THE UK SCHOOL SYSTEM

The academic year starts in September and ends in June the following year. There are 3 terms. Sept-Dec is Term 1, followed by 4 weeks Christmas holidays. Jan-Mar is Term 2 followed by 2-3 weeks Easter holidays depending of schools. Apr-June is Term 3, followed by 3 months summer holidays from late June to early-mid September.

UK school children do 6 years of primary schooling and 5 years of secondary schooling, at the end of which they sit for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), which is equivalent our O-levels or SPM in Malaysia. This is followed by 2 years of A-level studies.

Schools are either state/government schools, sometimes called comprehensive schools, or they are independent/private schools, sometimes called public schools. (Yes, it is confusing as “public” in many countries means government-run, but all you need to remember is that most overseas students attend private, independent schools). There are literally thousands of what I would call traditional English schools, which can be state-run or privately-run, with classes from primary to A-levels, or from secondary to A-levels, all under one roof, often with >800 students. The traditional English schools are said to give an all-round education as they tend to place an equal emphasis on academic studies and extra-curricular activities.

There are also about 25 special private schools called tutorial colleges. They are privately–run and can be owned by an individual or an educational/charity trust, and have the following characteristics which distinguish them from traditional English schools:-

a. Mainly international students (60-70% onwards, often with > 50% Asians)

b. Average class size is small (9-12)

c. Offer mainly A-levels, with a few offering GCSE and NCUK, a national foundation studies course.

d. Students do not wear uniforms

e. Emphasize academic excellence. That said, many do have excellent sports, music, and arts facilities and lots of extra-curricular programs.

Tutorial Colleges are preferred by Asian parent/student because some tend to produce very good results, with some achieving more than 80% A/A* grades. While having a good record of ECAs/CCAs is very commendable, I should emphasize that at the end of the day, university entry is largely dependent on academic results rather than ECA/CCA achievements. For example, for Oxbridge and medicine/dentistry/vet science, if the applicant has not obtained A*AA/AAA, the application is not even accepted, whether or not the applicant is a prefect, school swimmer or debator.

Finally, there are boarding and non-boarding schools among both traditional English schools and tutorial colleges. Non-boarding schools are also known as home-stay or day schools, where overseas students stay with British host families, arranged by the schools. Each type has its strong and weak points:

Boarding schools are perceived to be safer as students do not have to travel to school daily. However, students are less independent as they more pampered, and they also absorb less of the British culture as they have less contact with the outside world. Also, students tend to form cliques with students from their own countries, and thus do not benefit fully from inter-mingling with students from other nationalities.

Non-boarding schools on the other hand allow students more opportunities to learn to be more independent, responsible and street smart. However, they generally require students to spend some time travelling each day, and sometimes, there are host-student problems, although these tend to be few and are often easily resolved. Non boarders are also required to be more self disciplined.

Some tutorial colleges operate hostels which they rent from a developer or owned by themselves. Such hostels usually include breakfast in their fees, and evening meals are on a charge per order basis. Lunch is eaten in school. There are usually kitchen facilities and students may be able to make simple meals, or eat out with their friends. Hostels also provide pay per wash laundry services.