Becoming of Great Britain

Nearly 80 per cent of the land area is used for agriculture, the rest being mountain and forest or put to urban and other uses. Although the area for farming is declining by about 20,000 hectares a year to meet the needs of housing, industry and transport, the land in urban use is less than a tenth of the agriculturalland. There are 12 million hectares under crops and grass. In hill country, where the area of cultivated land is often small, large areas are used for rough grazing. Soils vary from the poor ones of highland Britain to the rich fertile soils of low-lying areas in the eastern and south-eastern parts of England. The cool temperate climate and the comparatively even distribution of rainfall contribute favourably to the development of agriculture. However, the social structure of British agriculture has a negative effect on its development. Most of the land is owned by big landlords. Farmers rent the land and hire agricultural workers to cultivate it. Part of the land belongs to banks, insurance companies.

There are about 243,500 farming units, of which about a half are able to provide fulltime employment for at least one person and account for over 90 per cent of total output. About 30,000 large farms account for about half of total output. In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland output from small-scale holding is more significant than in the rest of Britain. In general small farms dominate in the country. This is vividly seen from the following tables:

However, due to tough competition, the number of small farms under 20 hectares is decreasing.

60 per cent of full-time is devoted mainly to dairying or beef cattle and sheep. This sector of agriculture accounts for three-fourths of agricultural production in value. Sheep and cattle are reared in the hill and moorland areas of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and northern and south-western England. Beef fattening occurs partly in better grassland areas, as does dairying and partly in yards on arable farms. British livestock breeders have created many of the cattle, sheep and pig breads with world-wide reputations, for example, the large white Yorkshire pig breed. Pig production is carried on most areas but is particularly important in eastern (Yorkshire) and southern England, north-east Scotland and Northern Ireland. In the 1980s there were about 13,5 million head of cattle, about 8 million pigs and 31,4 million head of sheep.

The present pattern of farming in Britain owes a great deal to decisions taken during and after World War II. During the nineteenth century Britain became increasingly dependent upon imported food. The danger of this situation became apparent during the two world wars of the twentieth century when the country was almost starved into defeat by the German blockade. As a result, it was decided to encourage agricultural development to make the country less dependent on imports of food. Subsidies to farmers (especially to the owners of large farms) were introduced. After Britain's entry into the Common Market in 1973 agriculture was protected by an artificial price structure and by duties imposed on imported food.

There are three main types of farming: pastoral, arable, mixed. Arable farming is dominated in the eastern parts of England and Scotland, whereas in the rest of the country pastoral and mixed farming are prevalent. Besides the three above mentioned types of farming there is another type of farming - crofting - which is still practiced in the remote areas of northern and western Scotland. This pattern of cultivating a small area of land around the farm (the infield) and maintaining a much larger area of rough pasture for stock rearing (the outfield) is typical of crofting communities in Scotland and shows a clear adaptation to a difficult environment. There has been a great decline in crofting and it has virtually disappeared from large areas of the Highlands. This started in the eighteenth century when entire crofting communities were driven out by landowners who wanted to use the land for large scale sheep and cattle rearing. The process resembled the enclosures which took place earlier in England in the sixteenth century. In recent years this decline has continued on an accelerated scale. The owners of the crofts become ruined because of the low incomes and many of the crofts which remain are run on a part-time basis.

Grass supplies 60 to 80 per cent of feed requirements of cattle and sheep: its production has been enhanced by the increased use of fertilizers, irrigation, new methods of grazing control etc. Rotational grass covers about 28 per cent of the total cropland. Rough grazings are used for extensively grazed sheep and cattle.

As regards the cereals barley takes the lead. It is cultivated on 33 per cent of the total cropland, amounting to 2,4 million hectares with an average annual yield of 10 million tonnes. The crop is mainly concentrated in the eastern parts of the country. Wheat follows next covering about 17,4 per cent of the total croplands which amounts to 1,4 million hectares with an average annual yield of over 8 million tonnes. About half the wheat crops is normally used for flour milling, the remainder mainly for animal feed. Wheat like barley prevails in the eastern parts of England, especially in East Anglia and in the south-east, as well as in Central Scotland. Cropland used for oats has been reduced to about 2 per cent. The crops is cultivated mainly in the western and northern parts of England.

