SERIOUSLY? | American Reacts to British Education System
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- čas přidán 27. 03. 2021
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Fun fact: most A level courses (history, English, geography, etc) are the same degree of difficulty you'd get at an American collage.
college* haha the irony
@@funkypenny5158 sorry to be a pain, but it is actually spelt college in Britain (I am British, but have also confirmed this on the internet in case I was wrong). A collage is a form of art, not the educational building.
College is a level tho
To be fair a lot of my teachers say that they put more effort into achieving their A levels than their degrees
@@jamesfernandes2842 I put in so much time and effort into my A levels and S level (S or "Special" levels existed back in the 70s) that I hardly studied at all at Uni. Still got a 2.2.
So I agree 100% with your teachers.
The grading system for Secondary School students has recently changed. Instead of A*, B, C grades etc it’s now graded 1 to 9 with 9 being the top grade.
It used to be 1 to 10 but kids would just get a pen and add the zero.
The grading system used to be numeric under C.S.E. and then they went A through F for G.C.S.E. and now they've gone back to numeric?
As usual employers don't have a clue what school qualification are... Everyone goes to college or university just to get a recognised qualification...
That system is only in England, Wales is still A* to F grades for GCSE years and A level, college years, and university years. Although that may change within the next coming years. I don't know whether Scotland or Northern Ireland have changed either.
This is true, as a current GCSE student, the letters are just easier tbh, I always have to translate to adults what I have in letters lol
@@felicitydavies3227 northern ireland hasnt changed it
This is out of date, you can no longer leave education at 16, you have to either stay in school, go to college, or do an apprenticeship until you are 18.
There are also no AS-levels any longer.
@@hannahwebster5606 There are AS levels, some exam boards don’t assess them (e.g. OCR), however, others do (e.g. WJEC)
or training, not sure what qualifies as training, i guess military but yeah.
That's a load of crap, you can still leave school at 16 as you can still join the MOD, you do your GCSEs then decide if you want to continue your learning or get a job.
No... you can leave education at 16.
A big thing he totally missed is that the GCSE or Higher exams are national standard exams. Every student in the country sits the same exams for each subject. In the US and Canada it is up to each school or school district to set the exams each year.
Um...yes and no. Let's not forget about Examination Boards and the exam sat at one school may, or may not, be the same as one at the school down the road.
@@lundimardi1975 In Scotland all examinations are set by the SQA.
@@sallyb9613 No they are NOT. Some schools in Scotland use the English exam bodies, just as some schools in England use some of the Scottish exams. Thye are NOT exclusive to the country, and that only schools in that country can use them. For example BTEC run by the forces is used in Scotland, and the SQA ia overseen by the English Joint Council for Qualifications your exams would not be accepted anywhere if they are not affirmed by the JCQ. SQA is being scrapped by 2024.
@@thetruthhurts7675 You appear to have missed the point of the conversation….
@@sallyb9613 No I haven't you said ALL examinations in Scotland are set by the SQA. This is a lie. Any school in the UK, and Ireland, and indeed the rest of the world can do any examinations they see as the best, easiest, or just vocational. For Example Saint Leonards school in Fife in Scotland chooses to do the Baccalaureate (IB) from france because of the breadth nad depth of the course it offers. So as I said you were in fact telling a lie, because any school from anywhere in the world can choose which examinations it chooses for it's students. Just pointing this out, and finally as I said the SQA is being scrapped by the Uk government in 2024. So where did I miss the point of what you sad exactly? Plus a further142 schools in Engalnd, Northern Ireland, and Wales choose to do the IB as well.
at 16 although you only do 9/10 subjects but most of these have 2/3 exams so you end up doing 20 + exams all in the space of around a month
And unlike the U.S. your final grade comes solely from these exams
@@EnderWarlock it depends which exam, a lot of them such as Drama, iMedia,Music, and more also require coursework, which is graded and counted towards the final exam. For foreign languages we also have speaking tests.
@@TheOriginialGreenBear ahh yeah I forgot about coursework yeah that can be done for the sciences too.
damn i'm in 8th grade, have 16 subjects and i have to have at least 8 grades (meaning exams, usually) from 14 of those
it's fun learning about different education systems and their differences from the one in my country
@@TheOriginialGreenBear i do design technology and pe and they are either 50-50 or 60-40 with the lower being coursework based
One thing you should know , we don't graduate from high school! You just finish your exams and go home , that's it ! Always amazed me how it's such a big thing in US
Now that you mention it some of the people in my high school couldnt go to prom (copied from the US) so the last time I saw them could have been in the exam hall
@@more-reasons6655 literally my case! We did our GCSE back in 2011 and it was when social media was still not a thing . I re connected with some of my classmates through Instagram just last year or something 🤣
I couldnt wait to leave. After my exams I was supposed to continue attending class in those subjects! No,they didnt see me for the dust. My friend continued attending all her classes right up to the end of the year. She must have been sitting there by herself!
You also have to wear a uniform for your Primary and Secondary school. If you do sixth form you can wear your own clothes but are expected to dress professionally. In college you can dress how you want.
There is no legislation in the UK regarding school uniforms. Many schools have no uniforms.
6th forms attached to schools often have a uniform.
@@isabellevince5174 In the south-west every school has uniform, are you up north somewhere?
@@togerboy5396 north west here and all schools here have uniforms. Confused as to where they could be from that it's the norm to not have uniforms
@S. K.C. Fairchild I've noticed the dress-code is flexible at sixth-form colleges but not always at sixth forms in secondary schools - most sixth forms (in schools) you have to dress professionally, well at least in mine you did.
Lots of this is only really true for England. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are different
As someone who has been to school in both England and Scotland, it’s really not lots, there’s a few differences but not many at all
@@paddy1144 its pretty different
@@paddy1144 ……….Paddy we’re you taught any Robert Burns in England ?
