The role of UCAS in advising the school graduates to chose the appropriate university.

Young people at 16 have several options: l) stay on at school until 18 to obtain the necessary qualifications for entry to higher education or certain caress, professions. 2) to leave school but to continue full-time education in different further education institutions: the polytechnics, colleges of further education, of technology, of commerce, art, agricultural colleges, drama schools, art schools— All they have links with local industry and commerce.

British universities are independent, autonomous, self-governing institutions created from former polytechnics under the education reform Act 1988 & Further and Higher education Act 1992. They are financially supported by the state; the Department of Education & Science has no control over their regulations, curriculum, examinations, and appointment of staff...

3 groups; l) The Oxford, the Cambridge, the elder Scottish universities of St Andrew, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Oxford is older, more philosophical, classical, and theological. Cambridge is more scientifically based. Both are like a federation of colleges, dominated British education for 7 hundred years.

2) The universities in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Sheffield. The University of London the largest conventional university, established by the union of 2 colleges; University College and King's College, has many different faculties and departments.
3) The new universities were founded after the 2nd World War, became popular because of their modern approach to university courses. Keele University(1948), 1961- in East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Lancaster, Sussex, Warwick, York. The traditional faculty structure there has been avoided to prevent overspecialization. Polytechnics are centers for advanced courses in a wide range of subjects, take part-time students and serve as comprehensives of further education, take full-time students- their work is of university level (it's the higher education sector within further education).

The Open University (1969) created by the Labour Government to cater for people who hadn't had a chance to enter any other university, those above normal student age (21 and over). No formal academic qualifications are required for entry, distance learning. It's a non-residential university, includes work with part-time tutors. The time of staying here is unlimited. Admission to universities is by examination or interviews.

Entrance requirements for degree courses are set by universities. Applications for undergraduate courses are dealt with by UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admission Service). Every applicant can apply to several universities. Those who have chosen Oxford and Cambridge universities in addition apply to those universities directly. Application forms have to be completed by 15 December for courses beginning in October of the following year. UCAS forwards the copies of the applications to all universities listed in the form, gets the replies from the universities and provides a statement to the applicants setting out the details of these decisions. If the applicants fulfill the conditions they are given places in the universities concerned.

An academic year usually begins in the autumn and is divided into three terms.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1397