UK education sixth in global ranking, Angry Birds nation takes first place - Polidicks

[quote] he UK's education system is ranked sixth best in the developed world, according to a global league table published by education firm Pearson. The first and second places are taken by Finland and South Korea. The rankings combine international test results and data such as graduation rates between 2006 and 2010. Sir Michael Barber, Pearson's chief education adviser, says successful countries give teachers a high status and have a "culture" of education. International comparisons in education have become increasingly significant - and this latest league table is based upon a series of global test results combined with measures of education systems, such as how many people go on to university. This composite picture puts the UK in a stronger position than the influential Pisa tests from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - which is also one of the tests included in this ranking. The weightings for the rankings have been produced for Pearson by the Economist Intelligence Unit. Global competition The two education superpowers - Finland and South Korea - are followed by three other high-performing Asian education systems - Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. Continue reading the main story EDUCATION TOP 20 Finland South Korea Hong Kong Japan Singapore UK Netherlands New Zealand Switzerland Canada Ireland Denmark Australia Poland Germany Belgium USA Hungary Slovakia Russia The UK - which is considered as a single system, rather than four devolved administrations - is then ranked at the head of an above-average group including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Canada and Ireland. These are ahead of a middle-ranking group including the United States, Germany and France. At the lowest end are Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia. These comparisons draw upon tests that are taken every three or four years, in areas such as maths, science and literacy - and so present a picture lagging by several years. But the intention is to provide a more multi-dimensional view of educational achievement - and create a databank which will be updated, in a project that Pearson is calling the Learning Curve. Looking at education systems that succeed, the study concludes that spending is important, but not as much as having a culture that is supportive of learning. It says that spending is easier to measure, but the more complex impact of a society's attitude to education can make a big difference. The success of Asian countries in these rankings reflects the high value attached to education and the expectations of parents. This can continue to be a factor when families migrate to other countries, says the report accompanying the rankings. Looking at the two top countries - Finland and South Korea - the report says that there are many big differences, but the common factor is a shared social belief in the importance of education and its "underlying moral purpose". Teacher quality The report also emphasises the importance of high-quality teachers and the need to find ways to recruit the best staff. This might be about status and professional respect as well as levels of pay. The rankings show that there is no clear link between higher relative pay and higher performance. And there are direct economic consequences of high and low performing education systems, the study says, particularly in a globalised, skill-based economy. But there are less straightforward and conflicting messages about how schools are organised. The ranking for levels of school choice shows that Finland and South Korea have among the lowest levels of school choice. But Singapore, another high performer, has the highest level. The UK is among the upper levels in terms of school choice. 'Significant' data Higher levels of school autonomy are a characteristic of many higher performing systems - headed by China, the Netherlands, the UK and Hong Kong (which is considered as a separate school system in such education rankings). But Finland, the most successful system, has a relatively low level of school autonomy. Sir Michael Barber, a former adviser to Tony Blair, said that the gathering of this information was the "start of something significant" - providing a practical resource for policy makers wanting to learn from other countries. In terms of the UK's performance, he said it fitted into the view that education standards had risen at the end of the 1990s and into the early 2000s and had then levelled off. Labour's education spokesman Stephen Twigg said the findings reflected the achievements of the previous government. "This report shows that after 13 years of investment and reform with Labour, schools in the UK are amongst the best in the world." And he said the findings did not provide evidence for the current government's support for free schools. "This shows there is much more to school performance than structures," said Mr Twigg. A Department for Education spokeswoman said: "We are driving up standards right across the board by bringing the best graduates into teaching, developing a world-class curriculum, and restoring order to our classrooms. "We are driving forward the academies and free schools programmes with more than half of secondary schools now enjoying academy status. "We have introduced the EBacc so more pupils are encouraged to study the core academic subjects that universities and employers demand and we will be introducing a new, far more rigorous examination system."[/quote] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20498356[/url] Aha we're above the UK

Finland woo

How the fuck is Germany in there?

Netherlands woo!