@@ronaldomadrebien7045 the Scottish writer? If so then yes.
@@paddy1144 ………..yes
The whole thing is different in Scotland, this is for England and Wales.
also same in Northern Ireland...americans note the UK Is england wales scotland and Northern Ireland
It’s the one time amercians sat Britian instead of England that their wrong in saying that
Slight correction to the original video - Oxford and Cambridge (referred to jointly as Oxbridge) are considered to be the best two universities not only in the UK but to a large extent anywhere in the world. These are truly elite institutions and it is extremely hard to gain a place to study at either as an undergraduate (think close to impossible). The "Red Brick" universities he refers to are a group of six universities founded during the nineteenth century in major industrial towns like Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Bristol. Originally, the term "Red Brick" was slightly derogatory as they were seen as inferior to the 'ancient' universities but today they are among the most prestigious and five of them are listed in the top one hundred universities in the world.
Years back, when the A-Levels went up to 'A', a friend of mine applied to Cambridge and had several days of interviews and despite a predicted 4 As - he wasn't offered a place. We assume it was because he had a ponytail and didn't come from a 'rich' family - those places are tough to get into and rather set in their ways about who is acceptable... it's where we get the expression 'old school' from.
@@manticore5733 One of my cousins got into Cambridge and left after a couple of months. She said it was full of snobby, stuck-up types who thought they were better than everyone else and she couldn't stand it. That was about 20 years ago, though.
@@manticore5733 It's unlikely to have been the ponytail. The number of places available on Oxbridge courses is a lot fewer than the number of sixth-formers predicted 4 As, even back in the days before A* was a thing. Oxbridge admissions procedures have always included some kind of additional tests - on the A-level content but harder questions - and you have to do extremely well on those to get in, even if your predicted A-levels are fantastic. These tests used to happen at your school before the interviews, and a few years ago Cambridge started doing that again, but for a while Cambridge used to give the tests to the candidates when they were there for the interviews. You also get asked really hard academic questions at the interviews, and only the people who do better on those than the competition get offered places. There are lots and lots of applicants from rich families who apply but don't get in, with or without ponytails, and there are also outreach efforts by Oxbridge to encourage applications from highly academic young people from disadvantaged schools.
Would you mind informing me pls about the newer civic universities and the campus universities
@@meryemdada2450 What would you like to know?
The joy of having a nation curriculum is that when we go to university we don't have to study anything but the thing that we're there for, since everyone in the class has the exact same education. When we apply to university we apply specifically for the subject we want, not like in America where you can figure it out when you get there. I applied for history and I studied history and only history for the entire three years I was there.
It is also untrue to say that "secondary modern schools" do not have to follow the national curriculum !
EVERYONE follows that regardless until the age of 18! Same exams throughout the entire UK !
However, they may also follow some vocational courses alongside !
One thing to comment is that GCSEs are now graded on a scale from 9-1, instead A*-F
Are they still centrally marked anonymously like they used to be?
@@TheToledoTrumpton yes. Obviously this year it’s different with covid
So with 9-1 what would the equivalent on the A*-F scale be?
@@jackpalmer7577 9 can be seen as an A**
@@DylanSargesson ah right. To be honest, I don't understand the thought process behind the change. Why change something everyone is used to, and has no problems with
In the UK, we essentially have to choose what field we think we'll need want to go into when we're young because there are some A Levels and degrees that you can't even apply for if you haven't already done the basic levels of that subject. I think it's horrible.
From age 21 you can register to study with the Open University. You don't need A-levels, and if you successfully pass an OU foundation level module, it will be possible to transfer your studies to a traditional full-time residential university.
Times are changing. School leavers now make up under 75% of residential university students.
I focused on maths and business in school, went into college with my only good gcses in maths and business and finance, and in college studied accouting. When i decided to change career field, i had nothing even after all years in school and 5 years in college, i had nothing to get me into a different career.
Its changed since! Legally you have to be in either full time education or an apprenticeship until 18.
This means that after gcses you either go to sixth form, a college, or get an apprenticeship until 18
Jeez that's mad! I never knew they changed that.
Or what a lot of kids are doing is getting pregnant at 14 15 and finish school online
@@2004misty where i live in my three local schools no one was pregnant 🤷♀️thought it was an american stereotype only in uk films tbh
@@lolimapotato well as 1 of them was my daughter included it happens a lot especially around eastleigh Southampton area schools are known for it
@@2004misty ah im a completely different part of the country, probably why. I hope you, your daughter and grandchild are happy and healthy. Mustve been a nightmare in lockdown!
It’s probably worth mentioning that at the end of secondary school you dont have a graduation or a graduation certificate. When you complete your GCSEs that is an official qualification that you can take to a job. Any qualifications higher is to focus on one particular subject for a particular career.
However, you cannot do full time jobs until you leave school at the official age of 18
@@marycarver1542 ... just wondered when the 'official' age for leaving school became 18? I ask because, one of my partner's grand daughter's stayed on until she was 18, but I thought this was a choice you can make if you want to study further with the intention of going to university, and not compulsory, as another grand daughter didn't stay on and left at 16 because she didn't want to go to university. When I left at 16, there was no option to stay until 18 in any case.
In the UK you need to have selected the subject you are going to study before you go to university. You are accepted to study for a particular course, not just to attend a particular institution.
You can home school, so education in a school IS NOT compulsory, education is compulsory.
Public school is not state funded school in the UK. It’s a fee-charging endowed school. The public means it’s open to anyone of the correct age no matter who they are if they meet the requirements and pay the fee. Typically the higher class children would attend. Private schools rely solely on charging a fee and don’t tend to use the national curriculum (only a private school can do this). Free schools are called state-funded schools, of which there are a number of different categories.
