This article is about education in Birmingham, England. The city from above Centenary Square. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ...

Schools

State schools

As in the rest of England and Wales, education is compulsory in Birmingham between the ages of 5 and 16. The majority of children are educated in state schools which follow the National Curriculum. These are divided into primary schools for children from Reception to Year 6 (5 to 11) and secondary schools for children from Year 7 to Year 11 (11 to 16). Most secondary schools in Birmingham also have a sixth form (Years 12 and 13), but sixth form education is also provided in a number of sixth form colleges and further education colleges. State school is an expression used in the United Kingdom and other countries apart from the United States to distinguish schools provided by the government from public schools which are in fact private institutions. ... In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a nationwide education curriculum was introduced in the 1980s to ensure that certain basic material was covered by all pupils. ... Primary or elementary education is the first years of formal, structured education that occurs during childhood. ... High School also refers to the highest form of classical riding, High School Dressage. ... England, Wales, Northern Ireland The sixth form, in the English, Welsh and Northern Irish education systems, is the term used to refer to the final two years of secondary schooling (when students are about sixteen to eighteen years of age), during which students normally prepare for their GCE A-level... A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales or Northern Ireland where students aged 16 to 18 complete post-compulsary further education qualifications, such as A Levels. ... Further education is education in addition to that received at secondary school. ...

Most of Birmingham's state schools are community schools run directly by Birmingham City Council in its role as local education authority (LEA). However, there are a large number of voluntary aided schools within the state system, primarily Roman Catholic schools, but also schools whose religious basis is Anglican, Jewish and Islamic and schools which are non-denominational. In addition, there are a number of foundation schools in Birmingham (which were formerly grant maintained schools) which enjoy greater independence from the LEA than community schools. A community school in Ireland is a type of secondary education school funded individually and directly by the state. ... Local Government History Most of Birmingham was historically a part of Warwickshire, though the modern city also includes villages and towns formerly in Staffordshire or Worcestershire. ... A Local Education Authority (LEA) is the part of a council in England or Wales that is responsible for education within that councils jurisdiction. ... In Voluntary Aided schools (many of which are church schools) the governing body, as opposed to the Local Education Authority, employs the staff, and decide admission arrangements. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes. ...   Islam? (Arabic: الإسلام al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second largest religion. ... In England and Wales, a foundation school is a type of school which enjoys a degree of independence from the local education authority. ... In United Kingdom, the a grant-maintained school, sometimes shortened to a GM school or a maintained school, is a school that has opted out of local government control but still receives central government funding from the Local Education Authority. ...

Most state secondary schools in Birmingham are comprehensive, but a number of historic grammar schools, among them Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, Handsworth Grammar School and the grammar schools of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI, survived the policy of moving to a comprehensive system in the 1960s and 1970s - mostly due to the historical accident of their exact legal relationship with the LEA. A comprehensive school is a secondary school that accepts school students or pupils of all abilities, as opposed to a grammar school which depends on a system of selection. ... A grammar school is a type of school found in some English-speaking countries. ... Bishop Veseys Grammar School (BVGS} is one of the oldest schools in the United Kingdom. ... Handsworth Grammar School is a voluntary aided secondary school located in Handsworth, Birmingham, England. ... The Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham is a charitable institution that operates two independent schools and several voluntary aided selective state schools in Birmingham, England. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... This article provides extensive lists of events and significant personalities of the 1970s. ...

Private schools

A minority of Birmingham's children attend private schools which range from small institutions to historic schools of national prestige such as King Edward's School in Edgbaston. King Edwards School Buildings. ... Edgbaston constituency shown within Birmingham Edgbaston is an area in Birmingham, England, UK. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. ...

Further and higher education

Birmingham has three universities: The University of Birmingham founded in 1900, Aston University founded in 1966, and The University of Central England (UCE), the former Birmingham Polytechnic, which was raised to university status in 1992. There are also two higher education colleges, Newman College of Higher Education (which specialises in teacher training) and Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies which also receive funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. A professor giving a lecture at the Helsinki University of Technology A university is an institution of higher education and of research, which grants academic degrees. ... The University of Birmingham is the oldest of three universities in the English city of Birmingham. ... 1900 is a common year starting on Monday. ... Aston University is a university whose main campus is situated at Gosta Green in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. ... 1966 was a common year starting on Saturday (link goes to calendar) // Events January January 1 - In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. ... The University of Central England in Birmingham (UCE) is located in Birmingham, England. ... 1992 was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Higher education is education provided by universities and other institutions that award academic degrees, such as university colleges, and liberal arts colleges. ... A college (Latin collegium) can be the name of any group of colleagues; originally it meant a group of people living together under a common set of rules (con-, together + leg-, law). As a consequence members of colleges were originally styled fellows and still are in some places. ... Newman College of Higher Education is a teacher training college in Birmingham, England. ... Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies or BCFTCS is a higher education college in Birmingham, England. ... The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) acts on behalf of the UK Government to distribute funding to Universities and Colleges of Higher and Further Education in England. ...

