Explanation of English education system — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:01Secondary school
2. 0:04In this series of videos I am  discussing the English education system.
3. 0:10In the last video I talked about primary education.
4. 0:15If you haven't seen that video yet, go watch it first then come back here.
5. 0:22In this video I will talk about secondary  education.
6. 0:27In a later video I will talk about post-6 education including sixth form college and university.
7. 0:38Like last time, I am only describing  education in England today.
8. 0:44Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland control  their own education systems separately.
9. 0:53In England, different secondary schools can choose how to run certain parts of the school, such as school holidays.
10. 1:02As a result, experiences of secondary school vary.
11. 1:08Here I will the most common ways secondary schools  work, but this will not be true for all schools.
12. 1:17In England, young people attend secondary  school between the ages of 11 and 16.
13. 1:24The school year and holiday structure is the same as in primary school,
14. 1:30so each pupil starts secondary school the September before their 12th birthday.
15. 1:37However, unlike primary school, children don't learn  with the same teacher and classmates all the time.
16. 1:47Secondary school is split into two parts, Key  Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.
17. 1:54Key stage 3 made up of the first three years of  secondary, Years 7, 8 and 9.
18. 2:02In these years students study all the subjects  offered.
19. 2:09Key Stage 4 is the next two years of school years 10 and 11.
20. 2:15Here students prepare to take exams called GCSEs in course subjects such as English and maths,
21. 2:24plus subjects chosen by the students such as art or history.
22. 2:30In secondary school, students move between  classrooms and teachers throughout the day.
23. 2:37They are also in classes with different students throughout the day,
24. 2:42although they will always be learning with other students from their year group.
25. 2:48Some classes such as maths, English, science, PE and  languages are taught in ability groups called sets.
26. 3:00The most capable students in the subject will be in Set 1 with students who find the subject more difficult in lower sets.
27. 3:10Some classes, such as art or drama are taught in mixed ability groups.
28. 3:18All students will also be assigned a 'form'
29. 3:22This is a class that takes place every day at the same time,
30. 3:26led by the same teacher who is responsible for overseeing the students' overall progress.
31. 3:34Students have assembly, receive updates and announcements, and sometimes learn life skills in this time.
32. 3:42Students do not set formal exams in Key Stage 3,
33. 3:47although they are more likely to have in-class tests and assessed work.
34. 3:53While there is more emphasis on the level of particular pieces of  work than in primary school,
35. 4:00students still have their progress assessed byconsidering  all of their schoolwork across the year.
36. 4:08Like in primary schools, students are assessed against the same numbered level system.
37. 4:15In key stage 3, students receive more structured targets  in each subject to prepare them for GCSE study
38. 4:24and may receive short progress reports  through the year as well as a written report.
39. 4:32In years 10 and 11 students study for GCSEs.
40. 4:37these are qualifications in individual subjects,
41. 4:41which are mostly assessed by several  exams in June and July of year 11.
42. 4:49All students are required to take English, mathematics and science qualifications.
43. 4:56Some schools also require students to pick one humanities and one language subject.
44. 5:04At the end of year 9 students choose which optional subjects they would like to take at GCSE level.
45. 5:12Optional subjects can include art, drama, ICT, design technology and extra humanities or languages.
46. 5:24Young people are also required to continue  PE lessons throughout year 10 and 11,
47. 5:30although they do not always get a qualification in this.
48. 5:35GCSEs used to be assessed on a letter grade system with grades A to F,
49. 5:44but are now assessed on a number scale with 9 being  the highest grade and 1 being the lowest pass.
50. 5:53GCSE exams are supervised by invigilators,
51. 5:59people who are employed by the school to run the exam and prevent cheating, not teachers.
52. 6:07The exams are also marked by external markers.
53. 6:13Students find out their results in the August after they sit the exams.
54. 6:20These grades determine what courses students can take at sixth form or college.
55. 6:26Many academic courses need five GCSEs at grades  4 to 9 including English language and maths.
56. 6:37The exact structure of the school day varies  between secondary schools.
57. 6:44School starts and ends at the same time each day, usually between  8 to 9am and between 2:30 and 4: 30pm.
58. 6:58Most schools have between four and six  lessons sometimes called periods, plus form, a day.
59. 7:07There is also a break for lunch and at least one other shorter break.
60. 7:14The subject and order of lessons change each day on  a one or two week repeating timetable.
61. 7:24Today we have talked about secondary schools in England.
62. 7:29What differences did you spot between primary  and secondary schools?
63. 7:35How does this compare to schools where you are from?
64. 7:40Let me know in the comments.