I remember back home in Guyana - we go by that British system. And wearing uniforms was a good thing because you're more focused on the school work
How long did you live in Guyana for?
From Guyana and I remember when I moved to the UK I had additional English language classes!! When I moved to the US, I was told that I had a very strong British accent and it put it down to those classes all those years ago.
It's funny, I spent a year teaching in Guyana and it was similar to the Scottish system I grew up with, but I found that they used a lot of American terminology, like calling a year grade 5 instead of primary 5.
Oxford and Cambridge (commonly known as “Ox-Bridge”) are not Red Brick Universities, they have their own entrance requirements in addition to the standard UCAS. The Red Brick Universities are the “Russell Group” Uni’s such as Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham, and so on. These are Victorian or older, and are generally some of the best in the World. I’m not sure if St. Andrews and Edinburgh are included in that group, because they are Scottish, and also regularly appear in the top World Universities.
On the subject of education, Scotland has always had a separate education system to the rest of the UK, and since Devolution Wales also has a separate education system from England.
Correct
Taking this correct quote form @Keith Bulley above in the comments - Glasgow isn't a red-brick university and was not founded in Edwardian or Victorian times: it is the 4th oldest university in the UK and was founded in 1451. It belongs to a group you do not mention: Scotland's 'ancient universities', these being St Andrews (1413), Aberdeen (1495) and Edinburgh (1583).
@@Thurgosh_OG I just learned this recently and have been waiting for a place to share it lol. Aberdeen actually has the oldest medical school in Scotland (not sure about the whole of the uk). Edinburgh, which is what most people to believe is the oldest, actually started teaching medicine after Aberdeen. Not particularly relevant to you point 😂 but I wanted to share
Russell Group Universities are the top ones : Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Durham, Southampton. Red Brick Universities refer to newer often 20th Century universities like Southampton and Nottingham. There are also ex.Polytechnics which became what are known as NEW Universities. You can also transfer between BTEC and Royal Society of Arts qualifications into University courses but it is more difficult to transfer between academic University courses to practical subjects............but not unknown or impossible. There are also Access Courses for mature students ie. those over 26 years of age without qualifications to reach a stage where they can subsequently apply for university places.
He's wrong when he says that it's compulsory to go to school. You have to be /educated/ until you're 18 but it doesn't have to be in school.
I was home-educated from birth until university, when I went to our equivalent of an ivy league college, which I'm only bringing up to demonstrate that not being educated in school doesn't have any adverse effect on your future plans.
I was home schooled till 10 then went to boarding school completely unequipped for life. My mum was great, I was ahead of everyone academically, but I had no idea how to relate to people, handle bullying, etc Seriously bad consequences, still feel the repercussions 45 years later. I would never inflict home schooling on anyone - I find it to be harmful.
Just thought I’d mention you actually start primary school age 4 as long as you turn 5 within that academic year :)
Yep! You just don't legally have to start until you're 5
@@cwren9060 omg i never knew that?! Tbh I’ve never met anyone who didnt start at 4 so i never really thought about it- thats so crazy omg!!
One of the great things about the school I went to in England, was that we had a sixth form centre, which teachers were not allowed to enter. It was our space and we respected it.
Totally different in Scotland to England. Primary School from age 5 - 11. Secondary School age 12 - 18 (minimum leaving age is 16). Kindergarten is optional. Exams are different to England. the Scottish 'Higher' is taken in the fifth and sixth year of Secondary School. Each subject studied has its own 'Higher' (say (Arts) English, History, Geography etc, (sciences)Mathematics (sic), Physics Biology etc. Modern Languages, for example French, German, Chemistry. Classics - Latin and Greek are still offered in some schools. I studied Latin many years ago. In combination and depending on the course requirements 'Highers' are used for entry to university or college. Also, in Scotland, a 'public school' is a state funded institution - as in the USA. A fee-paying school - for want of a better description - is called a Private School. That is the tip of the iceberg!
In England you have to be in education or an apprenticeship until 18
We had middle schools until the late 90s, when it all changed from a three tier system to a two-tier system. People do go straight from primary school to secondary school. It's why Hogwarts in Harry Potter starts at age 11.
In some parts of the UK, still have middle school systems.
In Suffolk there's still a 3 tier system but in Norfolk it is 2
I went to school in England from the mid 80s to early 90s, and never heard of middle schools outside of an American context.
@@Tishanfas I literally went to middle school in the mid-late '90s. Maybe they were after your time and only there briefly?
@@Tishanfas my dad went to a Middle school in the 70s and he's from Ipswich
Back when I went to school (80s/90s), Primary school was split into Infants and Juniors. It was common for them to be part of the same school, but with separate facilities. I did three years at infants and 4 at juniors. Then it was off to Secondary school.
I think a lot has changed since then, as I know my old Secondary school is now called an Academy and the Headmaster is now called the Principal.
We don't have GCSES in Scotland it's standard grades and they get graded from 1-6 1 being the highest and 6 being the lowest a fail. We also start secondary school at 12 here not 11 like in England.
Someone going to University in the UK, does mean specialising to one subject, so doing a degree in History, would mean that is all they would cover from age 18. But then they would only cover 3 or 4 subjects at A Level, that might well mean not doing Maths or English after 16.
Public Schools are called that for historic reasons, at one time the very rich could afford private tutors, most people could not. These schools were set up as charities to educate those too poor to have private tutors, funded by scholarships. Over time the schools boosted their income by accepting more pupils for fees, they opened up to the PUBLIC, anyone could go there for a fee. Now a Public school an elite school, usually taking boarders, though they all still offer free scholarships too. You will also hear of Private Schools, these tend to be newer fee paying schools, focused on day pupils from a local area. A prep school, (preparatory school) is a private school that posh people go to before boarding school at age 13.
