What are the Schools like in the U.K./ireland?

Question

I'm planning on being a foriegn exchange student to somewhere in the UK or ireand (i'm not sure which one yet). I'm just wondering how hard the schools are and what it's like there and stuff.

Answer 1

i really want to do that to for high school on a theater one. A lot of their schools teach much more etiquette and language than here.

Answer 2

i'm guessing you're American so i don't really know what your schools are like. Also it depends what sort of school your talking about, if you're talking about state secondary schools then they're a bit crappy but the problem is it varies from school to school by quite a bit.

Edit: Well we are in secondary school from about 11-17 (although some people are 18), i'm talkin about Scottish schools cos i spent most my time in one and have just finished a few weeks ago before the end of my last year cos i was sick of it. In Scotland you do Standard Grades in 3rd-4th then Highers for 5th-6th year with the option of Advanced Highers, the English equivalents are considered slightly better at the moment though. We don't really graduate as such you just get your qualifications and then you need to use them to get your uni places but if you don't do well enough once you reach the end of 4th year then they don't have to have you back for 5th or 6th and you can get thrown out after that whenever they want. The schools themselves are normally a bit tatty cos they don't get much funding and don't really spend it on improvements, the thing i always notice is that the best maintained places is the staff room, although that only applies to state schools of course. Also we do wear uniforms unlike most places in America, it tends to be just black trouser/skirt and a shirt with a jumper as optional and most places have school ties. You'll find the people will be very different too but that changes quite a bit from school to school. Anyways good luck :)

Edit: Another thought, don't expect all the teachers to be that nice, they're so heavily stressed because of the poor working conditions that i found that you get a bit of a mix, some are really nice inspite of their situation, some are just trying to get along so don't really treat you unfairly but aren't very nice, some are quite stroppy and will snap at you for little reason and there's my least favourite and the reason i left, you get teachers who are so generally angry that they will try and make things to be angry at whilst trying to throw you out of school, in my case there was a teacher that was actually choosing me out of the whole class to be nasty too, to the point of bullying, at one point i was forced by the head and deputy head to apoligise to this teacher because i left the class in tears ( i  have since then been to my doctor for depression), the thing that really got to me was that she had favourites too, people in  the class that could get away with anything when i got told of for all sorts. So i ended up leaving before i got thrown out even though i was one of the better students, but i don't really care i got 5 unconditional offers from universities out of 5. But that is very uncommon most of them are alright, i just live in an unusual situation where the school has been praised for doing well so gets around too much inspection, the mistakes the teachers make are therefore often overlooked and thus continue or worsen and if accused of anything quickly close ranks, one of my friends even has evidence that they were commiting fraud to improve their statistics that could close down the school but he never did anything with it because there are nice teachers and he didn't want all the students to have to go elsewhere, especially since there are some quite rough schools in the area. But like i said don't let anything like that put you off my case is an abnormality. I'm sorry this wa\s quite long i wanted it to be as complete an account as possible. So i wish you the best of luck and am very sure you'll be happy whatever you do :)

Answer 3

I don't know how hard or easy are the schools here in England compare to the US.  Naturally we have some bad ones or poor performance ones in terms of exam results and some very good ones.  You are expected to work very hard in the good schools in order that you would be admitted to good university.  This in turn reflects on the school that they can churn out examplary students.  I think you do multiple choice questions in the exams in America; whereas in England your answers are expected to be in essay form.

Hope you will like it here.

Answer 4

Sorry to disappoint you all, but unfortunately studying is not all etiquette and the like. As far as my experience goes there are vast differences in the quality of teaching depending on the resources available. Some schools generally won't enter children for exams they're not expected to pass, that way the school's success rate isn't affected- less successful schools receive less funding. So essentially schools from areas of social privation get less central funding if they under perform. Morale of teaching staff is low, teachers are expected to do huge amounts of work outside the classroom and generally they feel unappreciated.  Thanks to government interference, there constantly is some new political agenda to be pushed through.

The vast majority of state schools have some form of uniform policy.

Classes are overcrowded and underfunded.

In Ireland, the vast majority of state schools are sponsored by the Catholic church, so there is constant interference in the curriculum from that (even though the state pays the bills).  The local Bishop is responsible for the selection of staff, so you can be a p**s poor teacher, but Catholic, and still get a job in a state school.  But not necessarily so if you're a good teacher and not Catholic. pupils are also selected on the basis of religion, you've a better choice of going to the school of your choice if you are Catholic and you're parents registered you for the school at birth.

Again, the vast majority of schools operate a uniform code.

Again there is class over crowding and underfunding.

(I quit teaching in the UK to work on building sites in Ireland)

Answer 5

Well i live in the uk, personally i think its okay, the courses are shorter than in other countries. Its true most of us where uniforms  but i mean its pretty easy to fit in with people it depends where your from because it can be a lil different to what your use 2 you should ask people who live down here

Answer 6

When you say School, I assume you are using the generic term. In the UK, when they say school, they are talking about grade school. They also differentiate between College and University, and I can tell you that the university students do not like being referred to as college kids. In the same way that a community college is not the same as a state university. Now having said all that, if you can get the opportunity to go to either the UK or Ireland as an exchange student, I can tell you from personal experience it will be the greatest thing you will have done in your young life. The campus life is just amazing, and the education is not bad either. From a financial point of view, you will get a better degree over there for a heck of a lot less than it will cost you here. As I hear you young folks say, GO FOR IT.

Answer 7

Same as here, except you have to wear uniforms, also they finished a year earlier than us.