Full-time education is compulsory for all children aged 5 to 18, either at school or otherwise, with a child beginning primary education during the school year he or she turns 5. Children between the ages of 3 and 5 are entitled to 600 hours per year of optional, state-funded, pre-school education. This can be provided in "playgroups", nurseries, community childcare centres or nursery classes in schools.
The age at which a student may choose to stop education is commonly known as the "leaving age" for compulsory education. This age was raised to 18 by the Education and Skills Act 2008; the change took effect in 2013 for 16-year-olds and 2015 for 17-year-olds. From this time, the school leaving age (which remains 16) and the education leaving age (which is now 18) have been separated. State-provided schooling and sixth-form education are paid for by taxes.
All children in England must currently therefore receive an effective education (at school or otherwise) from the first "prescribed day", which falls on or after their fifth birthday until their 18th birthday, and must remain in school until the last Friday in June of the school year in which they turn 16. The education leaving age was raised in 2013 to the year in which they turn 17 and in 2015 to their 18th birthday for those born on or after 1 September 1997. The prescribed days are 31st August, 31st December and 31st March. The school year begins on 1st September (or 1st August if a term starts in August).
The Compulsory stages of education are broken into a Foundation Stage (actually covering the last part of optional and first part of compulsory education), 4 Key Stages, and post-16 education (sometimes unofficially termed Key Stage Five, which takes a variety of forms including 6th Form (covering the last 2 years of Secondary Education in schools).
Schools and stages
Below is a table summarizing the most common names of the various schools and stages. Grammar schools are normally state-funded but selective schools, admitting children from 11 years old onward, but there are exceptions such as Manchester Grammar School.
| Early Years | Nursery | 4 | Primary | Infant | Pre-preparatory | |||
| Early Years | Reception | 5 | Primary | Infant | Pre-preparatory | |||
| KS1 | Year 1 | 6 | Primary | Infant | Pre-preparatory | |||
| KS1 | Year 2 | 7 | Primary | Infant | Pre-preparatory | |||
| KS2 | Year 3 | 8 | Primary | Junior | Prep school | |||
| KS2 | Year 4 | 9 | Primary | Junior | Prep school | |||
| KS2 | Year 5 | 10 | Primary | Junior | Prep school | |||
| KS2 | Year 6 | SATS, (They may also take an Entrance exam to get in to secondary school of choice). | 11 | Primary | Junior | Prep school | ||
| KS3 | Year 7 | 12 | Secondary (Can be referred to as Lower school in some schools) | High school | Grammar school | Prep school | ||
| KS3 | Year 8 | 13 | Secondary (Can be referred to as Lower school in some schools) | High school | Grammar school | Prep school | ||
| KS3 | Year 9 | 14 | Secondary (This is the year the GCSE options are chosen in most schools).) (Can be referred to as Lower school in some schools) | High school | Grammar school | Prep school | Common Entrance Examination | |
| KS4 | Year 10 | 15 | Secondary | High school | Grammar school | Senior school | ||
| KS4 | Year 11 | GCSE | 16 | Secondary | High school | Grammar school | Senior school | |
| KS5 | Year 12 | 17 | Secondary/College | Sixth form/College | Grammar school | Senior school | ||
| KS5 | Year 13 | A-Levels | 18 | Secondary/College | Sixth form/College | Grammar school | Senior school |
State-funded schools
Some 93% of children between the ages of 3 and 18 are in education in state-funded schools without charge (other than for activities such as swimming, theatre visits and field trips for which a voluntary payment can be requested, and limited charges at state-funded boarding schools).
Allerton High School, a typical former secondary modern school in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
Since 1998, there have been six main types of maintained (state funded) school in England:
Academy schools, established by the 1997-2010 Labour Government to replace poorly-performing community schools in areas of high social and economic deprivation. Their start-up costs are typically funded by private means, such as entrepreneurs or NGOs, with running costs met by Central Government and, like Foundation schools, are administratively free from direct local authority control. The 2010 Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government expanded the role of Academies in the Academy Programme, in which a wide number of schools in non-deprived areas were also encouraged to become Academies, thereby essentially replacing the role of Foundation schools established by the previous Labour government. They are monitored directly by the Department for Education.
Community schools (formerly county schools), in which the local authority employs the schools' staff, owns the schools' lands and buildings, and has primary responsibility for admissions.
Free schools, introduced by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition following the 2010 general election, are newly established schools in England set up by parents, teachers, charities or businesses, where there is a perceived local need for more schools. They are funded by taxpayers, are academically non-selective and free to attend, and like Foundation schools and Academies, are not controlled by a local authority. They are ultimately accountable to the Secretary of State for Education. Free schools are an extension of the existing Academy Programme. The first 24 free schools opened in Autumn 2011.
Foundation schools, in which the governing body employs the staff and has primary responsibility for admissions. School land and buildings are owned by the governing body or by a charitable foundation. The Foundation appoints a minority of governors. Many of these schools were formerly grant maintained schools. In 2005 the Labour government proposed allowing all schools to become Foundation schools if they wished.