The potato crop is widespread all throughout the country. Large-scale potato and vegetable production is undertaken in the eastern and south-eastern of England, around the rivers Thames and Humber and in South Lancashire. Early potatoes are an important crop in south-west Wales, Kent and south-west England. High-grade seed potatoes are grown in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Sugar from sugar home-grown sugar beet provides about 47 per cent of requirements, most of the remainder being refined from raw sugar imported from developing countries. Sugar beet covers about 3 per cent of the total cropland.

The land utilised for horticulture is about 290,000 hectares of which vegetables grown in the open, excluding potatoes, cover about 73 per cent, fruit more than 20 per cent, flowers less than 5 per cent and protected crops (those grown under glass or plastic) less than 2 per cent of the land used for horticulture.

The fishing industry. Britain's second major source of food is the surrounding sea. The fishing industry provides about 70 per cent of British fish supplies, and is an important source of employment and income in a number of ports, especially those situated on the North Sea shore. In the 1980s there were about 17,000 fishermen in regular employment. The average annual landings of fish by British ships are about 700,000 tonnes. This marks a massive decline from landings earlier in the century and reflects the crisis which afflicts the industry.

Although fish are widespread in the oceans of the world, it is only in certain limited areas that they occur in sufficient numbers to make large scale fishing an economic proposition. Such areas are called fishing grounds and they are usually found where the waters are shallow with available light and oxygen, where there are large quantities of plankton, which provide food for the fish.

For centuries the British fishing industry depended upon fishing grounds near Britain, particularly those in the North Sea. By the fifteenth century, however, fishermen were already searching for new distant grounds. By the nineteenth century fishing is distant waters was highly developed and several distinct methods of fishing had been developed to cope with different kinds of fish with different fishing grounds. Two main types of fish are caught - pelagic fish and demersal fish.

QUESTIONS

What is the structure of the British economy? What is the share of privatized industries and private enterprise versus public industries and enterprise?

What are the most important industrial developments in the past 30 years?

List the major manufacturing industries and describe their development.

The financial sector: Why is the City so important?

Can Britain be described as the world^,s major trading nation?

Name the main types of farming. Describe their role and territorial specialization.

Explain the importance of fishing for Britain.

VII. EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

School history

The present state school system

The independent sector

The National Curriculum

Public Examinations

Higher and further education. Types of University.

Education

The basic features of the British educational system are the same as they are anywhere else in Europe: full-time education is compulsory up to the middle teenage years; the academic year begins at the end of summer; compulsory education is free of charge, but parents may spend money on educating their children privately if they want to. There are three recognized stages, with children moving from the first stage (primary) to the second stage (secondary) at around the age of eleven or twelve. The third (tertiary) stage is 'further' education at university or college. However, there is quite a lot which distinguishes education in Britain from the way it works in other countries.

Historical background

The British government attached little importance to education until the end of the nineteenth century. It was one of the last governments in Europe to organize education for everybody. Britain was leading the world in industry and commerce, so, it was felt, education must somehow be taking care of itself. Today, however, education is one of the most frequent subjects for public debate in the country. To understand the background to this debate, a little history is needed.

Schools and other educational institutions (such as universities) existed in Britain long before the government began to take an interest in education. When it finally did, it did not sweep these institutions away, nor did it always take them over. In typically British fashion, it sometimes incorporated them into the system and sometimes left them outside it. Most importantly, the government left alone the small group of schools which had been used in the nineteenth century (and in some cases before then) to educate the sons of the upper and upper-middle classes. At these 'public' schools, the emphasis was on 'character-building' and the development of 'team spirit' rather than on academic achievement.

The public schools system

Stereotypical public schools:

are for boys only from the age of thirteen onwards, most of whom attended a private 'prep' (= preparatory) school beforehand;

take fee-paying pupils (and some scholarship pupils who have won a place in a competitive entrance exam and whose parents do not pay);

are boarding schools (the boys live there during term-time);

are divided into 'houses', each 'house' being looked after by a 'housemaster';

make some of the senior boys 'prefects', which means that they have authority over the other boys and have their own servants (called 'fags'), who are appointed from amongst the youngest boys;

place great emphasis on team sports;

enforce their rules with the use of physical punishment;

have a reputation for a relatively great amount of homosexual activity;

are not at all luxurious or comfortable.

However, this traditional image no longer fits the facts. These days, there is not a single public school in the country in which all of the above features apply. There have been a fairly large number of girls 'public schools for the last hundred years, and more recently a few schools have started to admit both boys and girls. Many schools admit day pupils as well as boarders, and some are day-schools only; prefects no longer have so much power or have been abolished altogether; has disappeared; there is less emphasis on team sport and more on academic achievement; life for the pupils is more physically comfortable than it used to be.

