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Overview

The vast majority of children in England attend state-funded schools. All children are required by law to be in formal education from the age of four to the age of 16. Education in England is divided into four stages:

• Early years and foundation (0-4 year olds);
• Primary (4-11 year olds);
• Secondary (11-16 year olds);
• Over 75% of young people stay in education beyond the age of 16.

Early Years and the Foundation Stage (0-4 year olds)

Most children will begin formal education around the age of three – and all three and four-year-olds are entitled to free, part-time education before they begin school. There are no legal requirements for learning for very young children, but the government does provide extensive guidance for professional carers and for parents who are looking after very young children.

All the evidence suggests that the quality of care for very young children is vital to their emotional, social and intellectual development. One of the key aims of childcare policy is to ensure that carers have the skills and help they need to support the development of very young children.

Children are required by law to be in formal education from the age of four until the age of 16

Primary education (4-11 year olds)

At the age of four, children begin primary school. Over 90% of pupils go to publicly-funded primary schools. There is a national curriculum that schools are required to follow. At primary school, there is a strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy, with an hour of classroom teaching each day devoted to reading and writing.

Primary school pupils also study science, information and communication technology (ICT), art, history, geography, music and physical education, at a level appropriate to their age. Increasingly, more primary schools are also teaching modern foreign languages to their pupils, although as yet, this is not a requirement by law.

Pupils are tested in English and math at the age of seven and English, math and science at the age of 11 to check they are making good progress. In most areas, children aged 5-to-11 attend primary schools and move on to secondary schools at the age 11 of for education up to the age of 16 and beyond.

Secondary education (11-16 year olds)

Around 93% of 11-16 year old pupils in England attend publiclyfunded state schools. There are different types of secondary schools. Some choose to specialize in a particular subject or subject area such as science, modern foreign languages or arts and drama. This doesn’t mean that they only offer these subjects, rather that they become a local centre of excellence in a particular area and they work with partners and other schools to share their expertise. All secondary schools must follow the national curriculum and ensure that the school curriculum is broad and balanced, and promotes the spiritual, moral, physical and mental development of pupils.

English, math, science and ICT are all compulsory subjects up to the age of 15. Pupils usually study geography, history, music, religious studies, technology, citizenship, art and a modern foreign language as well. At the end of their third year in secondary school (at the age of 13 or 14) pupils choose which subjects they’d like to continue studying. Generally, as well as English, math and science, pupils choose four other subjects. In addition, many schools also offer vocational subjects – which range from leisure and tourism to design and construction.

Pupils sit national exams called GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) in their chosen subjects, usually when they are aged 15 or 16. The benchmark standard is “C” out of A-E grades or higher in at least five of their GCSEs, preferably including English and math. Currently, 56% of pupils achieve this benchmark, with a significant number in this group achieving much better grades than this.

Pupils are tested in English and math at the age of seven to check they are making good progress

Education for 16+

Around 75% of pupils choose to continue studying either at a school or a college. After they’ve completed their GCSEs, most students will go on to do A (Advanced) or AS (Advanced Subsidiary) levels, which are academic courses of study in a specific subject (for example, French or physics). They will usually choose to do an A or AS level in a subject they have achieved a C grade or higher in at GCSE, although there are exceptions with subjects such as Law, where there are no GCSEs. They do this either at school or at a further education college.

Children sit national exams at the age of 15 or 16

Students generally do up to three or four A levels selected from a large number of academic subjects – from history and English to physics and math. Study at A level is very specialised and lasts for two years, with examinations at the end of both years. One of the things that students consider when choosing which A levels to do is what they might want to go on to study at university. Certain universities will ask for specific qualifications for particular courses – for example, students might be expected to have good grade A levels in two or more of the sciences if they want to do medicine.

There are also National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) that students can do in work-related topics such as business, marketing, engineering or information technology. National Vocational Qualifications are designed to give students work-related skills that will enable them to pursue a particular career path – either by going on into employment or by continuing their studies at university.

For more information, visit the Department for Children, Schools and Families website: www.dfes.gov.uk

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