Перевод,! in the uk schooling is voluntary under the age of 5. it means that parents may decide whether to take their children to nursery schools (kindergartens) or not. from 5 to 16 school education becomes compulsory and free for state school pupils. during this time schoolchildren complete their primary (5–11) and secondary (11– 16) education. sixteen-year-olds may start work, remain at school or go to further education colleges where they are taught some skills together with school subjects. all school leavers take exams for the general certificate of secondary education (gcse) 1 . those who are aiming at entering universities usually stay at school for another two years doing 3—4 subjects, after which they sit another set of exams called a level (advanced level examinations). by this time, they already know what universities they want to apply to and what their preferences are. in their turn universities get information about the applicants (including their examination results) and choose their will-be students. most of british university courses last three years and students typically do one or two major subjects. it is common practice for students to attend universities situated a long distance from their family homes and live on campus 2. to pay their tuition and living costs students usually borrow money from banks but there is also a system of scholarships, that is money given to the brightest school leavers to be spent on their university education. a lot of students do some jobs to earn extra money. at the end of their university course students get the so-called bachelor’s degree 3. if they want to continue their education, they can study further and take their master’s degree 1. then there is research-based postgraduate study 2 leading them to the degree of doctor of philosophy.
