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NSC Home Page > EUAS Contents > Schools teaching/learning structures
EDUCATION
Schools teaching/learning structures
Despite regular assurances from government, education policies change regularly and over the last 15 years have touched upon almost every aspect (see Changes and trends in education). The current (Spring 2004) position in England is described here. Note that the situation in other parts of the U K varies, particularly in Scotland (see National Variations).
Formal education is compulsory throughout the UK, between the ages of 5 and 16 years.
It is usual in schools to refer year classes, not by the age of the pupils but numbered from year 1 = 6 year olds, year 2 = 7 year olds, etc., (5 year olds are YR = Reception Year) as set out in Appendix 5.
The National Curriculum (NC) was introduced from 1989 onwards to all public sector schools, where it is mandatory for 5-16 year olds (for details of NC, see later in this section). The NC is also applied in most independent (private) schools accounting for the remaining 7% of the school population. All schools are subjected to inspections to maintain standards.
For NC and most teaching purposes, state schooling is divided into age bands known as Key Stages, as follows:
Key Stages
Key Stage 1 (KS1) 5-7 year olds (=infants schools*)
Primary Schools**
Key Stage 2 (KS2) 7-11 year old (=junior schools*)
Key Stage 3 (KS3) 11-14 year olds (=lower school*)
Secondary Schools**
Key Stage 4 (KS4) 14-16 year olds (=upper school*)
* Categories used in some areas/schools
** Middle schools intermediate between primary and secondary, operate in some areas.Throughout the latter half of Key Stage 4 (15 and 16 year olds/years 10 and 11), pupils typically study for GCSE examinations (including the recently introduced vocational GCSEs) or the more vocationally orientated GNVQs. These exam or experience-based courses respectively, in turn cover in more detail, ground already generally defined in the NC. Courses in these years normally follow 'specifications' (syllabi) set by the four examination agencies in England and Wales (AQA, OCR, Edexcel, WJEC).
At 16 years and beyond, students have a number of options. About half of all students then study for AS levels (Advanced Supplementary - introduced in 2000) (usually at 17 years old), followed by a more limited number of subjects at A level (or 'A2') in the following year. Traditionally, A Levels have been seen as qualifications for university entrance but as with GCSEs, have also been regarded by most employers as indicating the general level of educational attainment achieved. As the government policy is to increase university uptake to 50% of school leavers by 2010 it was assumed that the number of those studying for these qualifications would continue to increase. However the Tomlinson Report, published in February 2004 makes recommendations for radical changes in the exam structure (summarised in Appendix 22).
As an alternative to A Levels, students can follow vocationally-related courses, leading to National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) or GNVQs (General NVQ). These were intended to replace and rationalise a plethora of largely unrelated, vocational courses, tests and examinations offered by a large number of agencies. Whereas NVQs are widely used as a benchmark in industry (but have not necessarily won universal approval), GNVQs have received a much more limited uptake than had been anticipated.
In addition, England, pupils also take SATS (Standards of Attainment Tests) at specified ages (7 - locally set; 11 and 14, nationally set), the intention being to gain a measure of progress of the individual, the group, the school and the national school population over time.