Harry Said:

Why students under British education system love to read compare to students, under present education system?

We Answered:

Under the British system, there were lots of homework involving writing essays and composition.....to get them done, a student needed to read and read to get information......and to learn how English words are used in different contexts.... In the current Malaysian system, there are not much homework, even none, so writing skills are not necessary.....so reading is not required...... in tests and examinations - the student just choose or guess the correct answer from a list .....

Kenneth Said:

Is a punitive or welfarist approach best for the British education system?

We Answered:

britain is awesome!
i wanna live there
lol and yeah
i think punishment is nessicary for teaching students....
they need the discipline

Shelly Said:

What are the failings of the British education system?

We Answered:

1. Too much isolation from the real world. Schools seem to believe that real-world rules don't apply to them. For example if students steal outside school, more than likely they will be reported to the police. Too many schools view crime within schools as a school matter. When pupils go out into the real world they will not receive such preferable treatment.

2.To many pointless exams. Even when I was at school there were to may external exams which served no purpose. There were SATs and CATs and mocks for SATs, all of which wasted time an effort which could have been better spent.

3. Ineffective vocational/academic division. Although schools offer GNVQs, they were not valued equally with the 4 GCSEs they are supposed to replace, because they are not as useful. I knew students who completed all their GNVQ work weeks before I sat my GCSEs. GNVQ should be more practical.

4. To much irrelevant teaching. "Citizenship" and "general studies" do not teach much of use, an come close to indoctrinating students to a particular political view point (e.g. being asked to list 5 "good things" about a current government policy). These subjects if they are going to be there should teach what students will actually need when they leave school - how to find a job, manage their finances, how deal with legal problems - all useful things that are current left up to good parenting or trial and error.

5. Too little choice. Unlike so others I think that early specialisation can be a good thing. By GCSEs most students will have some idea of whether they want to take the academic route or go into work when they leave. There is little point in forcing a reluctant student to write sonnets if he's going to leave school as soon as he can so he can go off to train as a carpenter.
Not only will the student probably not learn much, but he'll resent it and show it. I remember students from my school who were disruptive and unsucessful at GCSE... and suddenly seemed to become reasonably cheerful, responsible people when they left for the local FE college to do whatever course they'd chosen to do.

Julian Said:

What are the main differences between the french and british education system?

We Answered:

I am French and my late husband was British, so we did compare our different kinds of education systems a lot.
It appears to me that in the British system for the GCSE and A-Level there are subjects you can choose whereas in France once you are in a category (3) you cannot "choose" and you have to take the whole bunch.
Then for entering college it is more "open" in France ("égalité") and therefore the rate of failure at the end of the first year is impressive.
I do not agree about schools being off on Wednesdays and Saturdays in France since I had a total career as a language teacher there. It might be so in primary schools but I have worked regularly either on Wednesday or Saturday mornings (depending of the secondary school I was in) and in "lycée" (after 14) they go to school on Wednesdays (all day) and Saturday mornings.
I have also noticed that the French school day often starts earlier (8 a.m.) and the days are longer. The lessons are usually 55 mn long, basically one hour minus the time to change classroom and sometimes even building. The holidays are longer.

Dan Said:

why is the British Education system so lack lustre in standards?

We Answered:

By British I hope you are referring to England and Wales. Northern Ireland has some of the highest academic standards and results in Europe and the highest in the UK. It's simply because in the 50/60's academic selection in all regions bar Northern Ireland was abolished and state comprehensives introduced which did not allow for extra teaching of those less able as well as not allowing more intelligent children to flourish.
There also seems to be a tendency in British schools to 'dumb down' lessons and material. I agree with you, homework, examinations and essays are some of the most important ways of improving academic ability for the 'real world' and of course univeristy. Other factors are important also of course such as time to do artistic things and sport. Something again which English comprehensives fail to notice.

It's simply history mixed with the belief the children should not be worked too hard at school as they may get depressed, they fail to see that if the child falls through the education system as a failure in exams and coursework they will very likely get poorly paid jobs, be unemployed and become depressed as a result. As you suggest they will become marginalised in a society that moves on without them and many may resort to crime and addiction.

The education system in England is a shambles at the minute, hence why grammar and excellent state schools are in massive demand.

Jeanne Said:

What can an American expect from a British education system?

We Answered:

A shock :)

You won't get to redo assignments, and they probably won't count towards your degree anyway. You won't get credit for doing homework or for showing up to lectures. Your exams will probably be neither set nor marked by your tutor and will be based on the published syllabus for the course, not what the lectures have actually covered.

Basically you are expected to make sure you have covered the material required for the exams. There will be lots of lectures and classes available...but it's up to you to go to them, and to read the books.

Hardship? No. Just a change in mindset :)

Jorge Said:

What is going on with the British education system?

We Answered:

Look Labour has ****** the education system beyond all belief. They scrapped grammar schools, I was one of the lucky people to go to one. We were taught that intelligence is the ONLY elite quality a person can aim for. All the grammar schools are now ´specialist schools´ whatever that means. Nobody seems to have explained it too well yet.
I have my own magazine with British and American writers. The Brits who have applied to me have sent me badly spelled pieces with no grammar or punctuation.
Britain needs to stop testing, and get back to basics. At least every child at the age of ten should know how to read and write, and be able to do basic maths like multiplication. Most at the moment can´t.
Poland has a better education system than us. Embarrassing.