Topic "Higher Education n Great Britain"

The UK has a vast variety of higher education opportunities. Nowadays higher education in the UK is provided by universities, colleges of education, colleges of arts and colleges of further education.

There are 46 universities in Britain. The universities can be divided into three groups: the oldest universities (Oxford and Cambridge); the redbrick universities and the new universities.

Oxford & Cambridge Universities  are known all over the world and are the oldest and most prestig-ious universities in Britain. 

All British universities are private institutions. Every university is in-dependent, and responsible to its own governing council. 

University students are carefully selected. The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and good A-level results in at least two subjects are necessary to get a place at a university. 

The academic year in Britain is divided into 3 terms. 

The general pattern of teaching at the universities remains a mixture of lectures, seminars and tutorials. Each student has a tutor who is responsible for the student’s progress. Tuition fees are high. The students receive grants from public and private funds to pay for their tuition. 

After three years of study a university graduate will leave with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine, etc. Later the graduate may continue research to get Master's Degree. It is necessary for a postgraduate to spend three years carrying out research and writing thesis for getting the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.  

Внеаудиторное чтение Higher Education

The Bologna Process

  

The Bologna Process is a series of agreements between European countries designed to ensure comparability in the standards and quality of higher education qualifications. It is named after the place it was proposed, the University of Bologna, celebrating the 900th anniversary, with the signing of the Bologna declaration by Education Ministers from 29 European countries in 1999, forming a part of European integration.

The Bologna Process currently has 47 participating countries. The basic framework adopted is of three cycles of higher education qualifications. These are statements of what students know and can do on completion of their degrees.

1st cycle: a bachelor's degree.

2nd cycle: a master's degree.

3rd cycle: a doctoral degree.

In most cases, these will take 3–4 years for a bachelor's degree, 1–2 years for a master's degree, and 3–4 years for a doctoral degree, respectively to complete. The Bologna Process was a major reform created with the goal of providing responses to issues such as the public responsibility for higher education and research with the most demanding qualification needs.

With the Bologna Process implementation, higher education systems in European countries are to be organized in such a way that:
it is easy to move from one country to the other (within the European Higher Education Area) – for the purpose of further study or employment; the attractiveness of European higher education has increased, so that many people from non-European countries also come to study and/or work in Europe; the European Higher Education Area provides Europe with a broad, high quality advanced knowledge base, and ensures the further development of Europe as a stable, peaceful and tolerant community.

The Russian higher education framework was basically incompatible with the Process: the general degree in all universities since Soviet era is the Specialist which can be obtained after completing 5–6 years of studies. Since the mid-90s, many universities have introduced limited educational programmes allowing students to graduate with a bachelor's degree (4 years) and then earn a master's degree (another 1–2 years) while preserving the old 5–6 year scheme. In October 2007 Russia enacted a move to two-tier education in line with Bologna Process model. The universities inserted a BSc diploma in the middle of their standard specialist programs; transition to real MS qualification has not been completed yet 

History of Academic Degree 

An academic degree is a college or university diploma, often associated with a title and sometimes associated with an academic position, which is usually awarded.

The most common degrees awarded today are Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctoral degrees. Most higher education institutions generally offer certificates and programs of Master of Advanced Studies, which is known as a Diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées under its original French name.

The modern system of academic degrees evolved and expanded in the medieval university, spreading everywhere across the globe. No other European institution has spread over the entire world in the way in which the traditional form of the European university has done. The degrees awarded by European universities – the bachelor’s degree, the licentiate, the master’s degree, and the doctorate – have been adopted in the most diverse societies throughout the world.

The doctorate (Latin: doceo, I teach) appeared in medieval Europe as a license to teach at a medieval university. Its roots can be traced to the early church when the term "doctor" referred to the Apostles, church farther and other Christian authorities who taught and interpreted the Bible.

Originally the terms "master" and "doctor" were synonymous, but over time the doctorate came to be regarded as a higher qualification than the master degree.

