Explaining how UK schools work for Americans or anyone who is interested :)

Hiya, hope you're having a lovely day.

• School in the UK starts in early September. It usually ends in the summer from May-July depending on exams. You usually get august off in education no matter your age.
• So in the UK, from ages 0-4 years old (before september when they're four years old) they usually go to nursery, (I think this is the same as playgroup?). Nursery is basically kind of like a fairly educational daycare. I don't think it's always compulsory but it's very common. It helps the parents get back to work and deal with the transition from toddler to child.
• Then from 4-10 years old they will attend Primary school where they wear a uniform and must arrive from about 8.45 and stay until about 3.15 or possibly later. This is Pre-K, Kindergarden, Elementary school all in one. Sometimes a primary school is split up into an infant school (reception to year 2) and a junior school (Year 3 to Year 6). In other words, this splits them into 'Key Stage 1' (KS1) and 'Key Stage 2' (KS2). Majority of the time, each year group will get a new teacher every year regardless of what Key stage or infant/junior level they're at. These are the classes in Primary School:
• ages 4-5 - Reception Class. (Because you're welcoming them/giving them a reception to school life)
• ages 5-6 - Year 1
• ages 6-7 - Year 2
• ages 7-8 - Year 3
• ages 8-9 - Year 4
• ages 9-10- Year 5
• ages 10-11 Year 6

Then you will go to Secondary school or what we sometimes refer to as our own 'high school' which is A cross between your middle school and high school in one. In Year 6, you will either do sats (NOT the same as American S.A.Ts) if you want to go to a regular state secondary school or you will do the 11+ if you want to go to a grammar school or a certain kind of independent school (private school). This usually gives an indication of your ability to help your new school determine your ability sets but it's just a guideline because you should be able to be moved about accordingly anyway. Tbh, sats and the 11+ is more to benefit the schools and the government because the data they accumulate helps to determine which schools are +/- the national average and it's more to show what kids are taking from the curriculum etc.

Anyway, this is secondary School:

• ages 11-12 - Year 7
• ages 12-13 - Year 8
• ages 13-14 - Year 9
• Note: year 9 is where you choose to or only do your 'option subjects' bar the torture of PE and RE/RS (Religious Education/Religious Studies) if your school is catholic. So in Year 7 and Year 8, you'd do the core subjects that you still have to do until GCSEs e.g. English: Literature and Language, Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics and possibly a language depending on your school) but you can keep/remove other subjects you had to do in the previous secondary school years. For example, I took French and Geography GCSE but didn't take Food tech or Music that I had to attend in Years 7 and 8 if that makes sense.
• ages 14-15 - Year 10
• ages 15-16 - Year 11 (Year of GCSE exams and results)

These are what the current GCSE grades mean:

0-3 - Fail

4- Standard pass/ low-average C

5 - Strong pass/ C/B

6 - B

7 - A

8 - A* or A+

9 - The same as an 8 but the difference is you either got full marks or you were in the top percentile of that whole cohort who took the same exams. We don't have extra credit like America, if you mess up in the exams, you mess up in the exams. Some subjects have coursework but not the core ones, or at least not when I was there.

Most people can remain in education. Some don't. Most go to a college or Sixth form.

College - Usually does Level 2s- Level 4s (Not the same as GCSE grades 2-4) or Btecs (like an A-Level but usually associated with more practical subjects or more coursework based though most of my A-levels had a lot of coursework anyway). College is it's own separate building from a secondary school and kids of varying abilities tend to go there. You can wear your own clothes.

Sixth Form - A- Levels only. This is usually for people who got grades 4-9 however, some A-levels require grades 6-9 only. Sixth form may an extension of a school rather than it's own building. You may need to wear a uniform or smart clothing.

I fortunately went to a hybrid of both, I went to what they call a 'sixth form college' where I was on a college campus with my own clothes but did A-levels :)

College and or Sixth form usually is like this:

• ages 16-17 - Year 12
• ages 17-18 - Year 13

The grades are:

A*

A

B

C

not sure if a D is a pass or fail but anything else is a fail.

Then you can go to Uni. You apply via UCAS and you need to get like student finance stuff sorted from the government. If you got the grades to get into uni you can go, unless you have a backup or you want to go through clearing. Some people re-take A-levels and re-apply, some people just go where they can. University is where you do a degree. Not everyone does a degree even if they got good grades but lots of people do because this is where you can move out of home unless you're commuting. You can move into halls or private accommodation.

Hope this was helpful :)

Submitted January 20, 2023 at 01:11PM by SarahLovelace https://ift.tt/BOaUmpj