Among the most famous public schools are Eton, Harrow, Rugby and Winchester.

This involved the development of distinctive customs and attitudes, the wearing of distinctive clothes and the use of specialized items of vocabulary. They were all 'boarding schools' (that is, the pupils lived in them), so they had a deep and lasting influence on their pupils. Their aim was to prepare young men to take up positions in the higher ranks of the army, in business, the legal profession, the civil service and politics.

When the pupils from these schools finished their education, they formed the ruling elite, retaining the distinctive habits and vocabulary which they had learnt at school. They formed a closed group, to a great extent separate from the rest of society. Entry into this group was difficult for anybody who had a different education. When, in the twentieth century, education and its possibilities for social advancement came within everybody's reach, new schools tended to copy the features of the public schools. (After all, they provided the only model of a successful school that the country had).

Many of the distinctive characteristics of British education outlined below can be ascribed, at least partly, to this historical background. Of more recent relevance is Britain's general loss of confidence in itself. This change of mood has probably had a greater influence on education than on any other aspect of public life. The modern educational system has been through a period of constant change and it is difficult to predict what further changes will occur in the next decade. At the same time, however, there are certain underlying characteristics that seem to remain fixed.

Organization

Despite recent changes, it is a characteristic of the British system that there is comparatively little central control or uniformity. For example, education is manager not by one, but by three, separate government departments: the Department for Education and Employment is responsible for England and Wales alone - Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own departments. In fact, within England and Wales education has traditionally been seen as separate from 'training', and the two areas of responsibility have only recently been combined in a single department.

None of these central authorities exercises much control over the details of what actually happens in the country's educational institutions. All they do is to ensure the availability of education, dictate and implement is overall organization and set overall learning objectives (which they enforce through a system of inspectors) up to the end of compulsory education.

Central government does not prescribe a detailed programme of learning or determine what books and materials should be used. It says, in broad terms, what schoolchildren should learn, but it only offers occasional advice about how they should learn it. Nor does it dictate the exact hours of the school day, the exact dates of holidays or the exact age at which a child must start in full-time education. It does not manage an institution's finances either, it just decides how much money to give it. It does not itself set or supervise the marking of the exams which older teenager do. In general, as many details as possible are left up to the individual institution or the Local Education Authority (LEA, a branch of local government).

One of the reasons for this level of 'grass-roots' independence is that the system has been influenced by the public-school tradition that a school is its own community. Most schools develop, to some degree at lest, a sense of distinctiveness. Many, for example, have their own uniforms for pupils. Many, especially those outside the state system, have associations of former pupils. It is considered desirable (even necessary) for every school to have its own school hall, big enough to accommodate every pupil, for daily assemblies and other occasional ceremonies. Universities, although financed by the government, have even more autonomy. Each one has complete control over what to teach, how to teach it, who it accepts as students and how to test these students.

Style

Learning for its own sake, rather than for any particular practical purpose, has traditionally been given a comparatively high value in Britain. In comparison with most other countries, a relatively strong emphasis has been put on the quality of person that education produces (as opposed to the qualities of abilities that it produces). The balance has changed in the last quarter of the twentieth century (for example, there is now a high degree of concern about levels of literacy), but much of the public debate about educational policy still focuses not so much on how to help people develop useful knowledge and skills as on how education might help to bring about a better society - on social justice rather than on efficiency.

This approach has had a far-reaching effect on many aspects of the educational system. First of all, it has influenced the general style of teaching, which has tended to give priority to developing understanding rather than acquiring factual knowledge and learning to apply this knowledge to specific tasks. This is why British young people do not appear to have to work as hard as their counterparts in other European countries. Primary schoolchildren do not normally have formal homework to do and university students have fewer hours of programmed attendance than students on the continent do. (On the other hand, they receive greater personal guidance with their work). A second effect has been an emphasis on academic ability rather than practical ability (despite English anti-intellectualism). This has resulted in high-quality education for the intelligent and academically inclined (at the upper secondary and university levels) with comparatively little attention given to the educational needs of the rest.