Both higher education and further education are offered by a number of colleges funded primarily by the Learning and Skills Council, amongst them City College, Birmingham, Josiah Mason College, Matthew Boulton College, South Birmingham College, and Sutton Coldfield College. Other further education colleges do not offer higher educational courses but do provide a range of vocational and academic teaching to full-time and part-time students. Further education is education in addition to that received at secondary school. ... The Learning and Skills Council is a government body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for planning and funding further education (post-16 education and training other than higher education) in England. ... Vocational education prepares learners for certain careers or professions, which are traditionally non-academic and directly related to a trade, occupation or vocation in which the learner participates. ... Plato is credited with the inception of academia: the body of knowledge, its development and transmission across generations. ...

Arts education

UCE in particular has a significant role in education in the arts in Birmingham. The Birmingham Conservatoire, now part of UCE, was formed as the Birmingham School of Music in 1859 and formerly constituted in 1886. It is one of only nine conservatoires in the United Kingdom and the only one which is also a university faculty. The conservatoire has strong links with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra whose former conductor, Simon Rattle, is the conservatoire's president. The University of Central England in Birmingham (UCE) is located in Birmingham, England. ... A music school or conservatory is an institution dedicated to teaching the art of music, including playing of musical instruments, musical composition, musicianship, music history and music theory. ... Look up Faculty on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Faculty has several different meanings and can refer to: University faculty are the instructors and/or researchers of high standing at universities, as opposed to the students or support staff. ... The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is based in Birmingham, England. ... A conductors score and batons Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. ... Simon Rattle recording Porgy and Bess with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road in 1988 Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born January 19, 1955) is an English conductor. ...

The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD), another faculty of UCE, is one of the largest faculties of art, design and media education in the United Kingdom. BIAD's School of Jewellery in the Jewellery Quarter highlights the importance of jewellery manufacture in the city. The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD) is the largest British art & design university teaching and research centre outside London. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Birmingham School of Acting, founded in 1936 is one of the United Kingdom's leading vocational drama schools, offering higher education courses in drama as well as a range of part time, summer schools and short courses for adults and children. On June 21, 2005, its merger with UCE was announced [1]. Birmingham School of Acting is a United Kingdom drama school formerly known as Birmingham School of Speech & Drama. ... Drama is a term generally used to refer to a literary form involving parts written for actors to perform. ... June 21 is the 172nd day of the year (173rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 193 days remaining. ... 2005(MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Elmhurst School for Dance is the oldest vocational dance school in the United Kingdom and offers dance training and academic education to pupils of secondary school age. The school was originally located in Camberley, Surrey but after becoming an associate school of the Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2002 it relocated to Edgbaston in Birmingham in 2004. Elmhurst School for Dance is the oldest and one of the most successful vocational dance Schools in the UK. After recently relocating from London to Edgbaston in Birmingham the school has teamed up with Birmingham Royal Ballet. ... A contemporary dancer rehearsing in a dance studio Dance (from Old French dance, further history unknown) generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression (see also body language) or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting. ... Camberley is a town in Surrey, England about 29 miles to the south-west of London. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, one of the Home Counties. ... The Birmingham Royal Ballet company is one of Britains foremost ballet companies. ... 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Edgbaston constituency shown within Birmingham Edgbaston is an area in Birmingham, England, UK. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. ... 2004(MMIV) is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Lifelong Learning

In addition to the numerous institutions which offer education primarily to full-time students and to those pursuing vocational development, there are a wide number of courses aimed primarily at part-time and recreational learners. The city council's Birmingham Adult Educational Service (BAES) offers around 4000 different courses each year at around 70 different centres in diverse subjects such as foreign languages, information technology, mathematics, literacy and various types of creative arts. Some courses allow the students to achieve qualifications such as GCSEs and A-levels. BAES also provides teaching in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) for the many inhabitants of the city who do not speak English as a mother-tongue. Categories: Information technology ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Mathematics Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Mathematics Look up Mathematics on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Mathematics Bogomolny, Alexander: Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. ... Literacy is the ability to read and write. ... GCSE is an acronym that can refer to: General Certificate of Secondary Education global common subexpression elimination - an optimisation technique used by some compilers This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... An A-level, short for Advanced Level, is a General Certificate of Education usually taken during Further Education and after GCSEs. ...

Similar courses are offered by many of the city's further education colleges, and various arts organisations such as the mac offer workshops in the creative arts. Experienced musicians from ground roots enterprises such as Punch Records in The Custard Factory host many 'Urban Workshops' for modern music including street-level DJ mixing tuition and dance. The mac (formerly Midlands Arts Centre) is a non-profit arts centre situated in Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham, England. ... Punch Records is a Record shop and Hip Hop record label based in Newtown Birmingham England. ... The Custard Factory is an arts and media centre located in Birmingham, England. ... DJ or dj may stand for Disc jockey, dinner jacket The DeadJournal website, or Djibouti. ... Audio mixing is used in sound recording, audio editing and sound systems to balance the relative volume and frequency content of a number of sound sources. ...

The city council is also responsible for the provision of libraries throughout the city. There are 41 local libraries in addition to Birmingham Central Library, reputedly one of the largest public libraries in Europe. According to city council figures, Birmingham's library system has over 2.7 million books and receives over 4 million visitors each year. Modern-style library In its traditional sense, a library is a collection of books and periodicals. ... Birmingham Central Library is the main library in Birmingham, England. ...

External References

• BBC News - Funding and management of schools in England
• Birmingham City Council - Which school?
• Higher Education Funding Council for England - West Midlands Regional Profile
• Birmingham Institute of Art & Design
• Birmingham Adult Education Service
• Birmingham City Council - About Birmingham Libraries