Tertiary Cycle in Great Britain Vs High School in the USA

Task 1. Discuss the following questions in pairs:

1. What choices do pupils have at the age of 16 in your country?

2. When do pupils leave school in your country?

3. What subjects do pupils usually learn when they are seniors in your country?

4. What do you need to enter University in your country?

5. What examinations do pupils take on the completion of secondary school in your country?

Task 2. Read the following text about “The Tertiary period of education in Great Britain” and answer the questions afterwards:

Text 1

Children in Great Britain finish their secondary education at the age of 16 when they take National Tests.

Two public academic examinations are traditionally set, one on the completion of the compulsory cycle of education at the age of sixteen, and one on the completion of the two voluntary years. At 16 pupils take the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), which allows the whole range of ability to be judged. It also makes it possible to assess children on class work and homework as well as in the examination room. It is regarded as a more reliable form of assessment. After that pupils going on to higher education spend two year of study either in the sixth form of a secondary school, or in a separate sixth-form college. During these two voluntary years of schooling, pupils specialize in two or three subjects and take the General Certificate of Education (always known simply as GCE) and Advanced Level, or ‘A level’ examination, usually with a view to entry to a university or other college of higher education. These examinations are not set by the government, but by independent examination boards, most of which are associated witha group of universities.

Pupils who don’t want to have professional training may choose vocational subjects such as catering, tourism, secretarial or building skills. Subsidized courses in these subjects are run at colleges of further education. A new qualification was introduced in 1992 for pupils who are skills, rather than academically, oriented, the General National Vocational Qualification, known as GNVQ. This examination is taken at three distinct levels: the Foundation which has equivalent standing to low grade passes in four subjects of GCSE; the intermediate GNVQ which is equivalent tohigh-grade passes in four subjects of GCSE’ and the Advanced GNVQ, equivalent to two passes at A level and acceptable for university entrance.

Scotland, with a separate education tradition, has a slightly different system. Children take the Scottish Certificate of Education (SCE) usually at the age of sixteen and, instead of A levels, they take the Scottish Higher Certificate which is more like continental European examinations since it covers a wider area of study than highly specialized A level courses. Many take their ‘Highers’ aged 17 rather than 18, with some opting to take a further examination later, the Certificate of Sixth Year Studies.

(adapted from http://rudocs.exdat.com/docs/index-148646.html?page=32)

Task 3. Work in pairs or mini-groups, use the information from the text to answer the following questions:

· What choices do pupils have at the age of 16 in Great Britain?

· How are the two final years of secondary education called?

· What kinds of courses do these two final years provide?

· What does the General Certificate of Secondary Education allow?

· What does the General Certificate of Secondary Education assess?

· How many subjects do pupils generally specialize during the two voluntary years?

· What does General Certificate of Education allow to do?

· Are these two public academic examinations set by the government?

· What kind of pupils is the new exam, introduced in 1992, more aimed at?

· How many levels does it have?

· How is it graded?

· How is the Scottish educational tradition different from that of the rest of the country?

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1489