In the United Kingdom, the following three main types of institutions provide higher education to students:
· Universities
· Colleges and Institutions of Higher Education
· Art and Music Colleges
Universities are autonomous institutions who can hold their own ground particularly in matters relating to structuring courses or modifying their content. A university may draw its empowerment from a Royal Charter or an Act of Parliament. There used to be a binary line separating universities and polytechnic institutions until the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992 erased this distinction, resulting to polytechnics achieving the right to award their own degrees and taking on university titles.
Most institutions were left to confer their own degrees following the abolition of The Council for National Academic Awards. In addition, funding was structured by creating the Higher Education Funding Councils in England, Scotland and Wales. Most universities are sub-classified into faculties which are further broken down into individual departments concentrating on an area of study. The Universities UK examines all matters of concern pertaining to universities. There are many institutions of higher education that came about as a result of teacher training colleges and other colleges merging.
Higher education institutions which do not have a university title also provide degree courses, some non-degree courses as well as postgraduate qualifications. These are validated by external bodies which may be a local university or the Open University. Some institutions may apply for authority for awarding its own degrees on the condition that it must be able to show a good record of offering degree courses as validated by external universities.
The Evolution of Higher Education in the UK
The Increase of Tuition Fees in UK Universities
The practice of paying tuition fees for university education in the United Kingdom started in September 1998 to fund the education of undergraduate and postgraduate certificate students. They were required to pay a maximum of ｣1,000 annually for tuition as per the initiative of the Labor government under former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Prior to this, much of English universities did not charge tuition. In January 2004, further developments with regard to the funding of higher education were announced by the UK government, increasing the maximum amount of tuition fees that universities can charge to ｣3,000 per year. In the 2010/11, tuition fees further increased to a maximum of ｣3,290 every year.
The previous year 2009 saw further calls being made for funding as a result of the rising cost of education and budget cuts being imposed by the government as part of its austerity measures. As a result, the Browne Review of former chairman of BP John Browne mentioned proposals to altogether remove the cap on tuition fees.
These resulted to protests by student demonstrators who were vehemently against the idea as it will make education a privilege only available to the rich and not something the government is responsible for providing its citizens. Despite angry protests from students the House of Commons eventually authorised the bill allowing students to be charged tuition fees of up to ｣9,000 annually. In response, sixty four universities have already signified their intention to charge the maximum tuition fee when the 2012 term opens.
The Effect of Migration to the Standard of UK Education
Statistics from the Home Office show that in the first three months of 2007, over four thousand children from Eastern Europe were brought to the UK by their parents or caregivers. This equates to 65 new children per day in schools. This is just an example of the influx of immigrant children to the UK. These schools that are publicly funded will have no choice but to spend thousands of pounds and many hours in an attempt to bring the immigrant children up to the same standard as British children that are already attending these schools. This affects the level of education in the UK in the following ways:
· An overwhelming majority of these immigrants are non-native English speakers.
· It is difficult to estimate what the level of education was achieved in the immigrant's home country because of different focus in curricula and even the language of instruction is different. This being so, the school and teachers will have a hard time determining as to which level in the English educational system the immigrant is suited for.
Therefore, if you mix these students with those that are native English speakers, this will present considerable problems for both students and teachers, even the government and the school itself. One way to solve the problem would be to segregate the immigrants from the English students, but this will take a lot of time to be approved and if ever it will be, a lot of resources will also go to procuring new classrooms, hiring more teachers, adding more equipment, and designing new teaching methods to accommodate the rise in number of students.
Initially, the influx of migrants consisted of adults. However, many parents are encouraged to bring their children along and be educated in the UK to take advantage of the government's policy of free education in addition to generous child tax credits that families will get. This resulted to a significant number of young children arriving in the UK which was unprecedented. It can thus be said that the position regarding immigration has to be revisited so that this phenomenon does not affect the quality of education that our very own British children will get.
Free School in England are Finalized Already
Four of the proposed school to open in London and many more are planned in Suffolk, West Sussex, Norwich and Leicester.
Education Secretary, Michael Gove is to make the announcement at a conference of the Free School in London.
He wants all schools to get rid of the academies or schools - Control Board funded by the state but outside of the site.
There were 249 proposals submitted by stakeholders in the creation of a free school.
Most of them are in the early stages of approval.
Thirty-five received at least preliminary approval and developing its business model and comprehensive plan.
So far, only a school known to have achieved what the government calls "pre-opening" - that your business model is approved.
This is the Stour Valley Community School in Suffolk, which was approved earlier this month. He came from a campaign by parents to save a school system is controlled by community leaders.
Now, seven aircraft were added to the list. Some schools are faith-based, some are nominated by existing sponsors and academia are directed by the teacher.
These are:
* Conway Ark, Hammersmith and Fulham
* New Discovery School in West Sussex
* Etz Chaim, Barnet
* The Free School, Norwich
* I-Foundation, Leicester City
* St. Luke Church of England Primary School, Camden
* Carpenter Hall, Enfield.
Many groups want to create school lectures at the London meeting of education ministers and experts from the United States to participate in the creation of charter schools - which are similar to the free school again.
They receive counseling and participate in workshops on how to get your plans off the ground.
Mike Feinberg, co-founder of a chain of charter schools in the U.S. called the Knowledge is Power (Kipp), is one of the speaker.
A teacher, founded a school in the city of Houston.
"We want to give students in poor communities the opportunity to succeed in life. There are now 99 schools across America, giving children from low income families a better education, showing The demographics do not specify the destination, "he said.
"I was interested in free schools in England are open and offer the same possibilities." anAnguish
Penny Roberts is a former teacher and father of one of those responsible for the plan of St Luke Primary School in Camden, London. The plan is also supported by the ecclesiastical authorities.
She said: "I'm in the process of applying for vacancies in primary schools for my children and I know the pain parents go through if there is simply not enough primary school places, so for us is just one wonderful way to meet the needs of the community. "
The government has not said how many free schools opened in the fall, but some have started their admission process.
Twenty-four schools were the first team to win approval for preliminary plans of his government and has reported that about half the people are open in September. be eliminated
UK Education News
The UK Education News blog is an online forum where readers could post and make comments on the latest current events and news on education in the United Kingdom. Despite the differences in the educational systems in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, we all have a common goal of reading, discussing and sharing news and events that affect the respective educational systems in each of the constituent countries of the UK. Whether it is good news or bad news, all of us should be aware, concerned and involved about the latest news that affect our educational systems not just for our present generation, but for the future generations who would be affected or influenced by the what is happening in our education system today.
You could be a student, academic, teacher or lecturer, parent, or any other individual who wants to be aware and be informed about the current news and events that are shaping the education system in the UK from the primary school level, the secondary school level, and until the higher education level. I am now a first year university student and I am well-aware of the challenges faced by higher education system and its institutions as well as the students who study in them. I and other students are aware of the student protests in late 2010 against the increase of the cap on tuition fees. I am hoping this site would be a forum where we could read and share ideas and comments on the latest news and events about education and schools in the UK.