Voluntary Aided schools, linked to a variety of organisations. They can be faith schools (often the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church), or non-denominational schools, such as those linked to London Livery Companies. The charitable foundation contributes towards the capital costs of the school (typically 10%), and appoints a majority of the school governors. The governing body employs the staff and has primary responsibility for admissions.
Voluntary Controlled schools, which are almost always church schools, with the lands and buildings often owned by a charitable foundation. However, the local authority employs the schools' staff and has primary responsibility for admissions.
In addition, 3 of the 15 City Technology Colleges established in the 1980s still remain, the rest having converted to academies. These are state-funded all-ability secondary schools which charge no fees but which are independent of local authority control. There are also a small number of state-funded boarding schools.
English state-funded primary schools are almost all local schools with a small catchment area. More than half are owned by the Local Authority, though many are (nominally) voluntary controlled and some are voluntary aided. Some schools just include infants (aged 4 to 7) and some just juniors (aged 7 to 11). Some are linked, with automatic progression from the infant school to the junior school, and some are not. A few areas still have first schools for ages around 4 to 8 and middle schools for ages 8 or 9 to 12 or 13.
English secondary schools are mostly comprehensive, although the intake of comprehensive schools can vary widely, especially in urban areas with several local schools. Nearly 90% of state-funded secondary schools are specialist schools, receiving extra funding to develop one or more subjects in which the school specialises, which can select up to 10% of their intake for aptitude in the specialism (though relatively few of them have taken up this option). In a few areas children can enter a grammar school if they pass the eleven plus exam, there are also a number of isolated fully selective grammar schools and a few dozen partially selective schools. A significant minority of state-funded schools are faith schools, which are attached to religious groups, most often the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church.
All state-funded schools are regularly inspected by the Office for Standards in Education, often known simply as Ofsted. Ofsted publish reports on the quality of education at a particular school on a regular basis. Schools judged by Ofsted to be providing an inadequate standard of education may be subject to special measures, which could include replacing the governing body and senior staff.
Independent schools
Approximately 7% of school children in England attend privately run, fee-paying independent schools. Some independent schools for 13-18 year olds are known for historical reasons as 'public schools' and for 8-13 year olds as 'prep schools'. Some schools offer scholarships for those with particular skills or aptitudes, or bursaries to allow students from less financially well-off families to attend. Independent schools do not have to follow the National Curriculum, and their teachers are not required or regulated by law to have official teaching qualifications."
Education by means other than schooling
The 1944 Education Act (Section 36) stated that parents are responsible for the education of their children, "by regular attendance at school or otherwise", which allows children to be educated at home. The legislation places no requirement for parents who choose not to send their children to school to follow the National Curriculum, or to give formal lessons, or to follow school hours and terms, and parents do not need to be qualified teachers. A small but increasing numbers of parents do choose to educate their children outside the conventional school systems. Officially referred to as "Elective Home Education", teaching ranges from structured homeschooling (using a school-style curriculum) to less-structured unschooling. Education Otherwise has supported parents who wished to educate their children outside school since the 1970s. The state provides no financial support to parents who choose to educate their children outside of school.
Post-16 education
Students at both state schools and independent schools typically take GCSE examinations, which mark the end of compulsory education in school. Above school-leaving age, the independent and state sectors are similarly structured. In the 16-18 age group, sixth form education is not compulsory, but mandatory education or training until the age of 18 is being phased in under the Education and Skills Act 2008.
This took effect for 16-year-olds in 2013 and for 17-year-olds in September 2015. While students may still leave school on the last Friday in June, they must remain in education of some form until their 18th birthday.
Sixth form colleges / further education colleges
Students over 16 typically study in the sixth form of a school, in a separate sixth form college, or in a Further Education (FE) College. Courses at FE colleges, referred to as further education courses, can also be studied by adults over 18. Students typically study Level 3 qualifications such as A-levels, BTEC National awards and level 3 NVQs. Some 16-18 students will be encouraged to study Key Skills in Communication, Application of Number, and Information Technology at this time.
Apprenticeships and traineeships
The National Apprenticeship Service helps people 16 or more years of age enter apprenticeships in order to learn a skilled trade. Traineeships are also overseen by the National Apprenticeship Service, and are education and a training programmes that are combined with work experience to give trainees the skills needed to get an apprenticeship.
Apprenticeships come in four levels: Intermediate (level 2), Advanced (level 3), Higher (level 4 - 7) and Degree (level 6 - 7). Intermediate apprenticeships are equivalent to 5 GCSEs at A* - C, Advanced to 2 A-levels, Higher to a foundation degree or above, and Degree apprenticeships to a bachelor's or master's degree.
A study in 2014 found that unemployment rates among former apprentices one year after completing their apprenticeships were one-third those of university graduates one year after finishing their degrees. A 2015 study by the Sutton Trust found that, while average net lifetime earnings for those who had completed level 5 apprenticeships were higher than those for graduates from non-Russell Group universities, most apprenticeships offered were at levels 2 and 3, providing little improvement over earnings from secondary school qualifications. The report also found that apprenticeships had a lower perceived value compared to degrees in Britain than in many other countries.