The University of Oxford was both the first established university in the UK and the first university amongst “the English-speaking world.” While the exact date of foundation is unknown, evidence of its existence dates back to 1096. Higher education and education in the UK in general has been changing ever since, but a few large scale events had unique effects on the education system:
In response to the industrial revolution (starting around 1760), education became more common and more accessible. Throughout the 1800s, schools continued to become more accessible to the poor, specifically, and the Factory Act of 1833 required 2 hours of school a day for child factory workers. This also sparked the Education Act of 1902, which opened over a thousand secondary schools. Eventually, this shift towards practicality and work based education from the industrial revolution led to the “red-brick” universities to be established in the early 1900s. These universities were the first to focus on vocational training.
As a result of WWI, many children were still employed in factory work and not getting adequate education. The response to this was the Education Act of 1918, which raised the child leaving age to 14 (when it was previously at 12). Furthermore, this act eventually led to to the decision to make it illegal to employ children under 12 years old. The act was based on the 1917 Lewis Report, which also suggested that education, in some form, should be extend to the age of 18. However, it wasn’t until the Education and Skills Act of 2008 that the child leaving age was actually extended to 18.
In response to WWII, the Education Act of 1944 was established to ensure free secondary education to everyone, and raised the school leaving age to 15. This act also established the 11 plus exam and the tripartite education system. The 11 plus exam is a standardized test students took at 11 years old, which determined the type of school they went to. Grammar schools were the most elite type and they trained students for higher education. However, people soon noticed that the success on the test was highly classist, and the system eventually was phased out.
The Education Act of 1962 “required LEAs to provide students with grants for living costs and tuition fees” but this was eventually changed in the Teaching and Higher Education Act of 1998, which “required students to contribute towards education fees.”
Basic Design of Higher Education in the UK
This video explains the basic format of the UK schools, but I’ll attempt to explain some of the concepts that the video mentions that most people outside of the UK may not be familiar with.
The main step in preparation for college is the A levels, or sixth form. These take place the last 2 years before university. In year 12 (equivalent to 11th grade), students pick 4 subjects to study, and in year 13, they study 3 of those 4 subjects. Students grades on the exams for these years are what universities look at when accepting students.
Once in university, UK schools work fairly similar to American schools with students able to get a BA (or similar degrees) in 3 or 4 years, and then a master’s in 1 or 2. The first notable difference in the UK system is that students take courses more related to what they want to study, and don’t have an equivalent to “core” classes. In other words, if a UK student is studying, say, art, they wouldn’t be required to take an English or science course.
The second big difference is the option for honours degrees as a bachelor. These degrees can be classified as first class honours (which is the highest level), second class honours, which is split into upper division (2:1) and lower division (2:2), and third class honours, which is the lowest degree. Usually, a 2:1 or better is required for graduate school.
Another more recent difference is that many students are going to apprenticeships after sixth form instead of university. Apprenticeships are similar to paid internships, but they can be used to get a degree as well (or taken alongside other degree programs).
Gender and Education in the UK
Women didn’t get equal rights in higher education in the UK for centuries after higher education was developed. Currently, though, the opposite issue has arose: Women are much more likely to go to university in the UK, and much more likely to succeed when they go. The main reasons theorized for this are that (1) women work harder and get better grades in primary/secondary education and (2) “Female graduates earn three times as much as women without a degree, while male graduates earn around twice as much as other men.”
Despite the female dominated modern higher education, most of the elite schools in the UK are still majority male. I did a bit of research, and using “The Complete University Guide’s” top college list and their school demographic information (as well as additional websites for University College of London and the UK college average), I compiled a graph of the top UK universities with the percent of females at those schools from the 2014/15 school year.
As you can see, an average of 56% of students are female among all UK universities, but of the top ten universities, only four are majority female, one is 50/50 and the other five are majority male. In addition, nine of the ten universities have a larger proportion of men than the average. Factoring for the student body size at each school, the average gender ratio of the top ten universities is 48% female. No one has formally discussed the gender ratio discrepancy between the top universities and the average universities, but based on the earlier point about women making proportionally better money with a degree than without, combined with the fact that men in poverty are the least likely subgroup to go to university, it can be inferred that men still have the upper hand, but they don’t have to rely on university to get good work if they can’t afford it. However, when they can afford it, they’re more likely to get into elite schools.
Financing
In the UK, the fees for tuition to universities have a cap on the maximum amount they can charge (with most universities charging the full amount). In England, this cap is at £9,250 ($11,297) if you live in the UK. Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales all have similar prices for the whole UK, but are cheaper if you’re a resident to that respective part of the UK. Furthermore, while England schools are the most expensive overall in the UK, it’s important to note that “In England, fees do not have to be paid up-front. Repayments begin only when students are earning above an income threshold of £21,000 - and debts are written off after 30 years.”
When compared to United States private schools (which average around $33,500 a year), the UK numbers are pretty low. However, in terms of public universities, England has the highest average tuition rate in the industrial world. The pie chart below shows the 2016-17 allocation of government funds to different aspects of colleges and universities in England from the HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) website. In England, the HEFCE gets money from the government and decides how to allocate it in the education system.
Of the government money being spent on education in the UK, only about 12% is going to higher education, with around 44% going to secondary education and approximately 31% going to primary education (the rest of the money going to other education related fields or under-5s).
Admissions to Universities
Somehow both similar and distinct from other countries, the admission process to British Universities has its own unique processes. Regardless of the course, the university, or the social background of the student, all applications are submitted through a non-profit online platform called “UCAS” (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service). First founded in 1993, UCAS has successfully operated with the motto “At the heart of connecting people to higher education.” This organization makes the otherwise challenging process of applying to universities fairly simple - one can choose a course, select a specific school according to personal preferences, write a personal statement, and submit applications through the UCAS website.
It’s important to mention that the application process through UCAS limits the student to only 5 universities, but it cost much less than most college application. Similar to many places in Europe and unlike the US, UK Universities focus mostly on grades and your academic performance. The entry requirements can be listed in various ways: e.g. DDD (BTEC), AAB (A-level), AAAB (Highers). The terms in parentheses refer to the different education systems in the United Kingdom – BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) is when you have both a secondary school qualification and a vocational one; A-level (Advanced levels, exams taken at the age of 18) is the most common one; and Highers (short for Higher Grade), which are national school-leaving certificate exams and university entrance qualifications used by the Scottish secondary education system. All of these are equivalent to one another and can be graded with a system of letters from A to E (or numeric grades in some recent cases). Traditionally, UK students take the exam in 3 subjects, which is why the different entry requirements for universities are written in a 3-letter form. Another way for UK universities to present their requirements is through UCAS tariff points, which are basically different points awarded according to the exams you have taken (e.g. A is worth 120, B - 100, C - 80, D - 60 and E- 40).
Furthermore, UK universities will always require the student to fill out an application, and most do an interview where one can present his or her abilities, outside of school activities, and personality. However, all of the above criteria can significantly vary depending on the course you apply to or the country you’re from. For instance, if the student comes from a place where English is not the official language, (s)he is obliged to take some kind of exam (most often the TOEFL) to prove his or her English proficiency. Also, the entry requirements for medicine or engineering, for example, are much higher than those for business or economics.
Thanks for sharing the deep information regarding Study in United Kingdom.
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