Contrasting British and American Educational Systems
Created | Updated Feb 4, 2004
For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Robin, currently resident in the USA, I am British, born in England and raised in various parts of the world, but mostly central Scotland. I have experienced just about every level of education there is in the UK from both ends and I thought I might give you an insight into a different educational experience.
Many things are different here in the U.S.A. One of the most striking differences is in the school hours. A typical day in a British secondary school begins shortly before 9 a.m. and finishes around 4p.m. You will notice I used the term secondary, as a way of illustrating the differences in Scottish pupils’ experience of school, I will outline a Scottish pupil’s progression through a Scottish secondary school.
In the UK the school system is divided into primary and secondary schools. You go to primary school from the age of 5 until you are 11 or 12, (11 in England and 12 in Scotland). Secondary schools in the UK are generally co-educational and are usually termed comprehensive. This means that there are no entrance examinations for entry and the classes are, for the most part, of mixed ability pupils. For the first two years of your secondary school career you take starter courses in all the subjects available, for example during my first two years I took mathematics, arithmetic, English, French, Latin, woodwork, metalwork, technical drawing, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering science, history, geography, physical education, and art. At the end of this introductory period you select up to 7 subjects, which must include English, mathematics, and arithmetic to be completed to ‘O’ grade over the next two years. The ‘O’ grade, (or “O’ level in England), is a nationally recognized qualification which is taught to a national syllabus. At the end of this 2-year period the pupils sit external examinations in all of their subjects and their results determine which of them they can take to the next level.
The next level is called the ‘Higher” grade, (or Advanced level in England). Usually because of time constraints and other issues, pupils are confined to 5 Higher grades, the Higher syllabus is taught over a single year and is a preparatory course for college or university. A further qualification is available at Scottish schools and is called the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies, (CSYS); this usually covers first year university material and can allow the pupil to enter their university course at the second year level. Colleges in the UK are intermediary between school and university and so fulfill a different role to colleges in the US. Two ‘B’s and a ‘C’ at Higher are usually the minimum entrance requirements for a college course. Universities have more stringent entrance requirements and usually these are subject dependent. For example, while an engineer may require 3 ‘A’s at higher grade, a prospective medical student will require 5 ‘A’s as well as 3 ‘CSYS’ subjects. This is usually because the medical courses are so over subscribed the universities can afford to take only the most accomplished academics.
You can’t have failed to notice from the above that there is no High School Diploma or its equivalent in the UK; also I haven’t mentioned high school sports. The national qualifications mean that the individual schools do not issue any documentation when you leave school; you just leave. No diploma means there is no graduation, and indeed my first graduation was my University Bachelors graduation 4 years after I had left school. As to sports, well they exist at the secondary school level and indeed there are very competitive inter-school matches in soccer, rugby, cricket, field hockey, basketball, netball, athletics, tennis, badminton, swimming, and a plethora of other minority sports, but their importance in a British school is minimal. The emphasis in sports in Scotland is participation, enjoyment and competition. Much the same as it is here, with one major difference, very rarely would you see any great number of parents at a school sports event, the school couldn’t charge admission and certainly couldn’t justify a concession stand. Also sports coaches don’t exist. Sports coaching is a function of the Phys. Ed. Department and the available sports in a school are dependent upon the interests and time availability of their Phys. Ed. teachers.
So there is quite a contrast between the British and U.S. systems. Neither system is better than the other, they are just different. Both systems have one aim, to produce a well-rounded well-educated citizen who will be an asset to their society. As a teacher I see that as my role, the academic requirements of my students are important but they are not the be all and end all of education. My students are in my class to be taught chemistry and physics but they are in school to be educated and books alone cannot achieve that. It is a rewarding experience that both the teacher and student can and should benefit from.
Of course since I left school in the mid seventies, all the structure has changed, but this is about my experience.
Many things are different here in the U.S.A. One of the most striking differences is in the school hours. A typical day in a British secondary school begins shortly before 9 a.m. and finishes around 4p.m. You will notice I used the term secondary, as a way of illustrating the differences in Scottish pupils’ experience of school, I will outline a Scottish pupil’s progression through a Scottish secondary school.
In the UK the school system is divided into primary and secondary schools. You go to primary school from the age of 5 until you are 11 or 12, (11 in England and 12 in Scotland). Secondary schools in the UK are generally co-educational and are usually termed comprehensive. This means that there are no entrance examinations for entry and the classes are, for the most part, of mixed ability pupils. For the first two years of your secondary school career you take starter courses in all the subjects available, for example during my first two years I took mathematics, arithmetic, English, French, Latin, woodwork, metalwork, technical drawing, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering science, history, geography, physical education, and art. At the end of this introductory period you select up to 7 subjects, which must include English, mathematics, and arithmetic to be completed to ‘O’ grade over the next two years. The ‘O’ grade, (or “O’ level in England), is a nationally recognized qualification which is taught to a national syllabus. At the end of this 2-year period the pupils sit external examinations in all of their subjects and their results determine which of them they can take to the next level.
The next level is called the ‘Higher” grade, (or Advanced level in England). Usually because of time constraints and other issues, pupils are confined to 5 Higher grades, the Higher syllabus is taught over a single year and is a preparatory course for college or university. A further qualification is available at Scottish schools and is called the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies, (CSYS); this usually covers first year university material and can allow the pupil to enter their university course at the second year level. Colleges in the UK are intermediary between school and university and so fulfill a different role to colleges in the US. Two ‘B’s and a ‘C’ at Higher are usually the minimum entrance requirements for a college course. Universities have more stringent entrance requirements and usually these are subject dependent. For example, while an engineer may require 3 ‘A’s at higher grade, a prospective medical student will require 5 ‘A’s as well as 3 ‘CSYS’ subjects. This is usually because the medical courses are so over subscribed the universities can afford to take only the most accomplished academics.
You can’t have failed to notice from the above that there is no High School Diploma or its equivalent in the UK; also I haven’t mentioned high school sports. The national qualifications mean that the individual schools do not issue any documentation when you leave school; you just leave. No diploma means there is no graduation, and indeed my first graduation was my University Bachelors graduation 4 years after I had left school. As to sports, well they exist at the secondary school level and indeed there are very competitive inter-school matches in soccer, rugby, cricket, field hockey, basketball, netball, athletics, tennis, badminton, swimming, and a plethora of other minority sports, but their importance in a British school is minimal. The emphasis in sports in Scotland is participation, enjoyment and competition. Much the same as it is here, with one major difference, very rarely would you see any great number of parents at a school sports event, the school couldn’t charge admission and certainly couldn’t justify a concession stand. Also sports coaches don’t exist. Sports coaching is a function of the Phys. Ed. Department and the available sports in a school are dependent upon the interests and time availability of their Phys. Ed. teachers.
So there is quite a contrast between the British and U.S. systems. Neither system is better than the other, they are just different. Both systems have one aim, to produce a well-rounded well-educated citizen who will be an asset to their society. As a teacher I see that as my role, the academic requirements of my students are important but they are not the be all and end all of education. My students are in my class to be taught chemistry and physics but they are in school to be educated and books alone cannot achieve that. It is a rewarding experience that both the teacher and student can and should benefit from.
Of course since I left school in the mid seventies, all the structure has changed, but this is about my experience.
