The schools in Britain II

　　There are very few local education areas where chil dren are still selected for secondary education by mean s of an examination (which was known as the 'eleven plu s'), and almost all of the former 'Grammar Schools' hav e been absorbed into the Comprehensive Schools. Some of the older Grammar Schools, however, have withdrawn from the State system and have become private schools, charg ing fees and choosing their pupils by entrance examinat ions. This independent sector of education (which inclu des the well-known 'Public schools' as well as other pr ivately endowed schools ) provides for the education of about six per cent of the school population.

　　Any child may leave school at sixteen without attem pting any of the public examinations, but an increasing number of boys and girls are taking the Certificate of Secondary Education examinations or the General Certifi cate of Education. Both the CSE and the GCE are 'public ' examinations conducted by examining Boards and standa rdised to give national comparability. The GCE is inten ded for pupils of an academic bias and (theoretically) any number of subjects may be taken. The CSE, like the GCE, has a subject range covering all of those likely t o be taught in school. It is, however, designed for tho se pupils who are less academically able. A pupil may t ake GCE in some subjects and CSE in others.

　　A large proportion of the children taking a group o f subjects at 'O' Level (an abbreviation used for the G eneral Certificate of Education at Ordinary Level) will probably continue in full-time education and work for t he GCE Advanced Level examinations. This they can do by staying on in the sixth form of their school, or by enr olling at a Sixth Form College or a College of Further Education. For those who want to go on into higher educ ation the Advanced Level GCE examination is very import ant, for it is on the results of this examination that the universities and polytechnics choose their students .

　　by L. J. Westwood