The British Educational System: Facts and Figures

In the UK all children between the age of 5 and 16 have to attend a full-time school education. Most schools are publicly-funded state schools. About 93% of the British pupils are being educated in state schools.

England and Wales: 30,000 state schools with 8.5 
                           Million pupils

Scotland:              5,000 state schools with
                           830,000 pupils

Northern Ireland:    1,300 state schools with
                           350,000 pupils

(pre-schools and special needs education included)

Primary schools are usually co-educational, whereas Secondary schools can be single-sex as well.
 
Schools in the UK are overseen by the Departments of Education and the Department for  Business, Innovation and Skills. British state schools are financed through national taxation, whereas independent school may take high fees from the pupils' parents.
Some state schools are faith schools and mostly belong to the Roman Catholic Church or The Church of England, such as St Mary's Catholic High School, Chesterfield. Over 90% of the British schools have specialised in one or more subjects to recieve additional funding, e.g. language colleges, sports colleges.

Most schools in the UK require school uniforms. The requirements for these uniforms differ from school to school. Some schools emphasise a fully given uniform, i.e. blazer, skirt/trousers, white blouse/shirt, tie, black shoes, whereas other schools only require a school blazer, shirt or jumper combined with black trousers.

Unlike Germany, British pupils have to attend school from early in the morning until late in the afternoon. They spend their lunch break in school and usually eat in the dining hall. 

Schools are inspected by so-called OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education). They come to the schools with only a few days prior notice to their arrival. The team observes lessons and inspects every bit of the school, the competence of the teaching staff, the equipment, the education and the extra-curricular activities. The reports are published afterwards and parents often decide according to the OFSTED reports which school to send their children to.