In the UK. Compare them with the Russian ones.

Primary education	It is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 11 in England, Wales and Scotland (4 and 11 in the Northern Ireland).
Secondary education	It is compulsory across the UK between 11 and 16. (In England, the Department for Children, Schools and Families has confirmed plans to raise the “school leaving age” in England to 18 by 2013.)
16 to 19 education	Secondary schools and sixth form colleges offer general education. Further education colleges generally put a greater emphasis on vocational courses. Tertiary colleges offer both general and vocational education.
Further education	Further education colleges and many sixth form centres provide various courses for students of all ages.
Higher education	It is provided by universities, higher education colleges and a small number of university colleges. Higher education institutions offer a wide range of qualifications and titles: · D (Doctoral) – Doctorates mean a qualification such as a Doctor of Philosophy - a PhD or Dphil; · M (Masters) - Masters degrees, postgraduate certificates and diplomas provide qualifications in a number of areas - MA (master of arts), MSc (master of science), MBA (master of business administration), LLM (master of law), MEd (master of education), MPhil (master of philosophy) and MRes (master of research); · H (Honours) - Bachelors degrees, graduate certificates and diplomas lead to a qualification such as a bachelor of arts (BA), bachelor of science (BSc) or bachelor of medicine (MB); · I (Intermediate) - Diplomas of Higher Education and Further Education, Foundation Degrees, Higher National Diplomas; · C (Certificate) - Certificate of Higher Education

 

► 16. Read the sentences on peculiarities of higher education in the UK and compare them in writing with the Russian ones:

· There are currently around 170 universities and higher education colleges and over two million higher education students in the UK. Of these, 87% are from the UK, 4% are from other countries of the European Community, and over 8% are from countries outside of the European Community.

· Higher education is referred to as “lifelong learning”, which is not limited to the compulsory school years, but extends through an adult's working life and sometimes into retirement.

· The University of Buckingham is the only private university in the UK. The vast majority of British universities are state financed.

· Most universities in the United Kingdom provide rented accommodation for many of their students, particularly freshers (first-year students).

· A wide range of courses is offered, with content and modes of study (full-time, part-time, flexibly, or via distance learning) varying from institution to institution.

· Students can study different courses depending on their preferences (or career goals), so if they enjoy studying art and politics, they can probably apply for a combined course covering both subjects.

· Graduates of the UK universities often place not only their academic qualifications but also the names of the universities that awarded them after their name: John Smith, BSc (Sheffield). Degrees are generally listed in ascending order of seniority followed by diplomas.

 

 

► 17. Concentrate on the “education funding” words. Are there such realia in Russia? Find the Russian equivalents to the marked words.

English undergraduate students (and students from other EU countries) have to pay university fees up to a maximum of £3,125 capped (for 2008/9). A state-provided loan is available which may only be used for tuition fee costs. Students are also entitled to apply for state-provided loans to pay for living costs, a portion of which is also means-tested. A new grant is also available, which is means-tested and offers up to £2,700 a year. As part of the deal allowing universities to charge up to £3,070 a year in tuition fees, all universities are required to offer burseries to those in receipt of the full government grant of at least £300. Non-EU students are not subsidised by the state and so have to pay much higher fees.

In principle, all postgraduate students are liable for fees, though a variety of scholarship and assistantship schemes exist which may provide support. Postgraduate students from the UK or EU who spend less than 16 hours per week on course mandated lectures or seminars are also eligible to claim unemployment benefit and housing benefit, provided that they can prove they are available to work 40 hours per week. This is irrespective of whether they are enrolled as studying full-time or part-time. However, typically this is not a common source of funding except for students in the 'writing up' stage of a PhD, where they have completed their main period of registration and are finishing off their thesis.

► 18. Study the classification of British universities. Choose one category and make an internet-based research on it (www.yandex.ru, www.google.com)

• Ancient universities like Aberdeen, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Oxford and St Andrews- universities founded before the 19th century;
• The University of London and Durham University founded in the early 19th century prior to the Red Bricks;
• Red Brick universities - universities which were chartered in the late 19th and early 20th centuries;
• Plate Glass Universities chartered in the 1960s which were known as "New Universities" when first created, but which are now more commonly considered a sub-section of the "Old Universities" which existed prior to the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 which allowed Polytechnics to become Universities;
• The Open University, founded in 1968 is Britain's sole mainly distance-learning University;

· New Universities - created in or after 1992 often called Post-1992 universities, from polytechnics and colleges of Higher Education.

 

► 19. Use the words and expressions from the descriptions of the world’s greatest universities to talk about the Karelian Branch of the North-West Academy of Public Administration in Petrozavodsk.

The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world dating from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Today the University of Oxford is an international leader in teaching, research and technology transfer. Its international student community of 5,359 (total 18,113) include students from 130 different nations. Oxford University's academic community includes over 70 Fellows of the Royal Society and around 90 Fellows of the British Academy.

 

The University of Cambridge is one of the oldest universities in the world and one of the largest in the United Kingdom. In 2009 the University of Cambridge is celebrating its 800th anniversary, over this period its contribution to the world has ranged from the discovery of the mechanism of blood circulation to the structures of DNA, from the great philosophers of the early 15th century, to the groundbreaking work of its many Nobel Prize winners.

Cambridge University's reputation for outstanding academic achievement is known world-wide and reflects the intellectual achievement of its students, as well as the world-class original research carried out by the staff of the University and the Colleges.

 

PEOPLE AT WORK. EMPLOYMENT

► 1. Write about the differences between the terms