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Students need to decide between a number of options following the receipt of their GCSE results. Articles consider the many possiblilities in further education, including vocational courses, GCSE retakes and A levels, while for those seeking work Youth Training offers opportunites. The way GCSE examination boards decide on pass marks and gradings is described. General National Vocational Qualifications and A-levels and the competition between sixth forms and further education colleges are considered, while a report by Professor Howie proposes radical changes to upper secondary education in Scotland.

There is a wide range of options open to adult learners in the United Kingdom. Adult Learners' Week is being held in May 1993 to publicise the opportunities. Some areas have local programmes aimed at those living on housing estates and particularly suited to the poor and single parents. Educational activities attract many active retired people and the University of the Third Age (U3A) offers a wide range of topics. Flexible learning courses, offered by organisations such as the Open College and Open University, give workers opportunities to extend their education.

Teachers have a vital role in the development of the young. The section includes articles on the different ways of training teachers and the balance to be struck between theory and practical experience in schools. Schemes are being introduced to help those who wish to return to teaching after a career break. There is a lack of Black or Asian teachers in British schools, although there are no proper statistics. The new system of inspecting schools starts in autumn 1993. Some school teachers had a big influence on their pupils.

Findings are presented and analysed of a survey aimed at determining the value added by sixth form education in schools across England and Wales by comparing pupils' performance in the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examination and in the Advanced level (A-level) two years later. It is argued that such an analysis gives a fairer measure of how well a school is performing than raw league tables of examination results since it allows for underlying variations in pupils' abilities.

Britain's polytechnics are to become universities in autumn 1992. With the change in status will come other changes; competition for funding, increased student numbers, different methods of examination assessment. There is disagreement as to whether the outcome will be a higher quality of education.

Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is undoubtedly a children's paradise, but for parents it can be hell. Ask any adult who has roasted in an hour-long queue, waiting to be [...]

The Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) has organised vocational courses for UK students at different levels of ability and at differing stages in their lives. BTEC students can take a First level course or a National course. The courses cover subjects like caring, computing, construction and engineering. All the courses also have a central element of numeracy, self-development and other life-skills.

The reform of the UK's A-level system of school leaving examinations is discussed. Particular attention is given to the problems experienced by universities in rating applicants' abilities.

The new sixth-form curriculum introduced in UK schools in Sep 2000 has created some problems, but these are now being addressed. Most observers acknowledged that the curriculum needed to be broadened.

Many schools across the UK are having to increase class sizes as budget cuts make it necessary to make teachers redundant or leave teaching posts vacant. Teaching standards are suffering as teachers have to cope with the larger numbers, and children with special educational needs are not getting the attention they require. Teachers' unions are now threatening industrial action if the situation is not resolved.

Latest guidance on drugs education from the UK government indicates that children as young as four years old should be taught that drug misuse is harmful. Some parents and teachers have doubts about this, believing that children should not be robbed of their innocence at such a young age. However, the National Association of Head Teachers believes that drug abuse of some kind is present in all primary schools.

Few pupils in English schools receive education about parenting despite repeated surveys revealing links between delinquency and poor parenting. The demands of the national curriculum leave little time for personal and social education in schools. Teachers therefore tend to concentrate on matters that affect most teenagers. Opinions differ over whether practical tasks such as nappy-changing should be included in parenting education but it is generally agreed that schoolchildren should be taught about parenting and family life.

Activities clubs, homework clubs and after-school care clubs are examples of the numerous schemes being introduced to make use of school buildings, which, if used only for normal teaching, are empty for over 2/3 of the time. John Summers High School in Queensferry, Wales, runs a programme of 40 activities for 50 minutes twice-weekly. Pupils in disadvantaged areas are making use of homework clubs which enable them to study without any distractions and examination results have improved as a consequence. After-school care clubs provide high quality care for primary school-age children of working parents.

Some British Parent Teacher Associations are turning to large companies and educational charities as the recession makes fund-raising increasingly hard. BP is a generous supporter of education but will only provide funding for the 300 schools with which it has educational links and schools attended by children of BP employees. Educational charities such as the Sir John Cass Foundation will only provide funding for projects that enhance the national curriculum, believing that mainstream education should be funded by the state. Fund-raising nevertheless increases the resources gap between rich and poor schools.

It is important to begin saving very early if you plan to send your children to a private school. Most schools have bursaries or scholarships, but these are only available to the most talented children. Some schools offer a discount if you have several children attending schools run by the same educational trust.

Recent initiatives designed to attract more people into the teaching profession in the UK are discussed. Various financial incentives are being offered, and student teachers are also able to benefit from greater flexibility.