Education

Education in the UK is devolved matter, with each state has a separate education system.

Education in England is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Education, despite the daily administration and funding of state schools is the responsibility of local government. Universal state education is free of charge introduced gradually between 1870 and 1944, with education became compulsory for all 5 to 14 year-olds in 1921 . Education is now compulsory from ages 5-16 (15 if born in late July or August). The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools, only a minority who voted on the basis of academic ability. State schools are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to the private schools of the most selective: of the ten schools of superior performance in terms of GCSE results in 2006 are the two state-run grammar schools. Although the decline in the proportion of the actual number of children in England attend private schools has increased to more than 7%. More than half of students at leading universities of Cambridge and Oxford had attended state schools . Universities in the UK including some of the best universities in the world:. University of Cambridge, University College London, University of Oxford and Imperial College London, all ranks in world's top 10 in the 2010 QS World University Rankings, Cambridge was ranked first with Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessed students in the UK 7 in the world for mathematics and for science 6. The results put England ahead of the students of other European countries, including Germany and the Scandinavian countries.


Education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, with day-to-day administration and funding of public schools the responsibility of local government. Two non-departmental public bodies have an important role in the education of Scotland: Scottish Qualifications Authority is responsible for the accreditation of development assessment, and certification of qualifications other than degrees delivered in secondary schools, post-secondary schools, further education colleges and other centers; .. Learning and Teaching Scotland provides advice, resources and staff development for the educational community to promote the development of curriculum and create a culture of innovation, ambition and excellence was passed to Scotland's first compulsory education in 1496 The proportion of children in school Scotland attending private just over 4%, although it has risen slowly in recent years. Scottish students who attend Scottish universities pay tuition fees nor graduate contribution, as the fee was abolished in 2001 and graduate endowment scheme was abolished in 2008.

Education in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Minister of Education and Minister of Labour and Learning, although responsibility at the local level is administered by five education and library boards that cover different geographical areas. Council Curriculum, Examination and Assessment (CCEA) is the body responsible for advising the government on what should be taught in Northern Ireland schools, monitoring standards and provision of qualifications. Welsh Government has the responsibility for education in Wales. A large number of Welsh students are taught either wholly or mainly in the Welsh language; lessons in Welsh is compulsory for all until the age of 16 There are plans to increase the provision of Welsh schools as part of the policy. creating a bilingual Wales.

Migration

Britain has experienced successive waves of migration. Great Famine Irish immigrants brought huge waves More than 120,000 Polish veterans settled in England after World War II, can not return home. In the 20th century occurred significant immigration from former colonies and newly independent colonies, driven by post-World War II labor shortages. Many of the migrants came from the Caribbean and the Indian subcontinent.

In 2010, there were 7.0 million foreign-born residents in Britain, according to 11.3% of the total population. Of these, 4.76 million (7.7%) were born outside the EU and 2.24 million (3.6%) were born in the EU Member States. The proportion of foreign-born people in Britain are still slightly below that several other European countries, although immigration has contributed to rising population, accounting for about half of the increase in population between 1991 and 2001. Analysis of Data Office for National Statistics show that 2.3 million net migrants moved to England in the period 1991-2006. In 2008, predicted that the migration will add 7 million UK population by 2031, although the figures are disputed . Based on the Office for National Statistics (ONS), net migration to 12 months in 2010 jumped 21 percent to 239 000 from 2009. Immigration in 2010 was 575 000, or relatively stable since 2004, while the number of people leaving Britain to live abroad for more than 12 months only 336 000.

195 046 foreign nationals became British citizen in 2010, compared with 54 902 in 1999. [318] [319] A record 241 192 people are given the right of permanent settlement in 2010, of which 51 per cent came from Asia and 27 percent of Africa [320] 24.7 percent of babies born in England and Wales in 2009. born to mothers who were born outside the UK, according to official statistics released in 2010.


At least 5.5 million British-born people living abroad, four of a destination Australia, Spain, the United States and Canada . Emigration is an important feature of British society in the 19th century. Between 1815 and 1930 about 11.4 million people emigrated from the UK and 7.3 million from Ireland. Estimates show that at the end of the 20th century some 300 million people are descendants of British and Irish settled permanently around the world.

EU citizens have the right to live and work in each member state, including the UK. Transitional arrangements apply to Romania and Bulgaria, whose country joined the EU in January 2007. Research conducted by the Migration Policy Institute for the Equality and Human Rights Commission shows that, between May 2004 and September 2009, 1.5 million workers migrated from the new EU members to the UK, two thirds of them Poles, but that many since returning home, resulting in a net increase in the number of citizens of new member states in the United Kingdom from some 700 000 over the period . end of the 2000s recession in the UK to reduce the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK, to be temporary and circular migration. In 2009, for the first time since enlargement, citizens of more than eight Central and Eastern European countries that joined the European Union in 2004 left Britain than arrived.

