Is there cultural differences between the 4 countries of the UK?

[Lynsey953]

I often see a lot on the news about British Culture and UK culture but I know that Scotland has a different education system to England and Wales as well as higher taxes paid to the government and a lot of "free" things paid for by these taxes i.e. free prescriptions, free university tuition etc ... A lot of people in Scotland also identify as Scottish, not British. Do you think this means Scottish people have a different cultural identity than English or Welsh people?

quoting the sun as evidence? 😂Even in the redtoprag they state "No exact, direct comparison is available between Scotland and England performance in long waits, as England's NHS waiting times figures are measured in a different way to Scotland's"
Not from Scotland, live in Edinburgh 20y and have never found the service here to be impeccable. 3 children (so lots of appointments!0 DP and I have both had health issues in the last number of years. Always able to get a same-day appointment at GPs too (of which there have been many amongst the 5 of us. And, again, this is NHS. Same with optician and Dentist (albeit not same day in these, except in emergencies...)

really?
the school term dates are (apart from minor individual differences by council or inset days) the same
the ages at which children are in each school year, the names of each school year and the gaps at which they are broken up into different stages are the same
the subjects studied are the same (apart from Welsh being compulsory)
the main exams taken are the same and at the same age
the exam boards are the same
the method of allocating/choosing schools is the same
the use of school uniform is broadly similar
there's a specific assessment body for each that does regular inspections
things like sports played, food offered, building style, methods of addressing staff, school hierarchy, etc are all similar
the qualifications needed to teach in either are the same
the options available (state comprehensive, private or religious) are the same. Yes there is also the option of grammar in England but only in some counties.

Sounds pretty similar to each other to me, and pretty different to systems in other countries.

I've lived and worked for extended lengths of time in 3 of the 4 countries. In my experience, there are more differences within each nation than between them. The biggest distinctions I've come across are between social classes, wealthier and poorer areas, big cities and smaller towns / villages and rural areas.

There's often a lot of emphasis on supposed cultural differences between the nations by people who want to be identified with specific qualities / histories and for tourism / commercial purposes.

But I've found them very similar. I do love language / dialect variety and old customs. The less violent ones.

It does. Meaning is defined by usage . Scotland is no longer known as ‘North Britain’. Most people would have no idea what one meant if used that term.

Oh my gosh. There's so much wrong with this comment, I can't be bothered to even start 😂 Just no.

It was not popular in Scotland. There was widespread dissent & rioting outwith the aristocracy & landed gentry.

Also, the Darien scheme failed because ultimately the East India Company succeeded in lobbying for the English Navy to be used to extort punitive "safe passage" taxes on non-English merchant shipping. This also affected the Dutch, Spanish & French too but Scottish aristocrats & other Darien backers did not have the financial clout to survive this.

NB Elizabeth's Sea Dogs is an insightful read into how the English in particular became such good mariners.

Robert Burns.

"Fareweel to a' our Scottish fame,
Fareweel our ancient glory;
Fareweel ev'n to the Scottish name,
Sae fam'd in martial story.
Now Sark rins over Solway sands,
An' Tweed rins to the ocean,
To mark where England's province stands-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
What force or guile could not subdue,
Thro' many warlike ages,
Is wrought now by a coward few,
For hireling traitor's wages.
The English steel we could disdain,
Secure in valour's station;
But English gold has been our bane -
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!
O would, ere I had seen the day
That Treason thus could sell us,
My auld grey head had lien in clay,
Wi' Bruce and loyal Wallace!
But pith and power, till my last hour,
I'll mak this declaration;
We're bought and sold for English gold-
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation!"

Yes obviously!

forgive me if I interpret this as 'I can't actually pick out what's wrong so I'll just make a snarky comment.'

if you really are a teacher aren't you inspired to, you know, educate me?

do kids in England not start school until 7?
do they not study maths, English, science?
if you get a degree from Bristol are you not allowed to teach in Cardiff?
am I mistaken and the school year in Wales actually starts from August like in Scotland or ends in June like in Ireland?

come on, you know you want to get that red pen out....

nobody has said that the two systems are completely identical. Just that they are more similar than different, and have more in common with each other than pretty much any other country's educational systems.

If you're going to say they aren't similar "at all" and cry with laughter to indicate how ludicrous the very idea is, the onus is on you to explain why....

