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British Universities
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How British school leavers enter universities.
Good " A" Level results in at least two subjects are necessary to get a place at a university. However, good exam passes alone are not enough. Universities choose their students after interviews, and competition for places at university is fierce
There are 46 universities in Britain. The oldest and best-known universities are located in Oxford, Cambridge, London, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Southampton, Cardiff, Bristol, and Birmingham.
British universities differ greatly from each other. They differ in date of foundation, size, history, tradition, general organization, methods of instruction, the way of student life.
The two intellectual eyes of Britain which are frequently jointly referred to as " Oxbridge — Oxford and Cambridge universities are the most famous of Britain’s universities and date back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University or simply Oxford ) is located in very pretty town Oxford. While having no known date of foundation, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest surviving university. It grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry the Second banned English students from attending the University of Paris. In 1188 the historian Gerald of Wales gave a public reading and in 1190 the international scholarship was initiated. In 1231 it got the name universitas or corporation.
The student life was very different from what it is now. Books were very scarce and all the lessons were in the Latin language which students were supposed too speak even among themselves. Students were of all ages and came from everywhere. Those from the same part of the country tended to group themselves together and these groups, called “Nations”, often fought one another. There were riots between so-called “gown” and “town”. The students were armed; some even banded together to rob the people of the countryside.
The story of Cambridge University began in 1209 when several hundred students and scholars arrived in the little town of Cambridge after having walked 60 miles from Oxford. Gradually the idea of the College developed, and in 1284 Peterhouse, the oldest College in Cambridge, was founded. In 1440 King Henry VI founded King’s College, and other colleges followed. Erasmus, the great Dutch scholar, was at one of these, Queen’s College, from 1511 to 1513.
Both universities achieved eminence already in the medieval time and won the praises of kings, politicians and popes. In 1355 Edward 111 paid tribute to Oxford University for its invaluable contribution to learning and to the services to the state by its graduates.
Until 1878 only male students were allowed to enter the university but from 1920 38 Oxford colleges have changed their laws and started to admit both males and females.
During its history Oxford educated many notable people, including 5 kings, 25 prime ministers, 3 saints, 85 archbishops, 18 cardinals and many foreign heads of state. All in all 40 Nobel prize-winners graduated from Oxford.
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Many other great men studied at Cambridge, among them Bacon, Milton, Cromwell, Newton, Wordsworth, Byron and Tennyson.
Today “Oxbridge”, continues to attract many of the best brains thanks to their prestige and the beauty of many buildings and surroundings. The universities operate the largest university press in the world [and the largest academic libraries in the United Kingdom.
Now Oxford and Cambridge Universities are made up of a variety of self-governing and independent colleges as parts of the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities. They don’t have a main campus; instead, all the buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre.
At Cambridge and Oxford Universities, students are taught in the tutorial system in groups of one to three on a weekly basis. At Cambridge, these are called " supervisions" and at Oxford they are called " tutorials. " One benefit of the tutorial system is that students receive direct feedback and work in small discussion settings.
Student tutorials are generally more academically challenging, because during each session students are expected to orally communicate, defend, analyze, and critique the ideas of others as well as their own in conversations with the tutor and fellow-students.
University College London (UCL) was founded on 11 February 1826, under the name London University, as a secular alternative to the strictly religious universities of Oxford and Cambridge. However its founders encountered strong opposition from the Church of England, among others, which prevented them from securing the Royal Charter that was necessary for the award of degrees, and it was not until 1836, when the latter-day University of London was established, that the college was legally recognized and granted the power to award degrees of the University of London.
Besides Oxbridge and London University there are a lot of newer universities so-called Redbrick universities built in the 19th century as a result of the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of Britain’s overseas empire. With the expansion of higher education in the 1960s so-called “plate-glass” or “concrete and glass” universities were established. Over 50 polytechnics and similar higher education institutes acquired university status in 1992.
The Scottish universities of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh date back to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
British university courses are rather short, generally lasting for 3 years. The cost of education stars from 3000 pounds per annum depending on the college and specialty which one chooses.
The academic year in Britain’s universities is divided into three terms, which usually runs from the beginning of October to the middle of December, from the middle of January to the end of March, and from the middle of April to the end of June or the beginning of July.
After three years of study university graduates are called undergraduates. They leave with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts(BA), Science. Engineering, Medicine, etc. Later they may continue to take the Master's Degree (MA or MSC) and then the Doctor's Degree (PhD). Research is an important feature of university work during two last stages.
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Some universities offer a vocationally - based Foundation degree, typically two years in length for those students who hope to continue to take a first degree but wish to remain to work. This form of education is especially popular for adult students. Continuing education or Lifelong learning is offered to students of all ages. These may include the vocational qualifications and so-called access programme of one-two year courses to allow adults access to university.
There is so-called Distant Open University, intended for people who study in free time and «attend" lectures by watching television and listening to the radio and now working on the internet. They keep in touch by phone and email with their tutors and attend summer schools.
Scientific research and development remains important in British universities, with many establishing science parks to facilitate production and co-operation with industry. Between 2004 and 2012 the UK produced 6% of the world's scientific research papers and had an 8% share of scientific citations, the third- and second-highest in the world (after the United States' 9% and China's 7% respectively). Scientific journals produced in the UK include Nature, the British Medical Journal and The Lancet(ланцет, копье).
1 Answer the following questions:
I. At what age do British children go to school?
2. What types of school exist in Britain?
3. What age do British pupils normally take exams?
4. How can they enter Universities and colleges?
5. Which types of British universities do you know?
6. What degrees do British students receive on leaving universities?
2. Translate from Russian into English:
Обязательное школьное образование
Государственные, общеобразовательные, средние школы
Профессиональное образование
Оплата за учебу
Поступить в университет, закончить университет
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