Hey guys! Unfortunately my friend's brother was unavailable for the interview but I have another friend volunteering at a private school nearby and she let me go in to interview one of the students. While there are some differences between public and private schools here, the subject matter in structure are fairly similar.
I interviewed a student named Rob, but because of the circumstances under which I got the interview, I can't put his picture in this blog.
Rob told me that the UK has core subjects, like the US, including English, Math, and Science classes and optional courses. Rob is taking History and Spanish. The goal of these optional courses is to try new subjects to take for your GCSE's. Rob is in year 8 so he will be taking his GCSE's in two years.
GCSE's are classes focussed on specific subjects to decide what you will take your A levels in. You can take as many GCSE's as you are able to if you do them outside of school but in school students generally take 10-12. You can only take up to 5 A-levels, however, and most of the people I know only took 3. From the A-levels you do well on, that's how you decide what you will study in a university.
Rob usually has about 1 hour of homework/ night, which he says is average. He says they do use some textbooks, but they mainly use workbooks and printed sheets.
The classes are generally an hour long with about 5 subjects through the day. The core classes usually go all the way through the year while the optional ones usually last just one semester.
Some of the differences in Rob being in a private school were the uniform and the food. While public schools don't use uniforms, Rob has to wear trousers, a collared shirt and a blazer to school. Also, this school makes homemade food for the students, but this is because the students live at the private schools.
All in all, UK schools seem to be structured very similarly to schools in the US, but their preparation for attending a university is a bit different. What do you guys think? Did anything sound wildly different from your school experience?
An hour of Homework is a lot compared to here. Usually we only have about 10-20 minutes of Homework and that's at most. We usually aren't assigned Homework.
ReplyDelete-Chloe
Really? Ms. Otto sounds like a really nice teacher. Even when I was in 7th grade I had at least half an hour of homework every night.
DeleteNot much seems different but we have 6 periods and not 5.
ReplyDeleteI think I had 6 class periods in middle school as well, but in high school I had 5.
DeleteI was suprised to hear that the students live at the school, and since they do live there does that mean that they move away from their parents?
ReplyDeleteI was as well, but remember that that is only for students going to private school here. In these cases students do move away from their parents during the school year and go home on breaks.
DeleteHow does anyone sit down for an hour doing homework?-Tyler
ReplyDeleteHaha I hate to break it to you Tyler but I often have more than an hour of homework per night these days.
DeleteHi isaiah!
ReplyDeleteIn america, theirs a lot different, first off, I go to a public school right now but in grade school for the most part i went to a private school but I didn't have to wear uniforms and i lived with my family. Im also in higher classes than my grade and i normally will only have at most 30 minutes of homework. Dosen't sound that bad there though.
-Evan:)
That's very true Evan! Boarding schools don't seem to be too common in the States whereas here that seems to be the only option for private school. It still sounds like an enjoyable experience though-- just different.
DeleteWhy an hour of homework?
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite sure. I know the former Secretary of Education of the UK, Michael Gove, was very convinced that holding students to higher standards would lead to better academic performance so maybe that is part of it.
DeleteHi Isaiah,
ReplyDeleteIS weird that I've always wanted school uniforms?
-cheyenne
Hey Cheyenne,
DeleteI've never actually met anyone with that opinion before. Why is it that you want uniforms.
i dont do homework- mauro
ReplyDeleteYou don't have homework or you don't do it?
DeleteGarrett
ReplyDeleteIt's weird how they sleep at the private schools-Isaac
ReplyDeleteYeah I suppose it would be weird at that age. Almost like an extended sleepover. Once you get to college, it seems a little more normal to sleep at school.
DeleteThere is 6 periods instead of 5 -Madison
ReplyDeleteWe don't have dress codes, only dress guides.
ReplyDelete-Leah
I remember middle and high school dress codes. Once you get past high school they don't really exist anymore but most people generally stay within them
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