The traditional approach, together with the dislike of centralized authority, also helps to explain why the British school system got a national curriculum (a national specification of learning objectives) so much later than other European countries. If your aim is so vague and universal, it is difficult to specify what its elements are. It is for the same reason that British schools and universities have tended to give such a high priority to sport. The idea is that it helps to develop the 'complete' person. The importance of school as a 'community' can increase this emphasis. Sporting success enhances the reputation of an institution. Until the last quarter of the twentieth century, certain sports at some universities (especially Oxford and Cambridge) and medical schools were played to an international standard. People with poor academic records were sometimes accepted as students because of their sporting powers (although, unlike in the USA, this practice was always unofficial).

Recent developments

Some of the many changes that have taken place in British education in the second half of the twentieth century simply reflect the wider social process of increased egalitarianism. The elitist institutions which first set the pattern no longer set the trend, and are themselves less elitist.

In other cases the changes have been the result of government policy. Before 1965 most children in the country had to take an exam at about the age of eleven, at the end of their primary schooling. If they passed this exam, they went to a grammar school where they were taught academic subjects to prepare them for university, the professions, managerial jobs or other highly-skilled jobs; if they failed, they went to a secondary modern school, where the lessons had a more practical and technical bias. Many people argued that it was wrong for a person's future life to be decided at so young an age. The children who went to 'secondary moderns' tended to be seen as 'failures'. Moreover, it was noticed that the children who passed this exam (known as the 'eleven plus') were almost all from middle-class families. The system seemed to reinforce class distinctions. It was also unfair because the proportion of children who went to a grammar school varied greatly from area to area (from 15% to 40%). During the 1960s these criticism came to be accepted by a majority of the public. Over the next decade the division into grammar schools and secondary modern schools was changed. These days, most eleven-year-olds all go on to the same local school. These schools are known as comprehensive schools. (The decision to make this change was in the hands of LEAs, so it did not happen at the same time all over the country. In fact, there are still one or two places where the old system is still in force).

However, the comprehensive system has also had its critics. Many people felt that there should be more choice available to parents and disliked the uniformity of education given to teenagers. In addition, there is a widespread feeling that educational standards fell during the 1980s and that the average eleven-year old in Britain is significantly less literate and less numerate than his or her European counterpart.

Starting in the late 1980s, two major changes were introduces by the government. The first of these was the setting up of a national curriculum. For the first time in British education there is now a set of learning objectives for each of compulsory school and all state schools are obliged to work towards these objectives. The other major change is that schools can now decide to 'opt out' of the control of the LEA and put themselves directly under the control of the appropriate government department. These 'grant-maintained' schools get their money directly from central government. This does not mean, however, that there is more central control. Provided they fulfil basic requirements, grant-maintained schools do not have to ask anybody else about how to spend their money.

Which subjects do pupils have to study?

Pupils aged 5 to 16 in state schools must be taught the National Curriculum, which made up of the following subjects: English, mathematics, science, design and technology; information technology, history, geography, music, art, physical education (PE) and a modern foreign language. The National Curriculum sets out, in broad terms, what schools must teach for each subject.

The National Curriculum is divided into four stages. These are called key stages and depend on pupil's ages. Pupils going into Key Stage 4 before September 1996 do not have to be taught design and technology, information technology and a modern foreign language. Pupils must also study religious education (RE), and secondary schools must provide sex education. The content of these two subjects is decided locally but must remain within the law. The Government also plans to make all secondary schools responsible for providing careers education.

Schools organise their own timetable, and can decide what else to teach their pupils.

How does the National Curriculum work?

Every school has National Curriculum documents for each subject. These documents describe what teachers must teach at each key stage.

Most National Curriculum subject are divided into different areas of learning. For example, English is divided into three areas: speaking and listening, reading, and writing.

The National Curriculum does not include detailed lesson plans for teachers. Schools and teachers draw up their own lesson plans based on the National Curriculum. Teachers will plan these lessons, taking account of their pupil's needs. Schools also decide for themselves which text books and other teaching materials to use.

How is each pupil's progress assessed?

The National Curriculum sets standards of achievement in each subject for pupils aged 5 to 14. For most subjects these standards range from levels 1 to 8. Pupils climb up the levels as they get older and learn more.

The standards at level 2 should challenge typical 7-year-olds

The standards at level 4 should challenge typical 11-year-olds

The standards at levels 5 and 6 should challenge typical 14-year-olds

More able pupils will reach the standards above these levels, and exceptionally able 14-year-olds may reach the standards above level 8.

The National Curriculum for music, art and PE does not use levels 1 to 8. Instead, there is a single description of the standards that most pupils can expect to reach at the end of a key stage for each area of learning.