In the medieval European universities, candidates who had completed three or four years of study in the prescribed texts of the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and logic), and the quadrivium (mathematics, geometry, astronomy and music), together known as the Liberal Arts, and who had successfully passed examinations held by their master, would be admitted to the degree of bachelor of arts.

 Further study would earn one the Master of Arts degree. Master of Arts was eligible to enter study under the "higher faculties" of Law, Medicine or Theology, and earn first a bachelor's and then master or doctor's degrees in these subjects. Thus a degree was only a step on the way to becoming a fully qualified master – hence the English word "graduate", which is based on the Latin gradus ("step").

Today the terms "master", "doctor" (from the Latin "teacher") and "professor" signify different levels of academic achievement, but in the Medieval  university they were equivalent terms, the use of them in the degree name being a matter of custom at a university. Most universities conferred the Master of Arts, although the highest degree was often termed Master of Theology or Doctor of Theology depending on the place.

The earliest doctoral degrees (theology - Divinitatis Doctor (D.D.), philosophy - Doctor of philosophy (D.Phil., Ph.D.) and medicine - Medicine Doctor (M.D., D.M.) reflected the historical separation of all University study into these three fields. Over time the D.D. has gradually become less common and studies outside theology and medicine have become more common (such studies were then called "philosophy", but are now classified as sciences and humanities – however this usage survives in the degree of Doctor of Philosophy) [10].

Notes:

·       Master of Advanced Studies	- степень магистра по углубленной профессиональной подготовке
·       licentiate	- степень лиценциата (в средневековых университетах – промежуточная степень между бакалавром и доктором)
·       quadrivium	- четыре пути, квадривий (в средние века – группа наук (арифметика, геометрия, астрономия, музыка) вместе с trivium «семь свободных искусств (наук)»
·       trivium	трехпутье, тривий (первая группа семипредметного средневекового школьного курса (риторика, грамматика, диалектика)
·       Liberal Arts	- гуманитарные науки
·       Divinitatis Doctor	- доктор богословия

Vocabulary Higher Education in Great Britain

1. higher education - высшее образование 
2. to provide smb  - обеспечить кого-л чем-то
3. to divide in - разделять на
4. independent - независимый
5. to be founded  - быть основанным
6. to set up - основать
7. private - частный
8. financial support - финансовая поддержка
9. responsible for - ответственный за
10. responsible to - ответственный перед
11. curriculum - учебный план
12. subject - предмет
13. full-time courses - очное обучение
14. sandwich courses - заочное обучение
15. to graduate from - окончить университет
16. graduate - выпускник
17. graduation - окончание университете
18. academic year - учебный год
19. term - семестр
20. tutorial - индивидуальное занятие
21. tutor - тьютор, репетитор
22. grant - грант, стипендия
23. tuition fees - стоимость обучения
24. public and private funds - государственные и частные фонды
25. department - кафедра. департамент, отдел.
26. degree - степень
27. Bachelor`s degree - степень бакалавра
28. Master`s degree - степень магистра
29. Doctor of Philosophy - доктор философии
30. assessment - оценка

Упражнения на домашнее задание

4.  Read the following words and their derivatives. Translate them into Russian.

Ø      act, action, activity, active;

Ø      vary, variety, various;

Ø      appoint, appointment;

Ø      depend, independence, dependent, independent;

Ø      establish, established, establishment;

Ø      examine, exam / examination, examiner;

Ø      general, generally, generalization;

Ø      govern, government, governor;

Ø      graduate, postgraduate, graduation;

Ø      normal, normally, abnormal;

Ø      pay, payment, unpaid;

Ø      prepare, prepared, unprepared, preparation;

Ø      read, reader, readable, unreadable.

8.  Fill in the gaps in the text using the words given in the box.

Colleges, to graduate from, admitted, pass finals, governing council, progress, pays attention to, degree.

Universities, polytechnics and … provide higher education in Great Britain. Today there are forty six universities in Britain. Oxford … philosophy, classical languages and literature. Every university is independent, and responsible to its own … . Students are … to the university on their result of GCSE. As a rule, it takes 3 or 4 years … the university. All students have tutors who are responsible for the student’s … . Students … at the end of their third or fourth year and get Bachelor’s … .