Educate yourself. It's not my job to educate a grown adult who can do their own research. No, our system is nothing like England's. We don't teach subjects, so there's your first one.

There’s no such thing as ‘British culture’ and when we refer to it we’re actually talking about English culture.

What do you teach then?

I think there are cultural variations and certainly clear cultural identities between the different nations. However, I would say that are similarities and many aspects if the individual cultures that are shared or perhaps have spread so that people from the UK will identify with them. One small example is Scottish bag pipes or haggis. I know these are Scottish but I do also identify with them as someone from England. I've listened to bag pipes outside Buckingham Palace, have eaten Haggis on Burns night etc. The same with the other nations. Cornwall, which despite it's best efforts is still part of England has many cultural similarities in terms of celtic heritage such as language and folklore. I think it's really fascinating how we can have such distinct regions and nations but that it all forms a larger identity.

Of course there are differences.
There are differences even within each nation.
There is a different culture in, for example, Cornwall than there is in Birmingham and a different one again in the north

Differences? Try buying a deep fried pizza anywhere other than in Scorland. You'll soon be put straight.

I agree. Lots of us, whilst identifying mainly with one part of the UK are hybrids. I consider myself Scottish, still have the accent after 2/3 of my life spent in England. My DNA says I’m just over half Scots, quite a bit of English and Irish, and a few % Scandinavian. One DGC has had theirs tested, much more English plus some Welsh. DH would say he’s English, athough a lot of his childhood was in Scotland.

In all the places I’ve lived, people have just been people. Economic and class related differences are often more noticeable than national ones. Having said that, I like pipe bands and kilts. 😁

There is cultural difference across Scotland though: dialect, foods, music etc.
when I was at uni in central belt ceilidh were so popular amongst the students;
where grew up and live now, it’s only pensioners that indulge.

Rural parts of England and wales have more in common with rural Scotland than the central belt.

often I think that cultural icons are heavily played upon for money making, othering and an obsession with identity (here is Scotland anyway).
My eyes where opened when I went to the celts exhibition at the national museum of Scotland about a decade ago and realised these torque wearing people of the past reached across to Germany and what we associate today with Celtic nations really was a 1920s construct to boost tourism.

I quite like how each nation in GB is different and that there are regional differences within each country.

There are six Areas of Learning and Experience.

I thought we were all Europeans until Brexit took that away!

The agenda of a unique Scottish identity in every way has been pushed by the independent movement in Scotland and is in contrast to what is happening in the rest of mainland Europe who are generally very negative of a nationalist movement with its historical connotations to fascism.

I feel my Scottishness has in no way been repressed or controlled by being part of Great Britain.
In many ways I am thankful (recent Supreme Court ruling).

Yes for a start Wales has its own exam and curriculum setting body, the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC).

I'm in Wales, have lived here since I was 1 year old, and when I talk to my grandchild about school I certainly don't ask what areas of learning and experience she's studied that day, I talk about subjects and she knows perfectly well what I mean.
Of course there are more similarities than differences in the education systems, it's certainly much more similar to the English system then the education system in Scotland is.
I don't know why the Welsh government keeps changing things given that Wales consistently has the worst educational outcomes in the UK. They'd do better to do the same as the English system.
But in my opinion the Senedd mainly does things differently to make a point that it can, not because the outcome is actually better for Welsh people.
It's yet another demonstration of the huge chip on the shoulder that so many Welsh people have about England. We would do better as a nation to stop banging on about oppression that took place hundreds of years ago and move forward. It's utterly pathetic to me that, for example, in any multi country sporting competition like the world cup, euros etc, so many Welsh people are open about their support for any other country playing England, even if England is the only home nation left in the tournament.
I've had discussions with people about why they're so openly anti English and they drone on about princes and battles and oppression a thousand years ago. It's laughable, how many English people do you hear regularly talking about hating the French because of William the conqueror? It's the same thing but so many Welsh people make it their be all and end all.
This type of sentiment exists even amongst educated Welsh people which I find even more ridiculous.

it’s not just the Welsh in this regard is it? It’s Scotland too.

im Scottish from the south of Scotland. I would say I have more of an affinity with Cumbrians than western islanders or Glaswegian. I would see us as a group of regions rather than separate country.
Perhaps the Cornish have a greater affinity with Orcadians. Etcetc