A quick and dirty guide to the British education system (part 1)
... Or why Eames could well have attended a fee paying public school, gone to college at 16 and didn't have a major at university.
I decided to write this guide with my current obsession of Inception in mind - but really it can be applicable to any British characters set in modern times. I decided to write this because of the frequent frustration felt not only with small errors made by fanfic authors (understandable, I probably make excessive numbers of them when trying to write about US education) but also the oh-so-frequent failure to even acknowledge that there is a difference.
This is not to get at anyone, I have enjoyed all the fics immensly, but rather to offer a quick and easy reference guide to making descriptions of, say, Eames' childhood education or a UK based College!AU more realistic.
A couple of caveats: I only went to school in the UK from 16+, though I know a lot about pre-16 education, I didn't end up experiencing it myself. Secondly, I will focus on education in England, Wales and a lesser extent Northern Ireland. Scotland is... different, and I don't feel I quite know enough to speak with authority on the subject. Also the education system changed in the 70s, so prior to that things were slightly more complicated.
Finally of course, this is not meant to be definitive - any Brits wanting to chip in and correct me (or add to it) please do and I shall try and incorportate them with appropriate attribution/thanks.
Part 1 - Years 1-11 and Sixth Form (or 6-18 yrs old)
=============
State Education
Schooling starts at 5 and is compulsory until 16, although there are plans to raise that to 18 by 2015. In most local education authorities (LEAs) - Primary school runs from 5 to 11, Secondary school runs from 11 to 16/18 (I shall deal with 16-18 education shortly), some however divide it up into Lower, Middle and Upper school.
Which school a child ends up in is often a virtue of geographical location, luck, ability and deception - it is a very big thing to get their kids into the *right* school and can result in pushy middle class parents buying very expensive houses near to a good school to fall within the geographical boundries, or indeed lying about their address on the application. This is more an issue for Secondary than Primary schools.
Types of school - Faith v Grammer v Comprehensive
There is no seperation between chruch and state in the UK, and in particular in school - assembley (compulsory start to the day) will often have a religious (usually CofE) component. There are however also religious run schools - Church of England and Catholic are most common but also Muslim, Hindu and Jewish, which are still free state schools and which must take up to 25% of students from *outside* their religious grouping.
Grammer schools only exist in a few areas. They are secondary schools which take students based on the results of the 11+ exam, often focusing on the top 25% (or occasionally top 10%) these are generally considered to be *very* good schools but there aren't many of them around any more. This in contrast to comprehensive are what you are more likley to find, which theoretically take everyone no matter their ability (although they do stream students into classes based on ability), although you can have some which give preferrence to better ability students.
Irrespective of school type, *all* state schools in England have a compulsory school uniform up to the age of 16 (Sixth form is again, a bit different) - usually dark trousers/skirt (grey or black), shirt, and either pullover (usually with school logo) or blazer and a tie.
GCSEs
Most students take study for their GCSEs from ages 14-16, taking the exams at 16 (although it is possible to take them early) - these are marked from A-G, with A-C grades being a pass. To carry on in education (or in fact do pretty much anything), almost everywhere asks for 5 'passed' GCSEs, most students of decent ability take from 8 to 11 GCSEs, of which Science, Maths, English are compulsory. These exams are externally set and assessed based on a number of exam boards (so all students across the country taking exams from that board will sit the same paper) and are formal qualifications.
If you are going for 'drop out' Eames, chances are this is the point he would have left school (although chances are he may not have actually attended that much in his last couple of years). Relevant to any possible ex-military background, 16 is the earliest you can join the army in the UK (with or without qualifications), though you cannot be deployed until you're 18.
Sixth Form
From 16-18 there is an option: drop out of school and start working, continue vocational training or, if you want to make it to University, take your A-Levels (or equivlent eg International Baccalaureat). A-Levels changed their format slightly in 2000, so depending on the age of the character, they will have taken old or new style (in any case the media claims they're getting easier). I will focus on A-Levels here, but do remeber not everyone will have taken them.
Depending on the location, sixth form will either be attached to a secondary school or will be in a seperate sixth form college. The result of this is that college is usually used to refer to 16-18 education in the UK, not degree level (or to Uni's with a collegiate system ... no one said we were consistent)
Old style A-Levels (anyone older than, well me, since my year was the guinea pig year) are a two year course with all the exams taken at the end. Most people will take 3 subjects, or 4 for the most academically able, what these are down to the choice of the student and what the school offers. These subjects will be studied in depth (allegedly to about the same depth as a minor in a US college, though I'm not certain how much stock I put in that).
