Education in the UK

1. Education in Wales
2. The funding and regulation of schools
3. The assessment of schools
4. The assessment of pupils
5. Types of school in the state sector
6. Alternative types of school

Education in Wales

Control over the education system was devolved to Wales when the Welsh Assembly came into being in 1999. One of the few education matters that still rest with central government in England is terms and conditions for teachers.

The funding and regulation of schools

Department for Training and Education (DfTE)
The Welsh Assembly Department for Training and Education is ultimately responsible for education in Wales. This includes:

Providing and funding state education
Training teachers
Maintaining educational standards
Overseeing the curriculum and examinations

Local education authorities
Each council in Wales has a local education authority, and it is primarily responsible for public spending on schools. The government is very keen for authorities to distribute money directly to schools to spend as they wish. So education authorities have a more strategic than operational role within schools.

Local education authorities’ duties towards schools can be divided into five areas:

Strategic management, including making grants and internal audits and covering costs such as maternity leave and contingency funds
Specific grants for funding specific projects such as class size reduction and the New Opportunities Fund, a lottery venture that has paid for new opportunities in PE and music
Special educational needs, including funding for pupils with special needs and the provision of education at Pupil Referral Units
School improvement, particularly supporting low performing or under performing schools
Access to education: The authority creates an educational framework so pupils can take up places and attend schools. This means expenditure on admissions and appeals, providing school places, advice to the parents of excluded pupils, home to school transport, providing an educational welfare service, catering for special educational needs and assessing eligibility for free school meals

How schools get their money
Local education authorities set the budget for the education provision in their area and they then determine the funding for individual schools.

Welsh authorities have greater freedom to determine funding for schools than English authorities. They determine within the overall available budget how much they divert to education. Authorities are entitled to retain some of the education budget for purposes such as school improvement. The rest of the budget must be distributed to schools. The schools governing body manages this budget.

From 2004, funding for schools in Wales must be approved by a school forum set up by the local education authority for the area it covers. The school forum is a body made up of 15 people with experience in the education and care sector.

The education authority must consult the forum on their plans for school spending and any changes they make to the formula for deciding how much schools get. That means they have to get approval from the forum for any changes to the methods, principles and rules by which they allocate money to individual schools.

Any other financial arrangements such as reviews of outside contracts for cleaning or catering must also be brought before the forum.

School governing bodies
All publicly-funded schools have a governing body. These are made up of parent representatives, the head teacher, serving teachers, governors appointed by the local education authority and members of the local community. They are responsible for main policy decisions within schools including:

Academic matters
School discipline
The appointment and dismissal of staff
Repair and maintenance of school buildings
Admissions for some types of school (this is explained fully further down)

In practice, much of this comes down to head teachers. Governing bodies take a largely strategic role. They will set the aims and objectives for a school and monitor progress. They are also responsible for implementing the recommendations of inspection reports and are required to make these reports and their action plans available to parents.

The assessment of schools

Estyn
The Welsh inspections agency is Estyn, which means “extend.” Its job is to inspect all state schools and report on standards of achievement. It inspects a broader range of institutions than just schools – it also inspects educational training. The Chief Inspector in Wales hopes this reflects the emphasis on education and training.

League tables
Wales has abolished the publication of league tables.

The assessment of pupils

Curriculum and examinations
The national curriculum is compulsory in all state schools throughout Wales. It is formulated and monitored by the Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales, which is also responsible for other curricular initiatives in Wales. The aim of the curriculum is to raise standards and to ensure that schools around the country are following the same courses.

The national curriculum also brought in tests which mean that pupils are assessed at various stages throughout their education. Wales has scrapped compulsory tests for seven-year-olds.
Tests for 11 and 14-year-olds will also be phased out by 2007-2008. All testing will be replaced by teacher assessments and a new skills test for ten-year-olds focusing on numeracy, literacy and problem-solving.

By 2008, although England and Wales will follow the national curriculum, they will have quite different testing regimes.

Key stages
Under the National curriculum, as a result of the Education Reform Act 1988, four Key Stages were established. These are:

Key Stage 1: 5 to 7 years old
Key Stage 2: 7 to 11 years old
Key Stage 3: 11 to 14 years old
Key Stage 4: 14 to 16 years old

Pilots of a new Foundation Phase curriculum for three- to seven-year-olds to replace Key Stage 1 have begun in Wales. By 2008 the foundation phase should replace Key Stage 1 in all schools.

