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Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan
I was personally surprised when I lived in America that for a country which prides itself on people being free to choose for schools it was very 'fixed' where you could go and when ...
England differs hugely, you can send your kids to any school you like pretty much if they're public (ie. non fee paying), if they're private and you can afford it and your child meets the entry criteria (private schools can require certain performance to enter) then ditto.
My kids even go to a school in a different county (roughly equivalent to 'state' for you lot) because my wife and I prefer them to the schools in our local town (its only 15 minutes down the road because we're on the cusp between counties).
Advantages of this setup is that parents can in the main ensure that their kids go to a fairly decent school, schools in turn have pressure to perform or they lose pupils and thus funding.
Disadvantages is that the league tables of pupil results get over-emphasised at schools (because of the 'advantages' above) and this can at some schools place too much pressure on students imho (for instance my daughter originally went to a school which pulled its kids in for early morning study for their SATS when they're 8 - SATS which imho mean didly squat to the kids long term - but a lot for the schools funding).
PS> I always wanted to be a teacher growing up and imho the pay teachers get in the UK is bloody awful, considering what they contribute to society their renumeration is dreadful ...
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That is very interesting. Isn't the schools broken up different in the secondary level also?