Now we have a discussion thread! Howsat ^__^
I thought I'd take this opportunity to fix some confusion about school in the UK.
Okay.
You start school at 4 or 5. This is reception year.
Then you start infant school. This is year 1 and 2. At the end of year 2 you take SATs which aren't very important, they're just government targets. a 2 is average, 3 above average, 1 below.
Then you start junior school. This is year 3, 4, 5 and 6. At the end of year 6 (at age 10-11) you take more SATs, this time a 4 is average, 5 above, 3 below. Some people get a 6, this is sort of special. These SATs are a tiny bit more important because if you want to get into a good high school (also known as secondary school) they can count.
High School (aka secondary school) is from year 7-13, but compulsory education ends at year 11 (age 16). In year 11 you take GCSEs which are important for life, you normally take about 10 (or I did) and it's graded from E-A*.
In year 12 you take AS levels which are important, you take from about 3-5 of these.
In year 13 you take your final exam, A2, and your AS and A2 results are combined to form an A level, which is what goes on your form to get you into university.
SO to break down the ages for high school:
First year - year 7 - 11-12
Second year - year 8 - 12-13
Third year - year 9 - 13-14
Fourth year - year 10 - 14-15
Fifth year - year 11 - 15-16
Sixth year - year 12 - 16-17
Seventh year - year 13 - 17-18
Only 7-11 are compulsory by law. Years 12 and 13 are refered to as sixth form, 12 being lower sixth and 13 being upper six (that's because the old year-grading system used to be different and when they changed it for other years, 12 and 13 stayed the same in a lot of places).
Any questions? =] Ow my wrist hurts from writing all that!
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