The British government today introduced a points-based immigration system for immigration from outside the European Economic Area that will replace the existing scheme, including the Fresh Talent Initiative Scottish Government In June of 2010. Conservative-Liberal coalition government Democrats introduced a temporary cap on immigration of those entering Britain from outside the EU, with limits set at 24100, which is expected to stop the rush of applications before the permanent cap imposed in April 2011. hat has caused tension within the coalition: the business secretary Vince Cable argues that it is detrimental to the business English .

Religion

Form of Christianity has dominated religious life in what is now the UK for more than 1,400 years . Although the majority of people still identify with Christianity in many surveys, regular church attendance has fallen dramatically since the mid-20th century, while immigration and demographic changes have contributed to the growth of other religions, especially Islam . This has led some commentators to describe a variety of English as a multi-faith, secular, or post-Christian society In 2001 71.6% of all census respondents. show that they are Christians, with the next largest religious (the number of followers) to Islam (2.8%), Hindu (1.0%), Sikhs (0.6%), Jews (0.5%), Buddhists (0.3%) and all other religions (0.3%) . 15% of respondents stated that they had no religion, with a further 7% stated no religious preference. A Tearfund survey in 2007 showed only one in ten Britons actually attend church every week.

Church (Anglican) Church of England was established in the UK . It still has a representative in British Parliament and the British monarch is the Supreme Governor of his In Scotland. Presbyterian Church of Scotland is recognized as a national church. It is not subject to state control, and the king of England is an ordinary member, is required to swear to "defend and preserve the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government" in his or her accession. The Church in Wales was dissolved in 1920, and there is no established church in Northern Ireland. Although there is no UK-wide census data in 2001 on compliance with the individual Christian denominations, Ceri Peach estimates that 62% of Christians are Anglican, Roman Catholic 13.5%, 6% Presbyterian, Methodist 3.4% by number other smaller Protestant denominations and Orthodox churches.

language

English the official language is English, West Germanic language Old English descent who have a large loan from Old Norse, Norman French, Greek and Latin. English has spread around the world, mainly because the United Kingdom, and has become the international language of business as well as a second language most widely taught.

Scotland, the language fell from early northern Middle English, is recognized at European level, such as regional variants in the northern counties of Ireland, Ulster Scots. There are also four Celtic languages ​​are spoken in the UK: Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish. In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh, an increase from the 1991 Census (18%). In addition it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers living in England.

Census 2001 in Northern Ireland shows that 167 487 (10.4%) of people "have some knowledge of Irish" (see Irish language in Northern Ireland), almost exclusively on the Catholic population / nationalist. More than 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72% of those living in the Outer Hebrides. The number of school children are taught in Welsh, and Irish Gaelic increased. Welsh and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken by small groups around the globe with some Gaelic still spoken in Nova Scotia, Canada (particularly Cape Breton Island), and the Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina.

Across the United Kingdom is generally compulsory for pupils to learn a second language to some extent: up to age 14 in England, and until the age of 16 in Scotland. France and Germany are the two most common second language taught in England and Scotland. In Wales, all students up to age 16 who either taught in Welsh or taught Welsh as a second language.

Tribe

Historically, the native British people regarded as the descendants of various ethnic groups who settled there before the 11th century: the Celts, Romans, Anglo-Saxon, Norway and Normandy. Recent genetic research shows that more than 50 percent of the Y chromosome contains genes English Germanic, although more recent genetic analysis indicates that "approximately 75 percent of traceable ancestors of the modern British population has arrived on the island of Britain about 6200 years ago, in the early Neolithic England or the Stone Age, "and that Britain is widely shared common ancestry with the Basque people.

Britain has a history of small scale non-white immigration, with Liverpool having the Black population in the country's oldest dating back to at least the 1730s, and the oldest Chinese community in Europe, dating the arrival of Chinese seamen in the 19th century. In 1950 there may be fewer than 20,000 non-whites in Britain, almost all born overseas.

Since 1945 a large immigration from the African, Caribbean and South Asia have a legacy of ties forged by the United Kingdom. Migration from new EU members in Central and Eastern Europe since 2004 has resulted in the growth in population groups but, in 2008, the trend is reversing and many of the migrants returned home, leaving the group size is unknown. In 2001, 92.1% of the population identified themselves as White, leaving 7.9% of UK population identified themselves as mixed race or ethnic minority.

Ethnic diversity varies significantly across the UK. 30.4% of the population of London and Leicester 37.4% of the estimated non-white in June 2005, while less than 5% of the population of North East England, Wales and South West are from ethnic minorities according to the 2001 census. In 2011, 26.5% and 22.2% of primary students in secondary schools in England are members of ethnic minorities.