New style A-Levels are divided into two parts AS in the first year, where most students take 4 of them, and A2 in the second year, where three of the four are continued on (again more academically able will take 5/4). Other than splitting up the exams into two parts (although a lot of 'modular' courses will allow some exams to be taken at Christmas too), these are otherwise the same as the old style. Like GCSEs, these are externally set exams and formal qualifications and graded between A and E (with a newly introduced A*)
University entry is entirely determined on predicated A-Level grades, with an offer made based on these and which is only confirmed in the summer once these have been achieved (resulting in most people having a 1st and 2nd choice of uni) - results day, the same all over the country, is understandably very important for everyone.
Edit: As nomorefrostbite kindly pointed out, A-Levels (and GCSEs) can be taken at any age and any time in, or after, the school career (including as an adult). It is just a question of enrolling for the qualification, doing the course-work and turning up to the designated exam location (this can include a British Consul if taking it abroad or, more usually a school or college). Everyone takes the same exam on the same day and at the same time(ish), irrespective of whether it is being studied independently, through a school/college or through an adult education centre.
A couple of important notes - UK students do not 'graduate' high school, they do not have mid-terms or finals and certainly by A-Levels, any class quizes are really for practice and dont count towards anything, although there will often be coursework. Proms are becoming more common, but a lot of places will call them something different (we had the Christmas and Summer Ball at my sixth form).
Private schools
Independent schools are... different. About 7% of UK children go to independent fee-paying schools. A lot of these will be boarding (but not all and those which do will often take day-students), many are also single-sex.
Public School tends to refer to a small set of very expensive, very exclusive old schools: Eton, Harrow, Winchester College etc... (there are a few, wikipedia has a nice list), less exclusive ones tend to be more generally referred to as independent schools, but that's not a hard and fast rule. These are also Boys Only (although a few, like Winchester College, now take girls as day students in 6th form), there are similarly exclusive, though not quite as old, Girls schools, but they are generally not called Public Schools in common parlance.
The old system (as used by Public Schools) has preparatory school from 5 to 13, then secondary after that. A lot of independant schools offer alternatives to A-Levels, such as the International Baccalaureat, due to a mounting perception that A-Levels are getting easier, but this is a relatively recently phenomena.
Chances are if you are writing Old Money!Eames (a favourite of many, including myself) he would have gone to Public School and therefore would have spent most of his childhood bording away from his parents.
There are, of course, a lot of, ahem, rumours around Public Schools and what kids get up into them. I have been assured these are entirely untrue except the one about the food, which is awful. But colloquially the term Public School Boy does generally imply that a certain amount of experimentation and buggery may have taken place during adolescence.
Next week: University - Undergraduate, Masters and PhDs
I decided to write this guide with my current obsession of Inception in mind - but really it can be applicable to any British characters set in modern times. I decided to write this because of the frequent frustration felt not only with small errors made by fanfic authors (understandable, I probably make excessive numbers of them when trying to write about US education) but also the oh-so-frequent failure to even acknowledge that there is a difference.
This is not to get at anyone, I have enjoyed all the fics immensly, but rather to offer a quick and easy reference guide to making descriptions of, say, Eames' childhood education or a UK based College!AU more realistic.
A couple of caveats: I only went to school in the UK from 16+, though I know a lot about pre-16 education, I didn't end up experiencing it myself. Secondly, I will focus on education in England, Wales and a lesser extent Northern Ireland. Scotland is... different, and I don't feel I quite know enough to speak with authority on the subject. Also the education system changed in the 70s, so prior to that things were slightly more complicated.
Finally of course, this is not meant to be definitive - any Brits wanting to chip in and correct me (or add to it) please do and I shall try and incorportate them with appropriate attribution/thanks.
Part 1 - Years 1-11 and Sixth Form (or 6-18 yrs old)
=============
State Education
Schooling starts at 5 and is compulsory until 16, although there are plans to raise that to 18 by 2015. In most local education authorities (LEAs) - Primary school runs from 5 to 11, Secondary school runs from 11 to 16/18 (I shall deal with 16-18 education shortly), some however divide it up into Lower, Middle and Upper school.
Which school a child ends up in is often a virtue of geographical location, luck, ability and deception - it is a very big thing to get their kids into the *right* school and can result in pushy middle class parents buying very expensive houses near to a good school to fall within the geographical boundries, or indeed lying about their address on the application. This is more an issue for Secondary than Primary schools.
Types of school - Faith v Grammer v Comprehensive
There is no seperation between chruch and state in the UK, and in particular in school - assembley (compulsory start to the day) will often have a religious (usually CofE) component. There are however also religious run schools - Church of England and Catholic are most common but also Muslim, Hindu and Jewish, which are still free state schools and which must take up to 25% of students from *outside* their religious grouping.
Grammer schools only exist in a few areas. They are secondary schools which take students based on the results of the 11+ exam, often focusing on the top 25% (or occasionally top 10%) these are generally considered to be *very* good schools but there aren't many of them around any more. This in contrast to comprehensive are what you are more likley to find, which theoretically take everyone no matter their ability (although they do stream students into classes based on ability), although you can have some which give preferrence to better ability students.
