Higher Education in Great Britain

Higher Education in Great Britain

Most people in Great Britain start life in universities and colleges at the age of 18. Britain has more than 90 universities. British universities can be divided into several categories. The foremost universities are the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge, both founded in the Middle Ages. The term Oxbridge is used to refer to both schools as a single entity.

Oxford is a beautiful city on the river Thames about fifty miles from London. Most of the 39 Oxford colleges are fine buildings of grey and yellow stone. The university was founded in the 12th century and more than 8 thousand students study here at present.

Cambridge is situated at a distance of seventy miles from London on the river Cam. Cambridge University (now 29 colleges and 11 thousand students) was founded at the beginning of the 13th century.

Oxford and Cambridge Universities are known for their specific system of education. They preserve an antique way of life and great emphasis is laid on «tutorials». Each student has a tutor (a Don) who gives personal instructions to the students numbering not more than four. Every week the tutor and his students meet to discuss the work they have done, to criticize it in detail and to set the next week's work. The students of Oxford and Cambridge (or Oxbridge, as they are sometimes jointly called) make up one of the most elite [ei´li:t] elites in the world. Many great men studied there: Bacon, Milton, Cromwell, Newton; many prominent politicians and members of the Royal family were educated here too.  

Until the nineteenth century England had no other universities, apart from Oxford and Cambridge. The universities founded between 1850—1930, including London University are known as redbrick universities (because of the favourable building material of the time). Redbrick universities were built to provide a liberal education and to give technological training for the poorer boys. London has its own great schools, the enormous University of London and its world-famous college, the London School of Economics. Students interested in advanced education can also attend polytechnics, which are schools dedicated to the sciences and applied technology. An Education Act in 1992 changed the status of these colleges to universities.

The universities founded after World War II are called «the new universities»  (Kent, Essex, York, etc.). The large number of ultramodern universities that sprouted up in the last half of the 20th century are often called cement block and plate-glass universities.

Higher education can also be obtained through the Open University, founded in 1969, which offers extension courses taught through correspondence, television and radio programs, and videocassettes. It also sponsors local study centres and residential summer schools. The purpose of the Open University is to reach people who may not ordinarily be qualified for university study.

All British universities are private institutions. Every institution is independent, autonomous and responsible only to its governing council, but they all receive financial support from the state. The admission to the universities is by examinations or selection (interviews).

Students who pass examinations at the end of the three or four years of study get Bachelor's degree. The first postgraduate degree is normally that of Master conferred for a thesis based on at least one year's full time work. Universities are centres of research and many postgraduates are engaged in research for the higher degree, the degree of Doctor.

A university consists of a number of faculties: arts, science, medicine, agriculture,   education, law and theology. The teaching is organized in departments, such as engineering, economics, commerce, History, French, etc.

At the head of each faculty there is a professor. Other teachers are lecturers; some of the senior teachers have the title of a reader or senior lecturer.

Over a third of all full-time students in Britain live in halls of residence, slightly under half are in lodgings and the remainders live at home. The students receive grants.

Education in Britain is not free of charge, it is rather expensive.