Little surprised at Australia's position

I'm surprised the UK was that high to be honest. And would've expected other Scandinavian nations to be higher.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;38611937]United States isn't there, yet Russia is. This is quite surprising.[/QUOTE] corrected

[QUOTE=lifehole;38611962]im a complete utter dumbfuck who doesn't check his facts[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=lifehole;38611962]It isn't a fully developed nation if I remember right, but it is doing a great job in its development.[/QUOTE] If Finland isn't a fully developed nation, then I don't know what fullfills that criteria in your view. Just about everything in western and nordic europe is fully developed.

[QUOTE=Marbalo;38611955]Also it seems Finland is always in top ranking in almost all the positive rankings worldwide. General happiness, health, education, pay... It literally sounds like paradise.[/QUOTE]It fluctuates a bit between us, the rest of Scandinavia and south-east Asia in each survey of factors done. Can't really go wrong with choosing to study or live in any country in the top 10 or so; the difference between them isn't really that big, just choose the culture and climate you prefer. [QUOTE=lifehole;38611962]It isn't a fully developed nation if I remember right, but it is doing a great job in its development.[/QUOTE]You're probably thinking of eastern Europe; Finland's been on pretty much the same level of development as western and northern Europe for a while.

Fuck yeah, Finland.

[QUOTE=lifehole;38611962]It isn't a fully developed nation if I remember right, but it is doing a great job in its development.[/QUOTE] Dude what the fuck check your facts

[QUOTE=jonoPorter;38611827]How the fuck is Germany in there?[/QUOTE] what's so bad with Germany's? I think it's reasonably fine, no student gets out without being trained to do SOMETHING, And if the student really wants to he/she can change what he's doing.

[QUOTE=jonoPorter;38611827]How the fuck is Germany in there?[/QUOTE] Arschloch. Unless it's meant to be a joke, which most likely is.

The fuck isnt norway there?

[QUOTE=Marbalo;38611955]Also it seems Finland is always in top ranking in almost all the positive rankings worldwide. General happiness, health, education, pay... It literally sounds like paradise.[/QUOTE] depression, suicide rates, domestic violence, racism, alcohol problems yuuup

Cool, the Netherlands is pretty high up.

depressing how low the us is

Fuck yea!! Singapore!!!

[QUOTE=Doozle;38611920]I'm surprised the UK was that high to be honest. And would've expected other Scandinavian nations to be higher.[/QUOTE] Norway has a backwards school system which can at it's worst be compared to the american one. [editline]27th November 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Lazore;38612302]The fuck isnt norway there?[/QUOTE]Our education system is SHIT. Atleast in grades 1-10. It's fucken awesome when you get to upper secondary school. [editline]27th November 2012[/editline] Aka. VEIDAREGAUDANE SKAULE

Kinda surprised Canada isn't up higher.

Where the fuck is sweden?

Australia should be further down I've been to so many different schools here and the basic thing I have gathered from all of them is Learning is a fucking [B]joke[/B] here I just stroll up on monday and they waste my time until friday, repeat and repeat I left 1 school quite early because the place was a goddamn zoo, the teachers didn't even care, I feel like I have learnt the majority of my english and writing skills on the fucking internet.

heh USA sitting between Hungary and Belgium

[QUOTE=Fatfatfatty;38612517]Where the fuck is sweden?[/QUOTE] Because our schools are just THAT bad.

I knew education in Sweden was bad but gee, we're not even top 20?

Well this definitely isn't because of my school, fucking politics teachers who just read out textbook notes for half a lesson and english teachers you could replace with printers that just print off essays without doing any teaching.

Waiting For Superman opened my eyes up to the issues facing the US System. And while it pains me to say it, the Teacher's Union needs to be slapped in the face.

I'm kinda surprised at how Belgium ranks just above the USA. Our courses are very hard if you're in any moderately decent school, and our universities are top-notch. (I'm just assuming this because loads of Dutch and German students come over here, even though those two nations are ranked higher) EDIT: I forgot about how Wallonia is also part of Belgium and how absolutely SHIT the schools are down there.

so everyone's got worse education than this [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5fQZhv0poU[/media]