Oxford and Cambridge are not "Redbrick" universities, they are in a category on their own, Oxbridge. Red brick is a term to describe the universities established in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Most were built in the industrial cities, so we're built of brick. The name sets them aside from the newer less prestigious universities. These came about in the 1990s when Polytechnics and Colleges of Higher Education, which were less academic, were renamed as Universities.
You do find middle schools in some areas, aged 9 to 13, but they never caught on. Basically it's primary 5 to 11, secondary 11 to 16, further 16 to 18, Higher 18+
Not true for Sccottish universities.
one correction to make regarding this video, the first point he made is that education is now compulsory up to age 18, i don't know when the video was made because this change is a fairly new change only been in effect for about 5-6 years i believe.
edit: after watching more of this video some of the points explained are very out of date and no longer exist or have changed so fundamentally that they are totally different to what is described here.
School is also not compulsory here. Education is, but how it gets done is up to you/your parents
I am gob-smacked at your level of understanding on all of your videos. Amazing. At 18 I think I was still pushing crayons up my nose, a habit that I have now stopped....nearly. For your UK viewers I would point out that I left school at 15 with 7 GLC spirit levels. Don't bother taking Algebra, I have travelled to 14 countries and never once have I had to speak Algebraic.
There speaks a clever man.
One small correction to what he said. There are loads of multiple subject degrees. You don't just have to study one thing. There are BA(Hons) in Business and Management, for example. When there's an 'and' in the title, it means your final classification is weighted 50/50%. If there's a 'with' instead, your degree classification is weighted 75/25% respectively.
Back in the 80s in Britain, you could leave school at 15.
I left at 15 and went straight into work.
But it's changed now. You can't leave until ur 18.
@@aislingmoran7762 in Scotland you can also leave at 16
It originally changed from 15 to 16 in 1970/71 but for various reasons including cost was deferred until 1972/73. My twin sister left at age 15 in 1967 but I stayed until 18.
The idea of our Public Schools costing tens of thousands of pounds a year must confuse the hell out of people from other countries. And the fact that Eton College is effectively a Secondary/High School.
From the UK government website:
School leaving age:
Your school leaving age depends on where you live.
England
You can leave school on the last Friday in June if you’ll be 16 by the end of the summer holidays.
You must then do one of the following until you’re 18:
stay in full-time education, for example at a college *This is for 2 years ding your AS?A levels or certificates of higher education)
start an apprenticeship or traineeship
spend 20 hours or more a week working or volunteering, while in part-time education or training
We also have a thing in the UK called the Open University where rather than going to a specific city you study by yourself and attend lectures through the year at another University (usually on weekends). Like a normal University you can receive a Student Loan that you have to pay back but you are also able to work at the same time you are studying. A degree at the Open University can be as short as three years but can be as long as six years depending on the pace you want to set for yourself. You also have the option that instead of taking out a student loan you may pay for the course as you go along from your wages. The upside of studying with the Open University is that at the end of the course you probably won't have any outstanding student loans. You will also have three years of full time work experience. So for a potential employer you will be showing that you are disciplined to study on your own, that you can manage your time well, and you will also be able to produce references from employers to show your three years of work experience. On the downside you miss out on all the social aspects of University. An Open University degree is exactly the same as a degree from other Universities.
It is also worth pointing out that for some careers a degree is required in a specific subject before you can even start to begin qualifying for a professional qualification. For example a degree in Civil Engineering is mandatory for you to begin the process of becoming a Civil Engineer.
I would add that you do not need O & A levels to get into the OU if you enter as a mature adult, you can do access courses. Also OU is "distance learning" so you can study at home. I got my BA in History via the OU after retiring from nursing.
I'm surprised he didn't mention the biggest difference between schools in UK and US - that in the UK there's no such thing as a GPA. Some subjects may have a coursework element, but the whole grade for each GCSE or A-level is awarded on the final exam, plus the coursework element if there is any, awarded by the exam board, not by the teacher, and (apart from a short time spent on coursework) your work each week is just practice for the exam, and doesn't count towards anything.
There isn't coursework in GCSEs anymore, they changed it to 100% exams a couple of years ago. Sucks for the students now, I'd hate that
Introduction of the GPA system in UK universities has been under discussion for several years. There are ‘conversion tables’ so one can see what a UK degree award would be in GPA, but it seems likely that over time, GPA will replace the UK first, 2i etc that’s commonly known at present.
i think the guy’s video is meant for a global audience so instead of looking at us v uk differences, he’s just talking about uk education !
Note: different areas of the UK are different but in Northern Ireland, there is no such thing as 'college' and we just stay in secondary until age 18 also in Northern Ireland private schools are rare because of how small it is so most academically inclined kids go to grammar schools and they are kids from all sorts of backgrounds
Goes straight from primary to secondary school, some middle schools do still exist, but they are rare.
Yup I went to first school, middle school and then upper school is where I am now (i think thats what its called)
Do you mean Infant school and Junior school? If so then Infants and Juniors is Primary school :))
@@cwren9060 Yes in a two tier education system but in some areas middle schools still exist in a three-tier local education. In these areas Children begin their compulsory education in lower school, which caters for children up to the age of 8 or 9. Children then transfer to a middle school, which caters for children from age 9 to age 13 or 14. Following this, children transfer for the remainder of their compulsory education to an upper school.
When i was a kid it was Infant school first , Junior school second and finally Secondary School. I left school at 15
... and me. So much easier to understand than all this year 1 year 2 year 3 etc etc bollox! I left school at 16, with 5 C.S.E's (no GCSE back then) and one 'O' Level or GCE as it was back then, when Mammoths roamed the earth!