All teachers check their pupil's progress in each subject as a normal part of their teaching. They must also asses pupil's progress in English, mathematics and science against the National Curriculum standards when pupils reach ages 7, 11 and 14. The teacher decides which level best describes a pupil's performance in each area of learning in the subject. The teacher then uses these to work out an overall level in that subject.

Do pupils have to sit national tests and examinations?

There are national tests for 7-, 11- and 14-year-olds in English and mathematics. Pupils aged 11 and 14 are also tested in science. The tests give an independent measure of how pupils and schools are doing compared with the national standards in these subjects.

Most 16-year-old take GCSEs or similar qualifications.

One final point about the persistence of decentralization: there are really three, not one, national curricula. There is one for England and Wales, another for Scotland and another for Northern Ireland. The organization of subjects and the details of the learning objectives vary slightly from to the other. There is even a difference between England and Wales. Only in the latter is the Welsh language part of the curriculum.

The introduction of the national curriculum is also intended to have an influence on the subject-matter of teaching. At the lower primary level, this means a greater emphasis on what are known as 'the three Rs' (Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic). At higher levels, it means a greater emphasis on science and technology. A consequence of the traditional British approach to education had been the habit of giving a relatively large amount of attention to the arts and humanities (which develop the well-rounded human being), and relatively little to science and technology (which develop the ability to do specific jobs). The prevailing belief at the time of writing is that Britain needs more scientists and technicians.

School life

There is no countrywide system of nursery (i.e. pre-primary) schools. In some areas primary schools have nursery schools attached to them, but in others there is no provision of this kind. The average child does not being full-time attendance at school until he or she is about five and starts primary school. Almost all schools are either primary or secondary only, the latter being generally larger.

Nearly all schools work a five-day week, with no half-day, and are closed on Saturdays. The day starts at or just before nine o'clock and finishes between three and four, or a bit later for older children. The lunch break usually lasts about an hour-and-a-quarter. Nearly two-thirds of pupils have lunch provided by the school. Parents pay for this, except for the 15% who are rated poor enough for it to be free. Other children either go home for lunch or take sandwiches.

Methods of teaching vary, but there is most commonly a balance between formal lessons with the teacher at the front of the classroom, and activities in which children work in small groups round a table with the teacher supervising. In primary schools, the children are mostly taught by a class teacher who teaches all subjects. At the ages of seven and eleven, children have to (or soon will have to) take national tests in English, mathematics and science. In secondary schools, pupils have different teachers for different subjects and are given regular homework.

The school year

Schools usually divide their year into three 'terms', starting at the beginning of September.

In addition, all schools have a 'half-term' (= half-term holiday), lasting a few days or week in the middle of each term.

The older children get, the more likely they are to be separated into groups according to their perceived abilities, sometimes for particular subjects only, sometimes across all subjects. But some schools teach all subjects to 'mixed ability' classes. The rights and wrongs of this practice have generated heated debate for several decades and there is great variety from school to school and area to area.

Public exams

The organization of the exams which schoolchildren take from the age of about fifteen onwards exemplifies both the lack of uniformity in British education and also the traditional 'hands-off' approach of British governments. First, these exams are not set by the government, but rather by independent examining boards. There are several of these. Everywhere except Scotland (which has its own single board), each school or LEA decides which board's exams its pupils take. Some schools even enter their pupils for the exams of more than one board.

Second, the boards publish a separate syllabus for each subject. There is no unified school-leaving exam or school-leaving certificate. Some boards offer a vast range of subjects. In practice, nearly all pupils do exam in English language, maths and a science subject, and most also do an exam in technology and one in a foreign language, usually French. Many students take exams in three or more additional subjects.

Third, the exams have nothing to do with school years as such. They are divorced from the school system. There is nothing to stop a sixty-five year-old doing a few of them for fun. In practice, of course, the vast majority of people who do these exams are school pupils, but formally it is individual people who enter for these exams, not pupils in a particular year of school.

An example of the independence of the examining boards is the decision of one of them (the Northern Examinations Board) in 1992 to include certain popular television programmes on their English literature syllabus. This was against the spirit of the government's education policy at that time. The idea of 100,000 schoolchildren setting down to watch the Australian soap opera Neighbours as part of their homework made government ministers very angry, but there was nothing they could do to stop it.

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.

