*Provide an overall description of British education.

- Each country of the UK has a separate education system with power over education matters
in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland being devolved.- Education matters for England are
dealt with by the UK government since there is no devolved administration for England.
- By law, children between the age of 5 and 16 receive full-time education (this will change
to 18 years around 2015).
- More than 93% of all students in the Britain attend publicly funded state schools (i.e. free).
Private education is available if people wish to pay.
- Children have 6 years of primary school (5 year olds – 11 year olds). They normally transfer
to secondary school at around 11 years of age.
- At around 16 years of age, students take exams in a range of subjects at GCSE level
(General Certificate of Secondary Education). Some subjects are compulsory (English and
Mathematics being two).
- At this point students may leave the education system to find employment or may decide to
study for 2 more years and take A Level (Advanced Level) exams. A-Levels are the
minimum requirements for acceptance into a British University.
- Universities in the UK include the so-called Oxbridge universities (Oxford University and
Cambridge University) of which are amongst the world's oldest universities and are generally
ranked top of all British universities.

*Describe some of the characteristics which give the BBC its special
position in Britain and the rest of the world.
- BBC is ultimately responsible to parliament through its 12 publicly appointed board of
governors. The BBC’s main goal is to “bring the world to UK and bring UK to the world”.
- The BBC’s day-to-day operations are run by 16 divisions. Their directors report to the
director-general forming the Executive Committee. Each division’s performance is regularly
assessed by the BBC’s governors. BBC 1 and BBC 2 – licence fees from viewers, sale of
programmes, hire and sale of educational filmed based on programmes. Do not depend on
advertising for its income. BBC World is broadcaster funded with 24-hour news, analysis and
information.
- The BBC has five radio networks that broadcast throughout Britain. There are also three
independent national radio services (classical music, rock music, and talk radio), and about
200 independent local radio services.
- BBC World Service Radio broadcasts around the world in English and 45 other languages,
carrying extensive programmes and high-quality news broadcasts.
*Introduce some attractive points about sport and holidays in the UK
*Sport in the UK:
- Sport plays a more important part in people's lives in Britain than it does in most other
countries.
- The importance of participation in sport has legal recognition in Britain. Every local
authority has a duty to provide and maintain playing fields and other facilities, which are
usually very cheap and sometimes even free.
- Many games are just enjoyable social pastimes but to a few, they are deadly serious
competition. The British are so fond of competition that they introduce it into their
enthusiasms.
- Cricket: judging by the numbers of people who play it and watch it, “Cricket” is definitely
not the national sport of Britain. Cricket is much more than just a sport. It symbolized the
rural way of life that the British dream about.
- Football is the most popular spectator sport, the most-played sport in the country's state
schools and one of the most popular participatory sports for adults. It is the national sport.
The football matches will not become events for the whole family because it is too expensive.
- Even if British people are not taking part or watching, they like to be involved in sport by
placing bets on future results. Gambling is very widespread throughout all social classes. It is
so basic to sport that the word ‘sportsman' used to be a synonym for ‘gambler’.
* Holidays in the UK:
- Traditional seaside holiday is a typical british summer holiday. It ranged from the puppet
show Punch and Judy to donkey rides along the beach. There were even 'bathing machines'
for the ladies. These wooden shelters on wheels were pulled into the sea by horses or
donkeys, and once inside, the women could change into their bathing suits hidden from view,
thus retaining their modesty.
- Many British people spend much of their free time during the summer months down by the
sea. Children enjoy swimming in the sea and building sandcastles.
- Christmas day, December 25, is probably the most popular holiday in Britain. It is a family
holiday. Traditionally all relatives and friends get together and give each other presents. This
day is a traditional family day, all the family gather at table to eat traditional dinner of roast
turkey and Christmas pudding.
- New Year’s Day is a public holiday in the United Kingdom on January 1 each year. It
marks the start of the New Year in the Gregorian calendar. For many people have a quiet day
on January 1, which marks the end of the Christmas break before they return to work. At
midnight, as the New Year begins, the chimes of Big Ben are broadcast to mark the start of
the New Year.
- Easter is far less important than Christmas in Britain. Formerly, it was celebrated as Easter
Week in many places, but was reduced to a one day celebration in the 19th century. The
symbols for Easter are: the chicks,the easter eggs and the flowers.Children paint and decorate
eggs.
- There are also special occasions such as: Boxing day (26 December), Valentine’s Day (14
February), April Fools’ Day (1 April), Halloween (31 October), etc.

