School Reform in the Eighties

A few years after the reform of the sixties the comprehensive schools which had been the object of so many hopes and turned into national symbols of the new opportunities became the butt of increasingly bitter complaints. It turned out that the huge schools with big classes easily got out of control.

The new schools needed stability and time to build up their standards, but the hectic changes particularly in big cities constantly demoralized them. They came to be blamed for a fall-off in academic standards. Responding to criticism from many quarters the Conservative Government carried out their plan for a number of radical changes throughout the education system.

In 1988 GCE O-levels and CSEs were phased out and replaced with GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education), taken at l6.

These are more practical with less emphasis on retaining facts and more on the application of them. Assessment is continuous, with at least 20 per cent of coursework counting towards the final grade.

A–levels continue unchanged, but the “AS” Level (Advanced Supplementary) exam, which is worth half an “A” level was introduced. This means that if pupils wish to study more than two or three subjects in the sixth form they can take a combination of “A” and “AS” Levels.

Another major step was the introduction of the National curriculum. Maths, English and science form the core of the curriculum. Between 30 – 40 per cent of curriculum time is given to them. They and other foundation subjects are to be followed by all pupils during compulsory schooling.

Other foundation subjects comprise a modern foreign language, technology, history, geography, art, music and physical education. The foundation subjects commonly take up about 80 per cent of the curriculum. Attainment targets are set for the three core subjects as well as other foundation subjects. They establish what children should normally be expected to know at around the ages of 7, 11, l4 and 16.

The national curriculum also allows for flexibility. Schools are encouraged to organize their teaching in a variety of ways. The flexibility enables schools while meeting the requirements of the national curriculum to give special emphasis to particular subjects and provide courses beyond foundation subjects, such as home economics, a second modern foreign language, business studies, health education, etc.

Together with the National curriculum a programme of “Records of Achievement” was introduced (REACH for short). It attempts to set learning objectives for each term and year in primary school, and for each component of each subject at secondary school. Schools in Britain have three terms a year, each with a short half-term break in the middle and longer holidays at Christmas and Easter and in the summer.

Independent Schools

Most parents choose to send their children to free state schools financed from public funds, but an increasing number of pupils attend fee-paying independent schools outside the state system. These are still a small separate but highly significant group that are financially self-supporting.

In Britain there are about 2,500 independent schools catering for children of all ages. The most important are the “public schools” which accept pupils at about 12 or 13 usually on the basis of a fairly demanding examination called the Common Examination for Entrance to Public Schools (generally known as Common Entrance).

There are about 500 public schools in England and Wales. Some of them, notably Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Rugby have long maintained a distinguished reputation. These schools for centuries have prepared students academically for higher education, typically at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge and ultimately for leadership in British life. Preserving many of their old traditions, they have also undergone important changes. Today, they are less preoccupied with classics, more interested in science and engineering. Consequently, many more public school leavers now take engineering degrees. Although a controversial element in British education and frequently accused of reinforcing social distinctions, these institutions remain popular.

There are also junior independent schools known as preparatory schools catering for boys and girls from 8 to 13. Many of them like public schools are boarding schools. The abbreviation prep. school is widely used.