Travel and Education: Exploring England and the British Education System

Ways to Travel to England

There are several ways of going to England: by air, by train and ship, or by car and car-ferry. It’s quicker by train than by car, and it’s also cheaper. It takes about 23 hours from Milan to London, including the channel crossing. It’s slower by car; it takes about two days or longer. The quickest way is to go by air, but it’s the most expensive too. The flight from Milan to London takes only two hours, and even less.

Crossings of the English Channel

There are seyeral routes across the English Channel. The shortest route is from Calais or Boulogne to Dover or Folkestone, crossing the narrow Straits of Dover. It takes I ½ hours by ship or car-ferry. The longest route is from Le Havre to Southampton, about eight hours. The Dieppe-Newhaven route (3 ¾ hours) is longer than the Calais (Boulogne) – Dover (Folkestone) one, but shorter than the Le Havre – South-ampton crossing. There is also a night ferry from Dunkirk to Dover. It takes about 3 ½ hours.

Hovercraft: the Fastest Way

If you are really in a hurry, there’s the Hovercraft, the S.R.N. 4 “Princess Margaret” is in service between Dover and Boulogne. It has a new “maxi-skirt” (stabilizer) to give passengers a smoother and more confortable ride. It does the crossing from Boulogne to Dover in 30 minutes. It’s the quickest way of all.
Education in Britain is compulsory from the age of about five to the age of fifteen. There are plans to raise the school-leaving age to sixteen in the near future. Children first attend an Infants’ School, and then a Primary School. At the age of eleven they go to a Secondary School.

Secondary Schools and Exams

There are three types of Secondary Schools: the Grammar Schools, the Technical Schools, and the Secondary Modern Schools. To be able to attend a Grammar or Technical School, pupils must pass an examination called the “Eleven Plus”, which consists of test in English, Arithmetic, and Intelligence. Some people have objected to this system, and so a new type of school has been founded in many parts of the country. This is called the Comprehensive Schools in one. Pupils many leave school at the age of sixteen, but many of those attending a Grammar School stay on for another year, at the end of which they take the General Certificate of Education examination at the “O2 (Ordinary) Level. Those who want to go to a university stay on an extra two years, after which they take the “A” (Advanced) Level examination, usually in two or three subjects only. It is on the results of the “A” Level examination that most British universities choose their students.