@@baylessnow yep. 3years in infant school, 4years in junior, 5 in secondary unless you messed up your exams or took a levels. Sixth form then.
And mammoth steaks are tasty. I miss em
Yes there are still Infants (4 years) and Juniors (4 years) but they are both within a primary school now, although they may have separate buildings. It's like how in secondary school you have year 7-9 but then you have the students that take GCSE's (2 years) or A levels (2 years) all within the "same school"
@@felicitydavies3227 i can concour! I remember we all thought we were big kids when we entered Year 3 cause we were now Juniors, yet the only big difference was we had lunch half an hour later than before 🤣
Primary school at five until eleven - we'd been taught the pounds, shillings and pence then we went decimal! From eleven to sixteen it was a secondary modern - the school was brand new, though we still made use of some caravan classrooms dotted about, as we did at the primary school, there were five of those at the primary, two at the secondary. At sixteen, it was college and our 'department' was spread in different Victorian buildings all over the town - Ipswich. Back then, though - in the 70s - we were fortunate enough to be able to make use of a grant. There I got my A Levels.
In some places we did (and still do) have middle schools but they have, for the most part, been phased out. I'm guessing to save money
My old school and county were one of the last to phrase them out. Bedfordshire held on to the 3 tier system longer than other counties.
worcestershire still got plenty of middle schools
Newcastle has a couple middle schools
Northumberland too
Dorset still has quite a few schools in the 3 tier system, but only in some parts of the county, specifically in Dorchester and Poole. AFAIK the rest of Dorset follow the Primary Secondary system.
The one thing he doesn't seem to be mentioning is that education is run differently in Wales, England and Scotland. I live in Wales and pupils do not take anywhere near as many exams as England. England has also just changed its marking for exams but this hasn't happened in Wales
I live in Wales and compared to a friend I have who lives in England I did more exams than them. Welsh students have to do compulsory Welsh, and its an extra 2 exams for those that do full course Welsh to Short course Welsh, for those who go to an English speaking school. As well as Welsh Baccalaureate which may not be an exam but its 4 assignments that you have to complete throughout the whole year its not just something you have to do at the end. One of my assignments lasted 13 weeks, and Welsh Baccalaureate is also compulsory to do in Wales if you do A levels or if you go to college, for at least another 2 years of educatation on top of the previous 2 years you have to do in GCSE years. Altogether in my GCSE years I did 21 exams not including any course work or Welsh Baccalaureate assignments and that was only 4 to 5 years ago. But the number of exams do depend on which courses you take for your GCSE years and whether you are in higher or lower Maths, English, the Science's and Religious Education classes depends on how many exams you do within those subjects.
Yeah, I remember from when I was teaching primary in England. The unions had us all out campaigning to end SATS at aged 7, then the 2012 primary curriculum was enforced, which meant more tests at aged 7, and much more rigorous assessment. It gave me a nervous breakdown and I left the job, after 25 years.
In wales you got many who do more exams than those in England due to compulsory welsh in WJEC which is 2 extra exams and having to do the welsh baccalaureate in some schools for GCSE which is just more work and its compulsory in A-Level
I’m actually so happy about national curriculum tho, I move almost every 1-2 years, but I don’t have to adjust to many different topics (unless it’s when I moved to Scotland, that is a complete different system). The only difference is what topics they choose in subjects like History, or the languages they study (one school I went to only taught mandarin which I had never learnt so I was AWFUL at it).
There are like year groups sectioned within the schools. For example Primary school is broken up into two sub-schools Infants ( for 4 - 8 year olds) and Juniors (8- 11 year olds), for some these are within separate buildings others might be divided by floors. My school was divided by floors and had two different yards for both sub-schools, while other schools for example another school just a few streets away from my primary school had two separate buildings which was divided by a road. The ages above obviously depend on the months you were born.
The there is secondary school, this again is separated into sub-schools, although this time they don't typical have separate buildings or floors for the sub-schools, this time its usually split into different buildings and floors based on different subjects that you learn. Only exceptions were teachers that had multiple degrees in different subjects and could therefore teach multiple subjects. The sub-schools were Year 7 to year 9 (this being 11 to 14 year olds), then GCSE years (14 to 16 year olds) this is the official final years of secondary school, and you could leave full time education at the age of 15-16 (again depending on what month of the year you were born into).
Next some secondary schools (but not all) might have A levels ( 16 to 18 year old) this is like a different school separated from the main Secondary school but could be attached or not depending on the local area that the secondary school is within. As far as I'm away there is nothing like this in America. A level's (or as the sub-school is known Sixth Form) is where most people go before University. You either go to College or Sixth Form before you go to university, as both "schools" do the same types of exams but you must pass those exams within college or sixth form before you can even go to university. College is different to sxith form as you don't need to go to it if you want to go to university. Some courses within college you can do and then go straight into work but these are more, physical based courses like some types of engineering, mechanics, electricians, plumbers, chef's, photography, etc. Sixth form and then University are people who want an academic type of job such as: nursing, doctors, pharmacists; any science based job; any jobs based around animals, vets, zoo keepers/handler, etc; jobs within museums or high jobs within schools; psychology, law, journalism, politics, etc.
Hi he should have explained a little about the cost or funding for university places because the differences are huge
We moved to the UK in Dec from the US with our 12 year old daughter, so we just finished the school shopping process. She was in 6th grade in the US, but here would have been in Seventh year, based on birthdate. Secondary comes directly after primary, and it really consists of what the US would call middle school and high school together.
You can home school in the UK and some areas, i did. have a three tier system with Middle School.
