2. Education is not a luxury, but a basic human right and as such should be free for everyone irrespective of personal wealth. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?

UNIT 10

HIGHER EDUCATION IN GREAT BRITIAN

LEAD-IN

Exercise 1. Answer the questions.

1. What do you know about the system of higher education in Britain?

2. What Universities in Great Britain can you name?

COMPREHENSIVE READING 1

THE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

In fact, 65% of British secondary school graduates finish their formal education at the age of 17 or 18. The students who go on to college are very well prepared to do so. During the last two years of high school they specialize in college preparatory courses and then they take special national examinations (“A-level” exams or “Scottish leaving examinations”) in order to qualify to compete for admission to a university program. It is during this process of studying for their end-of-high-school examinations that most British students acquire the breadth of academic knowledge. By the time they get to university level, most British students are prepared to concentrate on a particular subject, and they are expected to do so. In the UK, students are admitted not to a university as a whole but to a specific course of study within it.

Admittance to universities.

Good А-level results in at least two subjects are necessary to get а place at a University. However, good exam results alone are not enough. Universities choose their students after interviews. For all British citizens а place at а university brings with it а grant from their local education authority. Grants and loans are intended to create opportunities for equality in education. Grants are paid by the LEA on the basis of parental income. Students are not supposed to take a job during the term. However, nowadays the government encourages the system of loans. That’s why quite a lot of students can’t afford living in college and many of them are forced to do a part-time job, but this reduces the traditionally high quality of British university education. The academic year in Britain’s universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education is divided into three terms, which usually run from the beginning of October to the middle of December, from the middle of January to the end of March, and from the middle of April to the end of June or the beginning of July. The British University year is divided into three terms, roughly eight to ten weeks each. The terms are crowded with activity and the vacations between the terms.

Degrees

After three years of study а university graduate will leave with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine, etc. Later he may continue to take а Master’s Degree and then а Doctor’s Degree. Research is an important feature of university work.

Comprehensive check

Task 1. Continue the following sentences using the information from the text.

1. Special national examinations are called …

2. Universities choose their students after…

3. Grants and loans are intended to …

4. Grants are paid by the LEA on the basis of …

5. The academic year in Britain’s universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education is divided into ….

6. After three years of study а university graduate will leave with…

7. А-level results in at least two subjects are necessary to get а place at a …

8. In the UK, students are admitted not to a university as a whole but to …

9. For all British citizens а place at а university brings with it а grant from their…

10. Students are not supposed to take a job during the …

Task 2. Give definitions to the following words and expressions:

1. a part-time job,

2. to encourage,

3. to qualify,

4. preparatory course,

5. research,

6. interview,

7. particular,

8. a pass,

9. a loan.

Task 3. Match the words from two columns to get expressions from the text.

secondary preparatory A-level parental part-time academic university Master’s

degree year school job graduate course exam income route