Irrespective of school type, *all* state schools in England have a compulsory school uniform up to the age of 16 (Sixth form is again, a bit different) - usually dark trousers/skirt (grey or black), shirt, and either pullover (usually with school logo) or blazer and a tie.
GCSEs
Most students take study for their GCSEs from ages 14-16, taking the exams at 16 (although it is possible to take them early) - these are marked from A-G, with A-C grades being a pass. To carry on in education (or in fact do pretty much anything), almost everywhere asks for 5 'passed' GCSEs, most students of decent ability take from 8 to 11 GCSEs, of which Science, Maths, English are compulsory. These exams are externally set and assessed based on a number of exam boards (so all students across the country taking exams from that board will sit the same paper) and are formal qualifications.
If you are going for 'drop out' Eames, chances are this is the point he would have left school (although chances are he may not have actually attended that much in his last couple of years). Relevant to any possible ex-military background, 16 is the earliest you can join the army in the UK (with or without qualifications), though you cannot be deployed until you're 18.
Sixth Form
From 16-18 there is an option: drop out of school and start working, continue vocational training or, if you want to make it to University, take your A-Levels (or equivlent eg International Baccalaureat). A-Levels changed their format slightly in 2000, so depending on the age of the character, they will have taken old or new style (in any case the media claims they're getting easier). I will focus on A-Levels here, but do remeber not everyone will have taken them.
Depending on the location, sixth form will either be attached to a secondary school or will be in a seperate sixth form college. The result of this is that college is usually used to refer to 16-18 education in the UK, not degree level (or to Uni's with a collegiate system ... no one said we were consistent)
Old style A-Levels (anyone older than, well me, since my year was the guinea pig year) are a two year course with all the exams taken at the end. Most people will take 3 subjects, or 4 for the most academically able, what these are down to the choice of the student and what the school offers. These subjects will be studied in depth (allegedly to about the same depth as a minor in a US college, though I'm not certain how much stock I put in that).
New style A-Levels are divided into two parts AS in the first year, where most students take 4 of them, and A2 in the second year, where three of the four are continued on (again more academically able will take 5/4). Other than splitting up the exams into two parts (although a lot of 'modular' courses will allow some exams to be taken at Christmas too), these are otherwise the same as the old style. Like GCSEs, these are externally set exams and formal qualifications and graded between A and E (with a newly introduced A*)
University entry is entirely determined on predicated A-Level grades, with an offer made based on these and which is only confirmed in the summer once these have been achieved (resulting in most people having a 1st and 2nd choice of uni) - results day, the same all over the country, is understandably very important for everyone.
Edit: As nomorefrostbite kindly pointed out, A-Levels (and GCSEs) can be taken at any age and any time in, or after, the school career (including as an adult). It is just a question of enrolling for the qualification, doing the course-work and turning up to the designated exam location (this can include a British Consul if taking it abroad or, more usually a school or college). Everyone takes the same exam on the same day and at the same time(ish), irrespective of whether it is being studied independently, through a school/college or through an adult education centre.
A couple of important notes - UK students do not 'graduate' high school, they do not have mid-terms or finals and certainly by A-Levels, any class quizes are really for practice and dont count towards anything, although there will often be coursework. Proms are becoming more common, but a lot of places will call them something different (we had the Christmas and Summer Ball at my sixth form).
Private schools
Independent schools are... different. About 7% of UK children go to independent fee-paying schools. A lot of these will be boarding (but not all and those which do will often take day-students), many are also single-sex.
Public School tends to refer to a small set of very expensive, very exclusive old schools: Eton, Harrow, Winchester College etc... (there are a few, wikipedia has a nice list), less exclusive ones tend to be more generally referred to as independent schools, but that's not a hard and fast rule. These are also Boys Only (although a few, like Winchester College, now take girls as day students in 6th form), there are similarly exclusive, though not quite as old, Girls schools, but they are generally not called Public Schools in common parlance.
The old system (as used by Public Schools) has preparatory school from 5 to 13, then secondary after that. A lot of independant schools offer alternatives to A-Levels, such as the International Baccalaureat, due to a mounting perception that A-Levels are getting easier, but this is a relatively recently phenomena.
Chances are if you are writing Old Money!Eames (a favourite of many, including myself) he would have gone to Public School and therefore would have spent most of his childhood bording away from his parents.
There are, of course, a lot of, ahem, rumours around Public Schools and what kids get up into them. I have been assured these are entirely untrue except the one about the food, which is awful. But colloquially the term Public School Boy does generally imply that a certain amount of experimentation and buggery may have taken place during adolescence.
Next week: University - Undergraduate, Masters and PhDs