I went to secondary school at 11 , and all other children do. I want to explain something else and that is that you do NOT have to attend a school. Home education is a thing in England too. The video you were watching did not explain this part.
I went to a middle school which is year 5-8 aka ages 9-13
mmm yes and no. You do have the option of home schooling, however, for it to be worth anything, you still have to pass a schools exams in school (in the same hall as all the other school kids). If you do terribly in those exams, you can sometimes be forced to place your kid in a school for proper education.
As mentioned elsewhere, there isn't one British system, the four UK nations deal with education separately especially Scotland, and within each nation local council or academy schools run things differently, where i live they still have selective state Grammar schools, some areas abolished them years ago, also separate boys and girls schools, FWIW State school =US public school, English Public school = US private/independent school (confusing)
Grantham? Sixth form of 69-70?
In Scotland anyway, when you are entering 3rd year of high school you are allowed to choose half of your subjects for the next two years, maths, English, science and a language are standard
Science as a whole wasn't compulsory, you had to choose one of the 3 sciences (Biology, Chemistry or Physics) in your options, to study in your final 2 years.
As somebody else said, some places have the middle school system. So I went to first school from 4 to 9, middle school from 9 to 13, and then high school from 13 to 16, then college. And it was high school, not secondary - mine was called Monkseaton High.
Primary schools are sometimes also split into infant and junior school dependent on the size of the school.
At age 14 you get to choose your "options" which is what subjects you will continue to study until you are 16 for your GCSEs. its hard to choose what to do, I still don't know what job I really want to do with my life..rofl!
At some school in England you chose when you're 12 and 13 as well :))
The grading system for GCSEs has changed now. They use a 9-1 system (9 is the highest and 1 is the lowest) now.
In a small number of places in England, there is a different school system - instead of primary/secondary, there is first/middle/High. Primary/secondary is 5-11 then 11-16 or 18, while first/middle/high is 5-9, then 9-13, then 13-16 or 18
Yeah some schools are called Primary and then up the road can be another Primary except they call themselves Infant School. Then there are some that are called High School but then another school very similar will go by the name Secondary...lol And you cant just pick and choose your schools unless you are willing to pay to go private, what school you go to is determined by 'catchment' areas depending on where you live.
@@kittyowlblu yeah exactly, I think most of the schools around me call themselves high schools both from 11-16 and 13-16 - my catchment area is mostly the two tier system so unless I specifically opted to go further afield I ended up at the two tier system
This is one of those cases when you should, or rather the man who made the video you are watching should, have used the term English, as in only a couple of sentences did you mention what happens in Scotland, which can be very different, and little of the details give were accurate for the Scottish education system!
Agreed but even Wales and NI have differences to the English system, so the original video host should have done more homework, lol.
@@Thurgosh_OG Absolutely, I wasn't intending to exclude Wales & NI there, which shows how easy it is to generalise without meaning to!
Some University Bachelors degrees do take 4 years. You can also take a degree in 2 subjects, but that would be one offered by the University so almost always related subjects. We don't choose majors and minors as you do in the US, you take the degree that fits with what you want to do and it covers what you would need to use that degree in your future career.
At 16 when we choose our A levels we have an idea of what type of career we are thinking of. I knew I wanted to go sciences so I chose A Level Biology, Physics and Chemistry plus S Level Chemistry (which was above A level so nothing like the current AS level).
Teaching Degree''s eg Bachelor of primary or secondary Education, take 4years due to teachering training in schools. (internships) Or you can complete your BA or Bsc then take another year to do your Post Gard certicate in Ed.
I believe the age to leave school has changed recently, like by law you have to go to sixth form now. I remember meeting students from Year 12 (lower sixth) when I was in Year 13 (Upper sixth) and we used to joke how even though I was in my last year I could leave if I wanted, but they couldn't
You have to be in full time education or training until the age of 18. Not necessarily school
I went to the junior section of a UK Public School and the changeover age to Senior Section is/was 13, rather than 11. It was a 6 day week (0810 - 1740 each day, but finishing at about 1500 on Wednesdays & Saturdays).
We used to have Middle Schools in the UK - they were age 9 to 12 - but the country went from a 3 Tier System (First, Middle, High) to a 2 Tier System (Primary, High) in 2002
Colleges are there for students who attend schools that don't have Sixth Forms or students who don't want to do A Levels as it many Sixth Forms don't offer anything else
Here where i live in England we have a 3 tier state system; "First school" age 5-9, "Middle School" age 9-13 and "High School" age 13-16 or 18 depending whether you want to go Sixth form.
Also it wasn't mentioned in the video that In England alone the education system was changed in 2015 from 5-16 to 5-18. So when you've finished secondary/high school in England you're legally required to go to either Sixth Form, a college or an educational apprenticeship scheme
Same here where I live. There are pros and cons to both systems, but, on balance, I don't think 11yr olds should be in the same building as 17 & 18 year olds.
Weirdly where I live, in the UK, there are only primary and secondary schools. Middle schools were removed when I was in primary school myself some 30 years ago.
I did too, there aren’t many three tier systems in the uk anymore
Where I live there still is the middle school system.
also my schools were split in infants, junior school and senior (secondary) so infants for me was age 5 to 7, junior 7 to 11, then senior 11 to 16. then college 2 years age 16 to 18, then i went to uni at 18
You can also do a Joint Degree at university, which is 2 subjects - I did Joint Mathematics and Physics, which was a mixture of courses from each subject, it worked out at a few more courses in total than a single degree.
One thing he missed altogether, in Scotland there are no tuition fees for University because we value our people
''Redbrick'' universities are the non-elite foundations, the old established ones are referred to as ''Oxbridge", a contraction of Oxford and Cambridge.
