Guia Cultura Inglesa, Ex Ordinario

Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter with each of the countries of the United Kingdom having separate systems under separate governments: the UK Government is responsible for England, and the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, respectively
Education in England is overseen by theDepartment for Education and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Local authorities (LAs) take responsibility for implementing policy for public education and state schools at a regional level.
Full-time education is compulsory for all children aged between 5 and 16. Students may then continue their secondary studies for a further two years (sixth form), leading most typically toA-level qualifications, although other qualifications and courses exist, including Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) qualifications, the International Baccalaureate (IB) and the Cambridge Pre-U. The leaving age for compulsory education was raised to 18 by the Education and Skills Act 2008. The change will take effect in 2013 for 16-year-olds and 2015 for 17-year-olds State-providedschooling and sixth form education is free of charge to students. England also has a tradition of independent schooling, but parents may choose to educate their children by any suitable means.
Higher education typically begins with a 3-year bachelor's degree. Postgraduate degrees include master's degrees, either taught or by research, and the doctorate, a research degree that usually takes at leastthree years. Universities require a Royal Charter in order to issue degrees, and all but one are financed by the state via tuition fees, which are increasing in size for both home and European Union students.
Education in Northern Ireland differs slightly from systems used elsewhere in the United Kingdom, though it is more similar to that used in England and Wales than it is to Scotland. Achild's age on 1 July determines the point of entry into the relevant stage of education unlike England and Wales where it is the 1 September. Northern Ireland's results at GCSE and A-Level are consistently top in the UK. At A-Level, one third of students in Northern Ireland achieved A grades in 2007, compared with England and Wales
The Northern Ireland Executive's Department of Education (DENI) isresponsible for the country's education policy except for the higher and further education sector for which the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) retains responsibility.
The Department of Education's main areas of responsibility cover pre-school, primary, post-primary and special education; the youth service; the promotion of community relations within and between schools; and teachereducation and salaries. Its primary statutory duty is to promote the education of the people of Northern Ireland and to ensure the effective implementation of education policy.
| Name | Area | |
1. | Belfast | |
2. | North Eastern | Antrim, Ballymena, Ballymoney, Carrickfergus, Coleraine, Larne, Magherafelt, Moyle, Newtownabbey | |
3. | South Eastern | Ards, Castlereagh, Down, Lisburn andNorth Down | |
4. | Southern | Armagh, Banbridge, Cookstown, Craigavon, Dungannon and South Tyrone, Newry and Mourne | |
5. | Western | Londonderry, Fermanagh, Limavady, Omagh, Strabane | |

Although integrated education is expanding, Northern Ireland has a highly-segregated education system, with 95% of pupils attending either a maintained (Catholic) school or a controlled school(mostly Protestant). Controlled schools are open to children of all faiths and none, as are Catholic schools (Catholic describes the way the school is run but the students do not have to be Roman Catholic to attend). Teaching a balanced view of some subjects (especially regional history) is difficult in these conditions. The churches in Northern Ireland have not been involved in the development of...