ABSTRACT
It is a common mistake, usually made by the English, that the English educational system and the United Kingdom educational system are one and the same thing. This reflects the insularity of the system rather than its reality. Indeed, it is another manifestation of the general insularity of British society as a whole, perhaps best typified by the apocryphal newspaper headline ‘Fog in Channel, Continent Isolated’. The ‘British system’ actually consists of five different systems, with many similarities it is true, but also with significant differences. So this chapter will be concentrating on the system in England and Wales and will not deal with the systems of Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. A fruitful starting point for such a study is an examination of the aims of the system.