*What are the interesting points about food and drink?

* Eating habits and attitudes:
- British attitudes have changed nowadays.
- Items which were thought exotic and viewed with suspicions such as peppers, garlic and
olive oil are now to be found in every shop.
- The ingredients from all over the world are full on the country's supermarket shelves. One
explanation is that the package holidaymakers have "imported" some European dishes when
they travelled to Britain. Some popular food such as chicken tikka masala from Bangladesh,
moussaka from Greece and lasagna from Italy.
- The interest in the pure enjoyment aspect of food. There are many cookery and food
programs on TV.
=> However, the quality of food in everyday life is still poor because these changes have not
had enough time to change their habits and expectations.
*Eating out:
- By now, a far larger number of people go to restaurants to eat than they did in the past.
- In restaurants, many dishes have non-English names, most commonly French. The only
exception is the puddings which is the one course of a meal that the British have always been
confident about.
- Three types of distinctively British eating places exist:
1. Greasy spoon: offers mostly fried food of the "English breakfast".
2. Fish and chip shop, used mainly for takeaway meals.
3. Tea rooms: serve scones, other light snacks and tea
* Alcohol and Pubs:
- By law, people can not be served or drink any kind of alcohol in pubs until the age of
eighteen. - Alcohol, especially beer, remains an important part of the lives of many people
("booze cruise"..).
- The British pub is unique, the local pub plays an important role in almost every
neighborhood and pubs are predominantly foe the drinking of beer and spirits.
- Pubs have retained their special character: no waiter service.

* What are the interesting points about the arts?

* The arts in society:
- Interest in arts in Britain used to be largely confined to a small elite.
- People read books , visit art galleries and go to theatre and concerts.
* The characteristics of British arts and letters:
- Their writing is typically naturalistic and unconnected with particular intellectual
movements..
- The Style of the arts also tends to be conventional
- In these features of the work of British artists: lonely individualism expressing itself within
conventional formats.
- Perhaps an explanation can be found for the apparent contradiction between the low level
of public support for the arts and the relatively high level of enthusiasm on the part of
individuals.
* Theatre and cinema:
- The theatre has always been very strong in Britain.
- Every large town in the country has its theatres and even small towns often have 'repertory'
theatres.
- Cinema is generally regarded as not quite part of "the arts" at all - it is simply entertainment.
* Music:
- Listening to music is a very common leisure time activity in Britain Few classical
musicians, whether British or foreign, become famous to the general public. The best know
artists are the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, etc.
- In the 1960s, British artists had a great influence on the development of music in the
modern, or 'pop' idiom. Since that time, popular music in Britain has been an enormous and
profitable industry.
* Words:
- Although the British are comparatively uninterested in formal education, and they watch
television a lot, they are still enthusiastic readers. The written word is the one form of the arts
with which the British are generally comfortable Literature written in English is, of course,
not the preserve of British writers.
- Although many of the best 'serious' British writers manage to be popular as well as
profound, the vast majority of the books that are read in Britain are not "serious' literature.
* The fine arts:
- Painting is not as widely popular as music in Britain. London is one of the main centres of
the rich art collector's world. The two major auction houses of Sotheby's and Christie's are
world-famous.
- The same general lack of appreciation applies to small-scale sculpture. Sculpture on a grand
scale or 'Public art' seems to have general public approval.