Not quite true red brick universities are still pretty elite. They are the old ones and usually the top ones
In reality there are the Medieval, collegiate, universities, such as Oxford, Cambridge and St Andrews, then an inbetweener, Durham (not a Medieval foundation, but collegiate). Then come the 'Redbricks', also called 'older civic universities', they were founded in Victorian or Edwardian times and include the University of London (a federal university with independent colleges, like Imperial and UCL), Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Glasgow. They are typically well rated for their research output and require good A-level grades to get into. Following these, there are the 'White-tile' universities (or 'younger civic universities') founded between WWI and 1960, such as Hull, Leicester and Keele. Then the 'Plateglass' universities founded in the 1960s, like Sussex, Kent, York and Lancaster. Finally, there are the ex-polytechnics, which were given university status in 1992, these include the likes of Central Lancashire, Portsmouth and Manchester Metropolitan. The gradation of prestige or snobbery, take your pick, follows these groupings (more or less) from high to low.
@@urseliusurgel4365 then you get outliers like York, technically not a university til 1960 but I would put it in the same league as Durham not Hull and Leicester
@@urseliusurgel4365 Glasgow isn't a red-brick university and was not founded in Edwardian or Victorian times: it is the 4th oldest university in the UK and was founded in 1451. It belongs to a group you do not mention: Scotland's 'ancient universities', these being St Andrews (1413), Aberdeen (1495) and Edinburgh (1583).
@@keithbulley2587 I stand corrected, I know little of the universities of the chilly North.
Some areas of England have middle schools, but I think they are increasingly rare, also the age at which you go varies from school to school. Where one of my cousin's live, they have a middle school. For them, primary school runs to age 10 (so Year 5), then middle school from ages 10-13 (Year 6-8), and then secondary school from 13-18. Although one of my friend's went to middle school from ages 9-13.
Actually, Redbrick Universities (such as Birmingham Manchester etc) were established during the industrial revolution as somewhere for people to study other than Oxford and Cambridge. A few more were added later. The elite Universities in the UK are the Russell Group Universities. Most Redbrick Universities belong to the Russell Group, although they do not always rank as highly as some of the other Universities in the group.
He didn’t really explain that even if you do good on your eleven plus, you still have the choice to go to a comprehensive school or a grammar school. Which school you go to can be geographically dependent or you can apply to where all your friends are going.
I live in England and we don't have the 11+ anymore. My grandma took it when she was at school but it hasn't been used for a while now :))
Eleven plus was removed from Scottish education requirements in 1965 (Before my time!).
Very interesting to hear your comparison and view of the US education system. It was interesting to see what you're actually shocked by!
And to answer, yes! We go straight to secondary school at age 11. 🙂
Just a correction on Tom's video, at university you can study a single subject, but you can also do something called a "Joint honours degree" where you actually study two things. So, for example, BA Honours English Literature and Japanese.
this has changed in some areas they still have primary, middle and secondary
>
And to answer, yes! We go straight to secondary school at age 11.
Not in Scotland we don't. 11/12 year olds are in primary 7. Perhaps yet another reason why the eduation system is considered better in Scotland than in England. (None of that academy nonsense either)
Three tier systems (primary, middle, high) still exist in places in the UK, but I went go to through a two tier (primary, secondary) system.
Sixth form is called sixth form because it starts in the 6th year of the two tier system.
From year 11 after passing all GCSE's A-C (Senior School); I went on to "Sixthform" at the same School (Eastbrook Comprehensive School of Arts) which is where I took Performing Arts, Classicial Performance within Music, PA Duologue. PA Monologue and "Quicktime Situational Performance within Time" during my Comp Years 12/13 while also taking grades at London Scademy Of Music and Dramatic Arts...
The video was mostly good but he made a big error at the end where he said Redbrick when he meant Russell Group. The Russell Group is the top universities in the UK, and is made up of Oxford and Cambridge (800+ years old, original buildings made of stone) plus the best of the younger universities founded in the last 200 years, which are the redbricks because they're made of red brick (geddit). Oxbridge spent centuries preventing any rivals from being founded in England until the 1800s!
Hmm....I’m sure the guy explaining education is doing a great job of explaining the English education system, but it’s entirely different in Scotland.
Keep up the reactions! 💯
❤️ brodie
Not forgetting the Open University, est 1969... you may sign up at any age, with any, or no, previous qualifications.
You can follow through to MA / MS and Phd if you wish.
If you are on low income your first degree (BA/BSc) may not cost a penny.
Almost completely online now, it was originally diseminated on tv, which anyone could watch.
You may choose from any courses (like a kid in a sweet shop) until you achieve enough course points for your qualification.
You may contribute points to both a diploma as well as a later degree, or an honours degree.
www.open.ac.uk/courses/
11+ is optional - this guy makes it sound like everybody does it which isn’t the case.
Wait what? Education in the UK - or at least in England, Idk if it's different for Scotland or Wales - is compulsory up until you're 18. From 16 to 18 you can be in an apprenticeship sure but that's still some kind of education. Secondary school is compulsory
yeah its kind of confusing well i did the 11+ because i go to a private school and i think they do the same for grammar but im not sure state schools do it its so complicated
@@phoebehamilton9600 I go to a state school tho and it was compulsory to do 11+...
@@b_.k.h.r._xe9900 yeah im not sure i guess it could depend where you live?
@@phoebehamilton9600 I mean that's really the only explanation tbh
There is no "British education system" in the same way there is no "British NHS" or "British Law". There is an English education, NHS, and legal system which also covers Wales. Scotland, and more recently Northern Ireland (in the sense that NI is less than a century old whereas Scotland is over a thousand years old) have, and always have had, their own separate systems. Indeed the Scottish education, Legal, and NHS systems are all older than their English equivalents.
