Information Centre - Education
British education system
British education system is well known worldwide for the academic quality and perfect caring to students, attracting international students to study there. So UKEAS suggests you to learn more about the British education system before considering study in the UK. Generally, most of the parents in the UK will send children below the age of five to study in the private nursery schools or local preschool classes, in order to help the children adapt the disciplined school life. Then the children will go to the primary school, secondary school and the university.
A brief introduction of the British education system as below
- Primary School
- age 5-10
- primary school generally has infant school and junior school (in some circumstances, pupils are up to 12 years old); but a few areas have three-tier education system - elementary, intermediate and higher level, with the graduate age from 8 to 13.
- Intermediate education
- Age 11-17
- Secondary School
- enroll at the age of 11 or 12, graduate at the minimum age of 16. Students can take the GCSE exams.
- Sixth Form College
- after finished the secondary school, students are often referred to as "lower sixth form" and "upper sixth form" respectively, which are the A level years. Students must pass the exams to gain entry into the university.
- Higher Education
- Age 18-20
- University
- Bachelor's degree in the UK, typically 3 years. If students are not qualified to the university requirements, they can apply the access course provided by national instruction college to gain the qualification.
- Master's degree
- Age 20+
- Master's degree - needs to submit thesis. Typically 1 year.
Guardian
- According to the British law, students under the age of 16 studies in the UK, a legitimate British citizen is needed as a guardian. And many schools insist all overseas students must have a guardian under the age of 18.
- The guardian's responsibility - to give advice to the students regarding personal and study matters; to keep contact with the school on behalf of the student's parent; to sign when emergency arise on behalf of the student's parent; and arrange accommodation to the student.
- Most of the schools have a list of families, which can provide the service of guardian, but parents can also seek a guardian through intermediaries, since this is a very important decision, we also can refer parents to the trusty guardians we have been working with for years.
Advises to the parents
Parents need to pay attention to the below aspects sending their children to the UK secondary schools:
1.Too many applications for the schools in London and nearby areas, it will be very competitive;
2.Parents should visit their favorite schools in the UK before making decisions if possible, otherwise, check with other parents' opinions who had children studied in the UK;
3.To proceed the application one year ahead as there are many preparations are needed. The children can also improve their English during this period.