ABSTRACT
The United Kingdom is situated in two large islands in the North West of Europe: the island of Great Britain and the island of Ireland. It is important to outline the general school system as a large percentage of pupils with special educational needs receive their education in mainstream or ordinary schools. The school system in the UK falls into four levels: Nursery; Primary; Secondary; Tertiary or Vocational and higher education. Pre-school provision by a Local Education Authority (LEA) may take the form of: Nursery classes within primary schools and Reception classes. Tertiary education is divided into general further education which takes place in colleges of further education, and higher education which takes place in universities, former polytechnics and colleges of higher education. The 1988 Education Reform Act undermined the LEAs' power in two ways: By the establishment of the local management of schools and by offering schools the opportunity to opt for Grant Maintained Status.
