England has one of the finest educational system in the world. All English
children between ages 5-16 must attend school. About 90 percent of the students
go to schools supported entirely or partly by public funds. The rest of the
students attend private schools. The Department of Education and Science and
local education authorities supervise England's school system. England's
educational system tries to give all children an education suited for all thier
abilities. For many years, every child has to take a test called an 11-plus
examination after attending elementary school from ages 5 through 11. This test
determines which three specialized high schools--grammer, secondary-modern, or
technical-- a child would attend from ages 11 to 16. Grammer schools prepared
students for college entrance. Secondary-modern schools provided a general
education. Technical schools offer technical training, just like the United
States. Englands public schools are famous for their great college preparation
courses. Every single public high school has at least one college course, and
they have been running these courses for hundreds of years. Institutions of
higher education in England include universities, technical colleges, and
colleges of commerce, art, and agriculture. Two of the greatest and most famous
universities in the world, Oxford and Cambridge, are in England. The country's
largest traditional university is the University of London, which has about
65,000 students. But England's Open University has about 120,00 students. It has
no regular classrooms. Instruction is carried out through the radio, television,
and written correspondence!