Education in the UK - How is the education system?

The National Curriculum in Britain is broadly split into four Key Stages, with primary school comprising  Key Stages 1 and 2 . The two stages help young students develop basic and important skills through a wide range of subjects. Primary school teaching can be an incredibly rewarding experience. It requires you to help shape and open the minds of young pupils in their early stages of formal education. Whether you're a parent or an aspiring teacher, it is important that you have a good understanding of the UK’s primary school system structure and in case of the latter, decide whether you are suited to the general approach for this teaching age. What Is Key Stage? Key Stages were incorporated into the  British education system  with the enactment of the 1988 Education Reform Act, which also created the national curriculum. The 4 Key Stages break up primary and secondary school into sections defined by age, whereby each provides the next level designed t...

Your Personal Statement Can Get You In - or Maybe Not. .......... "I have read, The Hunger Games, City of Bones, Twighlight ..... I have travelled to Spain, USA, Mauritius, Dubai......bla, bla, bla."  Waffling on about how great you are and listing events in your life is not what comprises a personal statement. A personal statement is an essay about why you want to study a particular subject at university and why you think you are suitable. Aimed at admission tutors, a personal statement requires you to "sell yourself" to the universities you have listed on your UCAS form. There are 5 choices of universities, however, it is not possible to tailor your personal statement to a particular institution, which is why your personal statement should be given careful thought and attention, ensuring it grabs the attention of the reader. The first personal statement I ever wrote was my own - with hindsight it wasn't the greatest piece of writing! For some people, w...

Just after 3 weeks of tutoring a primary school pupil in year 5, this young girl is now able to write a descriptive short story with minimal errors. Her mother hired me, for one to one tutoring to improve her daughters writing skills, which was a cause of concern for her. The first thing I did was to go through her previous written work and read her teacher's comments - which were usually a sad face or a neutral face. I'm always surprised to see that teachers don't correct pupils' mistakes. How on earth are they supposed to know they've not punctuated correctly or have spelt a word incorrectly? I fail to understand why some teachers can't give comments with some detail, highlighting the areas where they need improvement, so the parents have something to work on. After analysing her work, I made a list areas of improvements and started to work from there. There were many aspects which needed to be covered for instance the structure of a written piece, the us...

Education in the UK as a British Indian I fall into the category of having  Indian ethnicity and being British by birth. Brief Background MY PARENTS  came into the UK from India in the mid 1960's, when the British Government had opened up its doors to immigrants to fill the shortage of labour to reconstruct its economy after being affected by Second World War. 1. So, what was primary school like? I had a very normal upbringing and was the youngest of four children. During my early school days, in the 1970's, I can recall being quite popular among friends. I remember the teachers were mostly white British (English) and there was one Indian teacher.  I cannot say that I ever felt that my teachers ever gave me the feeling that I was NOT British . In fact the school I attended at that age, from what I can recall was around 50:50, white to other ethnic groups so having the feeling of being singled out was not even possible. The teachers were trained to be impartial...

Some Valuable Resources for Parents of School Children. The internet is loaded with valuable resources, but I have listed some of my favourite. BBC Bitesize is a very good website designed for school children covering GCSE subjects and most A' Level subjects too.  BBC Bitesize - Home Another great website with excellent tutorials is Khan Academy. This is a valuable resource for parents and students of all ages.  Khan Academy For maths  https://www.mymaths.co.uk/second...  is a good step by step resource. Free maths worksheets are available on  https://www.mymaths.co.uk/second... For secondary school maths, this blog is very useful:  Resourceaholic   For further queries comment below.

Is Home Education From the UK Recognised Abroad? If you're thinking of homeschooling your child for whatever reason and are wondering whether they would be at a disadvantage in terms of admission to a university outside of the UK, let me tell you that they wouldn't be. Being homeschooled would not be a problem at all. My child was homeschooled for one subject and some of my friends have chosen to homeschool their children- with reasons ranging from the parent being confident they could do a better teaching job to the child being bullied at their school. It's sort of obvious really because, even if a child is homeschooled in the UK the local council are still involved in their education to ensure targets are met, arranging home visits with the parents to check progress of the child.  I tutored my son at home for AS level English Language. He was a regular student at school taking an additional four A' levels, because he was uncertain at that point whether he wanted...

UK State Schools vs Independent Schools - What are the key differences? Let's first be clear about some of the interchangeable terms these schools are referred to. A state school is sometimes referred to as a "free school,"   although a free school is actually quite different to a state school. Independent schools are also known as, " private schools," "fee- paying," or "public schools."  Some parents often think all " grammar schools" are fee-paying schools. This is not necessarily true. A grammar school can either  be an independent school or a state funded one. If you're not sure about a particular school's status, it's worth checking their website under admissions. To understand the different types of schools, it's worth reading,  types of schools . Independent schools do not rely on UK taxpayer's money for funding, instead they charge a handsome fee to the pupils, with Eton College, the royal fam...

An Overview of the Key Differences of the Education system in UK and India. Pizza or Pasta? Which one do you prefer? It’s always difficult to talk about preference when you appreciate both things in question. This can be said for a comparison of anything.  There are many components which together constitute a good education system; however, three key aspects, namely  respect,   discipline and motivation  will be explored in this discussion, which I am convinced are the foundations upon which a strong education lies. I have experience at a Catholic school in India as a teacher and parent, at mainstream schools in the UK as a teacher and student and as a parent in the UK private education sector. I have observed that both systems share strikingly similar goals, which is to bring out the best in pupils. The difference however lies in,  how   this is achieved. In India,  respect   is a key element in achieving this goal and it is taught i...