Education System

Schooling is compulsory for all English children from the age of 5 to 16. The academic year in England runs from September to July and is divided into 3 terms:

Autumn Term:
from the beginning of September to mid-December. Also known as the Michaelmas Term (private sector).


Spring Term:
from the beginning of January to mid/late March (depending on the dates of Easter). Also known as the Lent Term (private sector).


Summer Term:
from early/mid April to mid July.

Each term is divided by a one-week break called half term, usually at the end of October, mid-February and the end of May.

There are 2 parallel school systems in England, the state sector and the private sector.

The State Sector

Schools in the state sector are financed by the government and administered through local education authorities, although many schools now manage their own finances and are known as Grant Maintained Schools. No financial contribution to a child's education is required of parents. Broadly speaking, secondary education (from age 11 onwards) is comprehensive i.e. schools accept children of all academic levels, and are, in the main, co-educational. However there are still some grammar schools which select only the more academically gifted children on the basis of an examination and these tend to be single sex schools. All schools in the state sector are day schools.

The Private Sector

Schools in the private sector are known as independent or public schools. They rely for finance solely on fees charged to parents. The majority are day schools. Children live at school during term time, only returning home at half term and during the main holidays (Christmas, Easter and Summer). However children may also spend one or two weekends per term at home (or, in the case of children from overseas, with guardian families) - these weekend breaks are called exeats. Most schools have fixed dates for exeats, although some will allow children / parents to choose their own exeat weekends.

As children live at school, there is a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and activities, such as astronomy, chess, computers, debating, public speaking, photography. Music and drama play a large part of school life outside the classroom - children are encouraged to learn to play a musical instrument or join a choir. Sport is also very much to the fore and nowadays the traditional games such as football, rugby, cricket, tennis, netball and hockey are complemented by activities such as aerobics, canoeing, horse-riding, rock-climbing, squash and swimming.

All schools chosen by Intense Educational have strong EFL (English as a Foreign Language) departments to assist children from overseas with extra English for the first term or as required.