Education in UK
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Some people say that school days are the best days of your life
Well, if they're not the best, they are certainly very important
Full time education in the UK is compulsory between the ages of five and sixteen
About 93% of pupils in the UK receive free education
The other 7% attend private schools
Children attend Primary school from the ages of five to eleven
There are about twenty-five to twenty-seven children in each class
One of its aims is to teach children to read well and to handle numbers
Schools usually devote an hour to literacy and an hour to numeracy every day
In the UK, there's a computer in every Primary school
In fact, the average is sixteen per school.
In Secondary schools that figure rises to over a hundred.
A lot of this equipment is bought with money that schools and parents collect
through special events and sponsorship
Children go to Secondary school when they're eleven
They usually have to wear a school uniform
This may be a shirt and tie and a special jacket called a blazer
But it is often simply a sweatshirt and trousers in a particular colour
Most school days start at about a quarter to nine and finish around three o'clock
Many students stay for lunch and either take sandwiches or have a school dinner
Except for Scotland; state schools in Britain follow a National Curriculum
The emphasis is on the three core subjects: English, Mathematics and Science
There're National tests of these subjects for all 14 year olds
After their fourteen, students also study subjects such as
Information and Communication Technology, Design and Technology and a modern foreign languge
After their sixteen , students take GCSE exams
Around 70% of students then continue to further education
specialising in three or four subjects
They may take AS level exams after a year
and then at eighteen they take A or advanced level examinations
Students can choose any course at any university
but they have to get the right qualifications to be accepted
Between school and university, some people take a gap year
a year out of education for work experience or to travel
One in three students goes onto higher education
either to university or to do vocational training
in subjects such as engineering or travel and tourism
Qualifications are increasingly important but going to university is expensive
Parents have to pay for each year's tuition and provide living expenses for their children
Many parents can't afford this, so students have to take out loans
Well-known traditional universities like Oxford and Cambridge are among the oldest in the world
And most large towns and cities have at least one university
The majority of universities teach by lectures and seminars
Students work hard
but they play hard too.
Life at university is fun
In their first year, students often live in a room at the university
After that, they find a flat in town
There are lots of societies to join
and sports to play
And... at the end of their courses
students pass their final exams and graduate