A. Stages in a person’s education (UK system)
The youngest children start their education in a crèche /kreʃ/, where they
mostly play but also do some early learning activities. After that, they may
go to a nursery school. Between the ages of five and 11, children attend
primary school, where they learn the basics of reading, writing, arithmetic,
etc. For most children, secondary education begins when they enter a
comprehensive school or a more traditional grammar school (to which
they gain admission by sitting an exam). The famous UK public schools are
in fact private, fee-paying schools. Between the ages of 11 and 18, young
people take a wide range of subjects in arts, sciences and technical areas.
In the UK, pupils can leave school at the age of 16, although many young
people choose to remain in full-time education until the age of 18. (In
England it is compulsory for young people to continue with some form
of education or training until they are 18 [they must do it], even if they also
have a job.) From 16 to 18 young people may study at secondary school or
at a sixth-form college, after which they may go on to higher education.
B. Exams and qualifications
You take/do/sit an exam or resit1 an exam. At schools and
sixth-form colleges in the UK, students have to take formal
end-of-year exams. At 18, a lot of students sit their university
entrance exams, commonly referred to as ‘A levels’. Students
are usually given marks (e.g. 75%) or grades (e.g. A, B+, C).
If you pass and do well, you get a high grade. If you fail, you
don’t get the minimum grade. If you skip classes2, you’ll
probably do badly in the exam.
1 take it again if you did badly first time
2 miss deliberately; infml
Common mistakes
We say: pass an exam, e.g. I passed
all my exams and graduated in 2010.
(NOT I succeeded at/in all my exams.)
C. Technology
With an LMS or a VLE1, students can work online and do
more distance2 learning or blended3 learning. Teachers
can monitor4 students’ activities and progress5; students
can choose courses and/or modules6, submit7 work, write
blogs, access wikis and leave voice messages.
- 1 Learning Management System or Virtual Learning Environment: computer system that controls all aspects of teaching and learning
- 2 without attending classes, e.g. from home
- 3 using a mix of classroom and online learning
- 4 check regularly
- 5 note: progress is uncountable
- 6 individual elements or parts of a course
- 7 send/ give their work to the teacher
D. Talking about education: common questions
What’s the school-leaving age? It’s 18 in a lot of countries.
At what age does compulsory education begin? [which you must do, by law]
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