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Comparison and Contrast of the Education Systems in the United Kingdom and the United States of America

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Comparison and Contrast of the Education Systems in the United Kingdom and the United States of America
Comparison and contrast of the education systems in the United Kingdom and the United States of America

Table of Contents

Page No.

Introduction 1

Section 1. Similarities and differences between the UK and the USA regarding types of schools 2

Section 2. Similarities and differences between the UK and the USA regarding university entrance procedure 5

Conclusion 7

References

Introduction

Education is widely accepted to be an essential part of people's lives. It is generally agreed that education helps people to develop their own personalities, by acquiring new knowledge, using different sources. An American philosopher John Dewey (n.d) claimed: “Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself”. It must therefore be recognised that education is a long process of learning, which starts from one’s birth. Every day a person gets to learn more and more new information. Society is considered to be an area of learning. It also plays a very important role in people’s education. A person receives knowledge from his surroundings and shares it with other people. Hence, it is very important to be educated in society. There is no doubt that education is the way to success, the more you study, the more chances you have to succeed in life.

Nowadays, every government tries to develop its educational system in the country. Therefore, a great deal of special educational facilities are open all over the world, such as kindergartens, schools, colleges. The government of any country strives to have an educated population, because it influences the development of the society and it promotes economic growth, as there will be many well qualified workers. Education is supposed to create competition at places of employment. That is why, more and more people try to get a higher education, subsequently to get good, well paid jobs. According to statistics, over the



References: BBC news, (n.d), US and UK universities 'dominant ', http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7659616.stm [Accessed: Oct 19, 2010]. Dewey, J (n.d), Thinkexist, http://thinkexist.com/quotes/john_dewey/ [Accessed: Oct 13, 2010]. Gateway, (n.d), University Admission Process, http://www.gatewayoverseas.com/admission_process.html [Accessed: Oct 19, 2010]. http://www.professor-frithjof-kuhnen.de/publications/agricultural-colleges/0.htm [Accessed: Oct 17, 2010]. New Zealand Treasury, 2006, Changing Educational Qualifications, New Zealand, http://www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/research-policy/wp/2003/03-35/02.htm [Accessed: Oct 14, 2010]. Unknown author, 2007, USA Study Guide, http://www.usastudyguide.com/usaeducationsystem.htm [Accessed: Oct 17, 2010]. United States International University, (n.d), Entrance Requirements, http://www.usiu.ac.ke/index.php?page=109 [Accessed: Oct 19, 2010]. United States International University, (n.d), Application Procedures, http://www.usiu.ac.ke/index.php?page=110 [Accessed: Oct 19, 2010]. The University of Sussex, (n.d), Graduation Ceremony Information, http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/registry/graduation/ [Accessed: Oct 17, 2010]. Vincent, A, (2001), How to choose your GCSEs, 7th ed, Trotman&Company Ltd, North Yorkshire.

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