\paperw3360 \margr0\margl0\ATXph16380 \plain \fs20 \pard\tx3255\tx6525\tx9780\ATXts240\ATXbrdr0 \f1 \fs22 There is compulsory education in Britain from the age of 5 to 16. Durin
g the first half of the 20th century, for most people the secondary stage of this took place in one of three different types of state school. Since only one of these provided access to higher education, it was eventually seen that the existing system t
ended to channel children and their futures at an excessively early age, thereby denying future academic and professional achievement to late-developers. With the introduction of the comprehensive schools in the 1960s and 1970s, such differences were g
radually eclipsed by a system that theoretically offered all pupils the same start in school life. At present pupils sit exams for a General Certificate of Secondary Education at around the age of 16. Candidates for higher education then specialise in
three or so subjects for two years before facing more exams called æA levelsÆ. A further process of selection determines who will obtain a place at university.\par