                                     

9.  Answer the following questions.

1.  What are the opportunities to get higher education in the UK?

2.  How many universities are there in Great Britain?

3.  What are the oldest and most famous British universities?

4.  How are modern universities called?

5.  British universities are private institutions, aren’t they?

6.  What is necessary to be admitted to the university?

7.  Is there any dress-code in the universities?

8.  Is it free of charge to get higher education in the UK?

9.  How long does the course of studies last at the university?

10. What is the general pattern of teaching at the universities?

11.  What university degrees can graduates be awarded?

12. When is the doctor of Philosophy degree awarded?

Higher Education in Great Britain

The UK has a vast variety of higher education opportunities with over 100 universities offering various degree programs for students from the UK and around the world. Nowadays higher education in the UK is provided by universities, colleges of education, colleges of arts and col-leges of further education.

There are 46 universities in Britain. The universities can be divided into three groups: the oldest universities (Oxford and Cambridge); the redbrick universities and the new universities

Oxford & Cambridge Universities date from the 12 - 13 centuries. They are known all over the world and are the oldest and most prestig-ious universities in Britain. They are often called collectively Oxbridge, but both of them are completely independent. Only education elite go to Oxford and Cambridge. In the nineteenth and the early part of the twen-tieth centuries the so-called redbrick universities were founded. During the late sixties and early seventies some 20 'new' universities were set up. Sometimes they are called 'concrete and glass' universities.

All British universities are private institutions. Every university is in-dependent, and responsible to its own governing council. Although they all receive financial support from the state, the Department of education and science has no control over their regulations, curriculum, examina-tions, appointment of staff, or the way  they spend money. The universi-ties have their own traditions, which they preserve carefully. A student must wear a cap and a gown. It is a custom from the time when students were clergymen.

University students are carefully selected. The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and good A-level results in at least two subjects are necessary to get a place at a university. However, good cer-tificate and exam scores are not enough. Universities choose their stu-dents after interviews.

Colleges for further education include polytechnics, colleges of edu-cation, specialist colleges (agricultural colleges, colleges of art and music, etc.), further education colleges. The polytechnics, like the universities, offer first and higher degrees. Some of them offer full-time and sandwich courses for working students. Colleges of education provide two-year courses in teacher education or sometimes three years if the graduate specializes in some particular subjects.

The academic year in Britain's universities, polytechnics, colleges of education is divided into 3 terms, which usually run from the beginning of October to the middle of December, the middle of January to the end of March, from the middle of April to the end of June or the beginning of July.

The general pattern of teaching at the universities remains a mixture of lectures, seminars and tutorials. Each student has a tutor who is responsible for the student’s progress. Tuition fees are high. The students receive grants from public and private funds, which provide for the payment of their tuition fees and other expenses. Each university and department has its own method of assessment, but, in general, progress is measured through a combination of coursework, dissertation and finals (end-of-course examinations).

After three years of study a university graduate will leave with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine, etc. Some courses, such as languages and medicine, may be one or two years longer. The degrees are awarded at public degree ceremonies. Later the graduate may continue research to get Master's Degree. This degree is conferred for a thesis based on at least one year’s full time work. But it is necessary for a postgraduate to spend three years carrying out research and writing thesis for getting the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Law Vocabulary

law  - закон, право
law-making body - законодательный орган
obey a law - исполнять закон
law-breaker - правонарушитель
government - правительство
penalty - наказание, штраф
society - общество
court - суд
authority - власть, орган власти
legal - юридический, законный
dispute - спор, разногласие
crime - преступление
justice - правосудие, справедливость
legal advice - юридическая консультация
legal dictionary - юридический словарь
police - полиция
community - общество
legal system - юридическая система
common law - общее право
continental law - континентальное право
precedent - прецедент
divergent -  отклоняющийся, разнящийся
codified law - кодифицированное право
case - дело, случай
previous case - предыдущий случай, дело
equity - справедливость
Code of Napoleon - кодекс Наполеона
procedure - процедура, судопроизводство
local custom - местный обычай
legal tradition - юридическая традиция