Types of school in the state sector

The types of school in Wales are defined by who employs the staff, controls admissions and owns the land and buildings. There are four categories of mainstream primary and secondary school in Wales. There are four types of school which are,

Community schools: These were previously county schools. The LEA employs school staff, owns the school lands and buildings and decides the arrangements for admitting pupils
Foundation schools: Many of these were formerly grant-maintained schools. The governing body employs the school staff and has primary responsibility for admissions. The school land and buildings are owned by the governing body or a charitable foundation
Voluntary Controlled: These are almost always church schools and the lands and buildings are almost always owned by a charitable foundation. The LEA employs the school staff and has responsibility for admissions
Voluntary Aided: Many of the voluntary-aided schools are church schools. The governing body employs the staff and decides admission arrangements. The land and buildings are normally owned by a charitable foundation

Welsh medium education:Welsh is a compulsory subject for all students in mainstream state schools Wales. Pupils now study Welsh either as a first or second language depending on where you live in Wales.

Pre-school education
Between the ages of two and five, children attend pre-school. The government’s Sure Start scheme provides free nursery education for all four-year-olds and an increasing number of three-year-olds. The government is working with local authorities to develop a network of children’s centres dealing with early education, childcare and family and health services.

Primary education
All children have to start primary education in the term after the child’s fifth birthday. Primary schools are divided into the infants (five to seven) and the juniors (seven to 11).
Welsh can be taught as a first and second language from primary school level. Most primary schools are run by the board of governors under Local Management of Schools scheme.

Secondary education
Secondary education is compulsory until the age of 16. Within the four categories of school, community schools, foundation schools, voluntary aided and voluntary controlled, there are more specialised schools.

Faith schools: Faith schools are schools with a religious character. Any new faith schools must have the agreement of parents and the local community, and be approved by the LEA. Nearly half of faith schools are voluntary controlled. They teach the locally agreed religious syllabus and the LEA is the admissions authority. Voluntary aided faith schools are responsible for setting their own admissions policies and teach religious education according to their religious precepts. Faith schools admit pupils on religious affiliation but many admit those who are not of the school faith.

Special needs: An estimated one in five children has some form of special educational need. The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 asserts the right of children with physical or behavioural problems to be taught with mainstream classes. As a result special schools for children with mild or moderate difficulties are being closed. There is a separate Special Educational Needs tribunal in Wales.

Pupil Referral Units: Pupil Referral Units are a type of school established and maintained by LEAs. They provide education to children who may not otherwise receive a mainstream education. A PRU might include teenage mothers or pupils excluded from school, for example. The aim of these units should be getting pupils back into mainstream education. They are run by a management committee made up of a range of people from school governors to representatives from social services.

Alternative types of school

Independent schools
Independent schools are fee-charging schools. They are known as private schools and sometimes as “public schools”, even though they do not exist within the state sector. They don’t receive any public funds and are governed and managed by special trusts. They are not obliged to teach the national curriculum but most of them do enter the same public examinations.

Independent primary schools fall into two main categories: pre-prepatory, for ages two to seven and junior or preparatory schools for ages 11-13. The ‘prep’ school is devoted to preparation for the Common Entrance examination, which is required for many independent secondary schools.

Rudolf Steiner schools
Steiner schools have a very distinctive philosophy, curriculum and teaching methods for pupils. They place the emphasis on the holistic development of the child including their “spiritual, physical and moral well-being” as well as academic work. Formal learning begins later than in conventional schools and there is a great emphasis on creative and artistic environments. They are self-governing and most schools operate as a co-operative without a head-teacher.

Foreign language schools – Lycees
There are schools, largely aimed at the children of foreign diplomats that teach in a foreign language. The French Lycee is one such school: it has an English as well as a French stream.

Montessori schools
Montessori schools are nursery schools that follow the philosophy laid down by Maria Montessori, an influential thinker about childhood education. She observed that given the right environment, children could develop beyond conventional expectations. In a Montessori classroom children are encouraged to choose the activity they wish to partake in and complete it in their own time. Once they are used to making their own choices, they are naturally attracted to what will best serve their educational needs.