HighereducationinBritainHigherEducationintheUKDevelopmentFundingStudents&TeachersTheOpenUniversityOxfordUniversityHighereducationBritishhighereducationhasbecomeamasssystem,enrollingaboutathirdoftheagegroup.Approximately1.8millionstudentscurrentlyareinthehighereducationsystem.Thereare114universityinstitutions(and60highereducationcolleges)intheUK,countingseparatelytheconstituentcollegesofthefederaluniversitiesofWalesandLondon.Inaddition,highereducationprogramsareofferedinmanyfurthereducationcolleges.1.DevelopmentHighereducationhasalonghistoryintheUK,e.g.OxfordandCambridgedatefromthe12thand13thcenturies,whiletheScottishuniversitiesofStAndrews,Glasgow,Edinburghdatefrom14thand15thcenturies.Attheturnofthe20thcenturybeforeWorldWarI,“RedBrickuniversities”-thesixlargecivicuniversitieswerefounded.In1960s,therewasalargeexpansioninthenumbersofuniversitiesandmanynewuniversitieswerebuilt.Thesenewlybuiltuniversitiesarecalledas“Plateglassuniversities”fortheirmodernarchitecturaldesignwhichoftencontainswideexpansesofplateglassinsteelorconcreteframes.2.FundingThevastmajorityofUnitedKingdomuniversitiesaregovernmentfinanced,withonlyoneprivateuniversity--theUniversityofBuckingham,wherethegovernmentdoesnotsubsidizethetuitionfees.Students&TeachersApproximately1.8millionstudentsarecurrentlyenrolledintheUKhighereducationsystem;aboutonethirdofyoungpeoplegoontohighereducationatage18andanincreasingnumberof"mature"studentsarestudyingeitherfull-timeorpart-timeforuniversitydegrees.Thereareabout40,000fulltimeuniversityteacherspaidwhollyfromuniversityfunds.About1in6ofalluniversityteachersareprofessors.DegreeTitlesInBritaindegreetitlesarebasedoncoursesandcredits.ThemostcommontitlesforafirstdegreeareBachelorofArts(BA)andBachelorofScience(BSC),grantedtostudentswhohavepassedexaminationsattheendofthreeorfouryears’study.TheseconddegreeisthatofMaster,includingMasterofArts(MA)andMasterofScience(MSC).ThehighestdegreetitleisDoctorofPhilosophy(PhD)Highereducation

—undergraduatestudyAbachelordegree(BA,BSc,etc)canbeobtainedbyaminimumofthreeyear’sstudyatoneofthemorethan200universitiesorinstitutionsofhighereducationintheUKofferingdegreecourses.Somedegreecourseslastfouryears,theextrayearbeingspentinpracticaltraining,asinmany‘sandwich’degreessuchasengineering,orasayearabroadifstudyingamodernlanguage.Onlyaboutthetop7%oftheagecohortintheUKstudiesforadegree;consequentlyentrytouniversitiesorsimilarinstitutionsishighlycompetitive.Typicalentryrequirementswouldbeatleast3CgradesatALevelforuniversitycoursesandperhaps3gradeDsforentrytootherinstitutionsofhighereducation.HigherEducation

--post-graduatedegreeStudentswhohavecompletedafirstdegreeareeligibletoundertakeapostgraduatedegree,whichincludes:Master’sdegree(oneyear)Doctoratedegree(threeyears)Britishcollegesanduniversitiesmorethan40universities1)Oxford:about30separatecolleges,datingfromthe12thcenturyCambridge:about20separatecolleges,datingfromthe13thcenturyOxbridgeOxbridgeBoatRace2)4Scottishuniversities:datingfromthe15thand16thcenturiesSt.Andrews,Glasgow,Aberdeen,Edinburgh3)post-waruniversities:Keele,Lancaster,York,NewcastleTheuniversitiesofthe19thand20thcenturiesarecalled“redbrick”,usedtocontrastwiththemoredignifiedandsolid-lookingancientstonearchitectureof“Oxbridge”.4)OpenUniversitiesthefreedomofuniversities:reflectedinthedifferentcoursesanddegreesawardedbydifferentuniversitiesB.A.(BachelorofArts)M.A.(MasterofArts)Ph.D.(DoctorofPhilosophy)CollegegradesrunA,B,C,D,E,F.Amaster’sdegreecanbeearnedbyoneortwoacademicyearsofstudybeyondthebachelor’sdegree.ToearnPh.D.takesatleastthreeyearsbeyondthemaster’s.TheOpenUniversityTheOpenUniversityorOU,isadistancelearningandresearchuniversityfoundedin1969.Itisnotableforhavinganopenentrypolicy,i.e.students'previousacademicachievementsarenottakenintoaccountforentrytomostundergraduatecourses.Withmorethan180,000studentsenrolled,includingmorethan25,000studentsstudyingoverseas,theOpenUniversityisthelargestacademicinstitutionintheUnitedKingdomandEuropebystudentnumber,andqualifiesasoneoftheworld'slargestuniversities.

Advantages

A.StudyintheOpenUniversityismuchcheaper.

B.Studentscanworkatthesametimeasgettingthedegree.C.Formostcoursestherearenoentryrequirements.Thisfundamentalopenadmissionspolicymakesundergraduateuniversitystudyaccessibletoall.WorldUniversityRankings2008-Top16(fromgoogle)1.HARVARDUniversityUnitedStates2.YALEUniversityUnitedStates3.UniversityofCAMBRIDGEUnitedKingdom4.UniversityofOXFORDUnitedKingdom5.CALIFORNIAInstituteofTechnologyUnitedStates6.IMPERIALCollegeLondonUnitedKingdom7.UCL(UniversityCollegeLondon)UnitedKingdom8.UniversityofCHICAGOUnitedStates2010年泰晤士報(bào)(TIMES)英國大學(xué)綜合排名

1牛津大學(xué)OxfordUniversity

2劍橋大學(xué)CambridgeUniversity

3倫敦大學(xué)帝國理工學(xué)院ImperialCollegeofScience,Technology&Medicine

4圣安德魯斯大學(xué)UniversityofStAndrews

5倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院UniversityCollegeLondon

6華威大學(xué)UniversityofWarwick

7倫敦政治經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)院LondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalScience

8杜倫大學(xué)TheUniversityofDurham

9艾克斯特大學(xué)ExeterUniversity

10布里斯托大學(xué)UniversityofBristol

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