Exams and qualifications

There has been a great increase in educational opportunities for people at this age or older in the last quarter of the twentieth century. About half of those who stay in full-time education 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 Collage, or Collage of Further Education.

The sixth form

The word 'from' was the usual word to describe a class of pupils in public schools. It was taken over by some state schools. With the introduction of the national curriculum it has become common to refer to 'years'. However, 'from' has been universally retained in the phrase 'sixth form', which refers to those pupils who are studying beyond the age of sixteen.

An increasing number do vocational training courses for particular jobs and careers. Recent governments have been keen to increase the availability of this type of course and its prestige (which used to be comparatively low). 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 choice of who to accept on their courses. There is no right of entry to university for anybody. Universities normally select studies on the basis of A-level result 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.

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 higher 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 1975 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.

Types of university

There are no important official or legal distinctions between the various types of university in the country. But is possible to discern a few board categories.

Oxbridge

This name denotes the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, both founded in the medieval period. They are federations of semi-independent colleges, each college having its own staff, known as 'Fellows'. Most college have their own dining hall, library and chapel and contain enough accommodation for at least half of their students. The Fellows teach the college students, either one-to-one or in very small groups (known as 'tutorials' in Oxford and 'supervisions' in Cambridge). Oxbridge has the lowest student/staff ratio in Britain. Lectures and laboratory work are organized at university level. As well as the college libraries, there are the two university libraries, both of which are legally entitled to a free copy of every book published in Britain. Before 1970 all Oxbridge colleges were single-sex (mostly for men). Now, the majority admit both sexes.

The old Scottish Universities

By 1600 Scotland boasted four universities. They were Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St. Andrews. The last of these resembles Oxbridge in many ways, while the other three are more like civic universities in that most of the students live at home or find their own rooms in town. At all of them the pattern of study is closer to the continental tradition than to the English one - there is less specialization than at Oxbridge.

The early nineteenth-century English universities

Durham University was founded in 1832. Its collegiate living arrangements are similar to Oxbridge, but academic matters are organized at university level. The University of London started in 1836 with just two colleges. Many more have joined science, scattered widely around the city, so that each collage (most are non-residential) is almost a separate university. The central organization is responsible for little more than exams and the awarding of degrees.

The older civic ('redbrick') universities

During the nineteenth century various institutes of higher education, usually with a technical bias, sprang up in the new industrial towns and cities such as Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. Their buildings were of local material, often brick, in contrast to the stone of older universities (hence the name, 'redbrick'). They catered only for local people. At first, they prepared students for London University degrees, but later they were given the right to award their own degrees, and so became universities themselves. In the mid twentieth century they started to accept students from all over the country.

The campus universities

These are purpose-built institutions located in the countryside but close to towns. Examples are East Anglia, Lancaster, Sussex and Warwick. They have accommodation for most of their students on site and from their beginning, mostly in the early 1960s, attracted students from all over the country. (Many were known as centres of student protest in the late 1960s and early 1970s). They tend to emphasize relatively 'new' academic disciplines such as social sciences and to make greater use than other universities of teaching in small groups, often known as 'seminars'.

The newer civic universities

These were originally technical colleges set up y local authorities in the first sixty years of this century. Their upgrading to university status took place in two waves. The first wave occurred in the mid 1960s, when ten of them (e.g. Aston in Birmingham, Salford near Manchester and Strathclyde in Glasgow) were promoted in this way. Then, in the early 1970s, another thirty became 'polytechnics', which meant that as well as continuing with their former courses, they were allowed to teach degree courses (the degrees being awarded by a national body). In the early 1990s most of these (and also some other colleges) became universities. Their most notable feature is flexibility with regard to studying arrangements, including 'sandwich' courses (i.e. studies interrupted by periods of time outside education). They are now all financed by central government.

The Open Universities

This is one development in education in which Britain can to have led the world. 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.

QUESTIONS

What is the compulsory school age in Britain?

The story of British schools: After 1944 almost all children attended one of two kinds of school. What were they called? What was the difference between them? In the 1960s this system was changed. What kind of school was introduced? What effect did the change have?

The private sector: Is the public school system socially divisive? Can state education be as good as the private system?

Name the two basic public examinations to assess English pupils at the age of sixteen and after another two voluntary years of schooling.

Educational reforms in the 1980s: Is the introduction of the National Curriculum likely to have good results?

What is the structure of the British Higher education?

What in your opinion, are the strengths and weaknesses of Britain^,s education system compared to Belarus?

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