Some schools start at 4 years old they have a class called reception you can also have a nursery class attached to the school that start at 3 years old and are normally part time. You also have to stay in education until 18 now.
When I went to school for me personally it was;
Pre School: aged 2 - 4
Primary School: aged 4 - 11
Secondary School: aged 11 - 16
Sixth Form (at the same secondary school): 16 - 18
College: 18 - 20
Back in my day in the UK, everyone who wasn’t well off started off at primary, or infant school, then it was junior school. At age 11 we took our 11+ exam. If we passed we went to grammar school. These were the clever, elite pupils, who often went on to be high achievers and to Universities like Oxford or Cambridge. Yes, there are levels to various Universities. This has now all changed for the worse IMO. Not everyone is an academic. There is something to be said for becoming a skilled worker and it can be very profitable. Exams now are different. In my day, only the best took ‘O’ levels and ‘A’ levels and had the choice to go on to University. Nowadays, anyone can work their way up. It’s complicated. Very few ‘working class’ students get to go to the best Universities, though there are scholarships for high achievers who win scholarships to the best schools.
idk like we go straight to secondary from primary school but you don't really start GCSE work until year 9, so you kind of ease into it?
A "Primary School" is spilt into two parts.
Infants & Juniors (I think it's split into 3 years as an Infant and four years as a junior which makes ending Primary at end of year 7 in Aussie terminology. Aussies start High School in Year 8)
There's also a "pre-infants" called PlaySchool (Kindergarten)
Only in some areas. Some schools still split by infants (eyfs and ks1) and juniors (ks2), but on the whole most schools are just primary without the divide.
We have primary school but some schools have to spilt their schools into two sites called Infants and Junior schools. You can go to nursery when you're 3. You go to Infants school when you're 4-7 (it goes from Reception to year 2) and Junior school when you're 8-11 (which is year 3-6). Then you go to secondary school from the ages of 11-16 (which is year 7-11). You do your GCSE exams in Year nine, ten and eleven :))
My school was very different I started nursery then moved to primary when I was 5 then when we were 9 we moved up to pre prep and I left that school at 14 (it now is very different it goes up to 16) I then went on to secondary school up until I was 19. I went straight on to uni doing courses in therapy work but I only did 3 years at uni and I didn’t do A levels because I have learning difficulties
There are still a few counties in UK that provide middle school. There are also some infants schools (4-7) covering the first 1/2 of primary education. It is also legal to home school, and you do not have to follow the Nat curriculum - however quality of education can be investigated and school attendance may be required. Independent schools do not have to follow the Nat curriculum.
Yh when you’re 11 you go straight to secondary school we don’t have middle schools. Also, we have nursery from ages 3-4 and reception from ages 4-5. I guess it’s like pre-school.
a Btec can also lead to University at some levels the Extended and National Diploma will give you UCAS points that you need for uni courses.
Why am I so addicted to your channel haha your just really funny
I have learnt so much about the USA just by watching you. Great work fella 👍the kids in the family enjoy your reactions on other videos. Brilliant 👏
We do have a middle school (aka Juniors). So primary, Middle & secondary (comprehensive). Very interesting video, friend. Especially when you compared your USA’s equivalent
My daughter did Childcare & now works in a nursery with pre-schoolers. They're aged from babies to 4 year olds. She went to University from 2013 to 2016. (She is 26.) She went to Trinity Uni here in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
When public schools were created the common man and the peasantry weren`t classed as `The public`.
I was 30 before I knew what I wanted to do. I studied Archaeology. I took GCSE's then worked. I loved learning but hated school. Bullies were a factor. In the end I am very, very happy I waited. Those years of experience from McDonald's to being a legal secretary really made things easier. Personally I think the system should be set up for you guys over there to have that choice instead of all that pressure on deciding at 18/19 what direction you want your life to go. I had an extra 7 mature students with me in an intake of 35. You just know yourself so much better at 30.
Man I wish I knew myself at 30! I'm hoping to get there by 40. I get your point though, I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do straight out of school.
It's not compulsory for every child to attend school. You can be home schooled, and not have to follow the national curriculum. You're still allowed to take your GCSE's for free, in a test centre, or at a school test centre, with other children.
When I was at school I started in a primary school, went on to high school (read: junior high) and did my GCSEs in upper school (read: high school).
You can study a joint honours at Uni here in the UK where you study two subjects like Business and German or sociology and psychology and also to train to be a doctor or vet it’s more than 3 years
Im gonna explain this my way cause i felt like some parts could be clearer. when you are 12/13 you chose which subjects you want to do for your GCSEs and then you only study those- you can't really study anything else very easily. You then sit standardised national exams at 15/16 and you achieve those grades, which employers will probably ask for in the future. You then usually pick 4 a levels and drop one after a year making it an as level. You then sit standardised exams for those as well. Although u dont need to do a levels you do have to be in some form of education until age 18
When I went to uni I did pick a subject but was encouraged by the university to take elective courses outside of my subject area in my first year. They explained that this was because some people make the wrong choices early on and discover a better path for them by branching out. I took English as a main degree but studied everything from art and history to computer programming in my fresher's year. I knew a number of students who went on to switch their core degree which I think gives young people more flexibility and more life chances. Even though I didn't change my core subject I don't regret taking all the extra subjects because I learned a lot and got a wide range of experiences that have helped me over the (decades) since. Take care and good luck with whatever you choose to do.
In the UK you can also go to university as a “mature student” later in life, providing you pass the entry requirements. There are government grants to help with university education.
dependant on the area, I went to first school, middle school and upper school down south but when I moved to the east they had Primary school and High school. and this is out of date we have to stay in education until we are 18 now, we graduate highschool at 16 though and go to college or sixthform.