earlier Qualifications and Credit Framework. The RQF is linked to the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) and the FHEQ to the Qualifications Framework of the European Higher Education Area (QF-EHEA).^{[15][16][17][65]}

Criticism

According to the Schools Minister, “strong evidence has been emerging of grade inflation across subjects” in recent years.^[66] The Confederation of British Industry, the EEF and the British Chambers of Commerce are also complaining of falling academic standards. Employers often experience difficulty in finding young people who have such basic employability skills as literacy, numeracy, problem solving, teamworking and time management. As a result, employers either have to pay for employees' remedial education, or they must hire foreign candidates.^[67][68][69]

Katharine Birbalsingh has written of the problems she perceives in many community schools. She cites the impossibility of effective classroom management, bad teachers who cannot be dismissed, and government policies encouraging "soft" subjects. Birbalsingh has visited schools in Jamaica and India where pupils are desperate to gain the kind of education to which pupils in her own school (and their parents) were indifferent. She was a deputy head teacher in south London until she spoke at a Conservative Party conference in 2010 and was quickly sacked.^[70] Frank Chalk, who taught at an inner-city school for ten years before resigning in frustration, makes similar claims.^[71]

An analysis of 2010 school data by The Guardian found that state faith schools were not taking a fair share of the poorest pupils in their local areas, as indicated by free school meal claims. Not only was this so at an overall national level, but also in the postcode areas nearby the schools. This suggested selection by religion was leading to selection of children from more well-off families.^[73]

A survey of 2000 teachers by The Guardian in 2011 identified a widespread reason for not enjoying the job: lack of trust and respect by senior staff, parents and governments.^[74] Writing about her own reasons for leaving teaching, a contributing editor to the newspaper's Guardian Teacher Network described the realisation of needing to leave the profession as having slowly crept up on her. Being a mature entrant, she questioned things in her aspiration to improve education and was reluctant to "be moulded into a standard shape".^[75]

Throughout the time they are in full-time education children in the north of England do less well than children in the south east. There are also variations in attainment between towns in the north. Calls have been made to remedy this.^[76]

Many teachers claim they are working 55 or 60 hours a week and many are leaving the profession due to work pressure and fear for their mental health.^[77][78] A poll by the National Education Union suggested four out of five teachers had considered leaving during the year to 2018.^[79]

The Institute for Fiscal Studies claims plans for school spending would cause a "real-terms cut of 2.8% in per-pupil funding between 2016 and 2022".^[80] Just under a quarter of teachers who qualified since 2011 have left the profession.^[81] Amyas Morse of the National Audit Office said, "Schools are facing real challenges in retaining and developing their teachers, with growing pupil numbers and tighter budgets. Schools are finding it increasingly difficult to retain experienced teachers.^[82] Schools are asking parents for money because funding is falling short of what they need.^[83] The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) is writing to all MPs drawing attention to problems faced by English state schools due to funding shortages and warning that standards are at risk after £2.8bn in cuts and additional costs the government imposed.^[84]

There is a gap in performance between pupils from better off families and poorer pupils. To counter this a cross party committee of MP's suggested giving subsidised housing to teachers willing to work in deprived schools. Also it was suggested would-be head teachers should spend time in senior positions in struggling schools before they qualify to be heads.^[85]

There is a common mis-assumption that a school that fails to do well in the school maming-and-shaming league tables, which are based on the government specified curriculum, could be improved by changing its governing structure. This was tested in 2018 by Profesor Robert Plomin of Kings College London.^[86] His study, based on 4,000 pupils who identified as white British and attended schools across the UK, assessed the pupils’ genetic data, their families’ socioeconomic status, their ability (measured by an IQ-style test), prior achievement (11+ or Sats results) and GCSE results. There is a 7% difference in the results between private schools and the worst performing secondary school, but when all the selection factors are included, the difference is less than 1%. The results are dependant on the intake rather than the process; and potentially successful children cluster round 'good schools'.^[86]

There is a shortage of teachers, notably maths and science are frequently taught by teachers without degrees in relevant subjects. David Laws of the Education Policy Institute said the, "government faces a significant challenge to recruit enough teachers – particularly in subjects such as maths and sciences. It must already be a concern that as little as half of GCSE maths teachers have a maths or sciences degree. Of particular concern is the unequal access to subject-qualified teachers for more disadvantaged schools outside London." Low salary increases are causing teachers to leave the profession. Teacher pay has fallen about 10% in real terms over the 8 years to 2018. Teacher pay is rising by up to 3.5% but the Institute for Fiscal Studies demonstrated 60% of staff would get pay rises below inflation.^[87][88]

Some school expell pupils who are unlikely to do well in GCSE examinations to improve their apparent performance. This can seriously damage the education and life chances of those pupils, about half do not register with any school afterwards. Labour wants schools to be accountable for former pupils' examination performance till they register with another school.^[89]

Funding

Funding for English schools will change to a national formula in 2018, with some schools likely to gain from the new formula and others likely to lose.^[90] Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening has said the change means funding will depend less on the postcode lottery. The National Audit Office (NAO) has stated that total funding will be reduced by 8%.^[91][92] According to councils, funding cuts might prevent many local authorities meeting legal obligations to schools in their areas such as checking staff for criminal records and ensuring buildings are asbestos free.^[93] The Institute for Fiscal Studies maintains real spending on schooling per pupil has dropped by 8% since 2010.^[94] The UK Statistics Authority maintains the UK government uses misleading statistics and overestimates spending on education.^[95]

The Public Accounts Committee, a cross-party parliamentary committee, has criticised the government's free school programme as poor value for money for spending excessively on unsuitable sites and building schools where none are needed. It has also said that other schools are not getting repairs done and need £7bn to be brought back to a satisfactory condition: "While the department is spending significant funds in creating 500 more free schools, even in areas with no shortage of places, existing schools struggle to live within their budgets and carry out routine maintenance".^[96]

The government is planning to provide extra funding to expand grammar schools, raising concerns from the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, Geoff Barton, who said: "We are disappointed that the government has decided to spend scarce funding on expanding grammar schools. While there are many good selective schools, just as there are many good non-selective schools, the evidence is clear that expanding the number of selective places is likely to be damaging to social mobility."^[97]

See also

• Education in the United Kingdom
• City Learning Centre
• British Schools Foundation
• Education by country
• List of schools in England
• National Union of Students (United Kingdom)
• School uniforms in England
• Science Learning Centres
• Science education in England
• Special education in England
• List of universities in England
• List of universities in the United Kingdom

References

Further reading

• Blatchford, Roy (2014). The Restless School. John Catt Educational. p. 136. ISBN 978-1909717077.
• Christodoulou, Daisy (2014). Seven Myths About Education. Routledge. p. 148. ISBN 978-0415746823.
• Martin, Mary Clare. "Church, school and locality: Revisiting the historiography of 'state' and 'religious' educational infrastructures in England and Wales, 1780–1870." Paedagogica Historica 49.1 (2013): 70-81.
• Peal, Robert (2014). Progressively worse: The Burden of Bad Ideas in British Schools. Civitas. p. 298. ISBN 978-1906837624. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2014.

External links

• Department for Education
• Fully searchable UK school guide independent and state
• Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
• A history of education in England by Derek Gillard, an advocate of the comprehensive system
• "The Skills for Life survey: A national needs and impact survey of literacy, numeracy and ICT skills", Research Brief RB490, Department for Education and Skills, 2003
• Skills for Life: Progress in Improving Adult Literacy and Numeracy (PDF), House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, 14 January 2009
• Guardian Special Report - Education
• Statistics: school and pupil numbers Department for Education