British and American Educational Terms

[OnceFuturePoly]

In the US...

Public schools are free to attend and funded with public money. Almost all do not board; notable exceptions are schools for the blind, deaf, and Amerinds.

Private schools charge tuition and some (25%?) provide board.

In the UK...

Public schools charge tuition.

About what percent are boarding schools?

What is the British term for an American public school?

============

In the US...

Education can begin in Kindergarten, which is not yet universal and is generally optional. Some areas have full day sessions, others half day.

Mandatory education start with Grade 1, where most students are age 6 at the start of the school year and many turn 7 during the year.

Eighth grade was the last required grade 100 years ago, and a good 8th grade education back then would match a mediocre High School education today.

Today High School is required, and 9th through 12th grades are alternatively called Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior years. Freshmen are 14/15 years old, and a grade 12 (senior) is generally 18 years old at graduation and receives a High School Diploma. Students can, in some places, legally drop out a year or two before age 18.

Alternatively, a person who did not graduate High School can receive a GED by examination. Generally, but not always, it will substitute for a Diploma, which is necessary for any kind of real job.

College levels repeat the names Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior. 2 years of college may earn an Associate Degree, and 4 years earns a Bachelor Degree. Another year of college after a Bachelor will earn a Master's Degree, or a Bachelor and two years can earn a Doctorate Degree.

In the UK...

What are forms?

How many forms are there? Is there anything before 1st forum?

What age would a 6th former generally be?

What are "A-levels"? Are the "B-levels"?

What would be names for American college degrees?

 

[Bramblethorn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England covers a lot of your questions.

 

[Scrubber]

Not sure what percentage of UK schools are boarding schools (I attended one) but my guess would be 5% overall. Not sure what percentage of fee paying schools are boarding.

British term for an American school would be a Comprehensive School. (Commonly known as "the local comp"

Forms are the year of secondary schooling you are in, i.e. from age 11, although one only really hears of it in terms of sixth form these days (ages 17 and 18).

Before secondary education you have primary education from age 5-10.

However this has all changed since my day and everything starts at year 1 and goes through to year 12 (i.e. ages 5-16) and then sixth form remains for ages 17 and 18, but is not compulsory. See the wiki link provided by the previous poster.

We used to have O levels (ordinary levels) taken at age 16. They are the basic qualifications without which you can't get any kind of a decent job. Now they are called GCSEs

A levels (advanced levels) are taken at 18 and are required qualifications for entry into university. This would be the equivalent of your High School Diploma by the looks of it.

Our university degrees would be the equivalent of your college degrees. Typically our degree courses would last three years, but some courses are longer (e.g. medicine). At the end of the first course you would be a Bachelor or Master of Arts or Science depending on where you studied.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Arts_(Oxbridge_and_Dublin)

 

[Scotsman69]

Except

it doesn't cover education in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Which are quite different to England and Wales.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England covers a lot of your questions.

 

[Scrubber]

^ Yes, you are quite right. My comments should have been restricted to England and Wales.

 

[Scotsman69]

Good girl, thank you.

^ Yes, you are quite right. My comments should have been restricted to England and Wales.

 

[OnceFuturePoly]

Thank you all!

 

[Bramblethorn]

it doesn't cover education in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Which are quite different to England and Wales.

Doh. You are absolutely right, and I should've known better. May well be that English info is enough for the OP, but I still shouldn't have made that mistake.

 

[OnceFuturePoly]

2 more questions...

At university, what would "give that person a double first" mean?

And, "might scrape by with a weak second"?

Thanks again.

 

[LallyH]

At university, what would "give that person a double first" mean?

And, "might scrape by with a weak second"?

Thanks again.

The achievable grades of degree, from highest down, are 1 (or first), 2.1., 2.2 (weak second) and 3. A double first is when a student has studied two subjects (rather than the usual one) and achieved first class grade in both.

 

[Roxy67]

As of sep 2012 anyone in yr 11 must now go onto further education for 1 more yr

As of sep 2013 any yr 11 must now go onto further education for 2 more yrs

my son is yr 11 he can stay on for 6th form, go to collage or do an aprentership but must be in further education of some sort this is a new regulation.

 

[SkylarFalling]

Public schools charge tuition.

These are also referred to as private/independant/prep schools. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever, because it's a combination of old and new school system terminology, but public and private schools mean exactly the same thing. >.<

About what percent are boarding schools?

Not something I know the answer to.

What is the British term for an American public school?

These tend to be called state schools, or you say they are government funded. If you say 'school' people tend to assume it is a state school unless you say otherwise.

What are forms?
Forms are how each year group is split up into manageable groups, in education from 11 years old. Before 11, primary schools (age 5-11, compulsory, you take SATS exams at the end. you call the grades year 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) are too small for each year to be split into forms, so each class is just referred to by years.

From 11-16 you go to secondary school (also compulsory, you take GCSEs at the end) where there can be anything from 100 to 400 in a year group, so they split you into forms of about 30. Your form is the group you register (role call?) with twice a day and get notices during tutor time, do PSHE lessons with etc. It is different to your subject classes. At the beginning of secondary school, usually years 7, 8 and 9,most of your form group are also in most of your classes, as everyone takes the same compulsory classes, but towards the end of secondary (years 10 and 11) you choose some different GCSE courses so your subject classes often mix up the forms. Throughout, subjects which are split into classes by ability groups are mixed form. So basically, a form just makes a large secondary school year group more manageable, and for year 7s new to secondary school it gives them a kind of base that they are familiar with which helps them settle.

Does this make sense so far? Summary:
- Preschool is non-compulsory, for under fives.
- Primary school begins at 5-turning-6 and ends at 10-turning-11, with each class in a school usually being referred to as Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, up to Year 6. There are no forms as there are usually only about 20-35 in each year. You take SATS, which don't mean much they just help your next teachers assess you.
- Secondary school is from 11-turning-12 to 15-turning-16. The years are referred to as Year 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. However each year is split into forms which help to manage the year. For years 7, 8 and 9 everybody follows the same compulsory education, although some schools divide students by ability more than others. Depends on their policy. In year 10 and 11 you stay at the same school, and everyone follows the same compulsory core GCSE courses but you get to choose a few options too. Most kids take GCSEs here but there are other types too.

Post-16 it is a little more complex, and there is a second meaning of the word 'form;, which I think is what you meant.

- College is 16-turning-17 and 17-turning-18. Technically this would be years 12 and 13 of education, but you don't tend to call them that. Amongst themselves they refer to themselves as first and second years. This is a new place of education, not attached to secondary, and much bigger again. Sometimes called tertiary or further education.
Usually kids take A-levels but there are a few other options, I won't talk about them here - stuff like diplomas and NVQs. An a-level is a two year course. If you only take the first year you still take exams and recive an AS level, then at the end of the second year you take some more exams and recive your A2. AS and A2 together is what forms an A-Level, but you don't necessarily have to do both years. Some start four courses in their first year of college, but drop one at the start of their second year in order to focus on the others. You can take up to five a-levels, but anymore isn;t usually possible to timetable. So far as I am aware there aren't b-levels. or I have never heard of them. Many secondary schools get muddled up into each college, similar to the way that many orimary schools are muddled up into each secondary school.

SIXTH FORM: This is the same level of education as a college, but attached to a secondary school. So similar courses, same age group, but only for your secondary school. These are supposed to be better, but that is inherent in the fact that only private schools can usually afford them. Few state/government funded schools can afford a sixth form, but it is the same level of education. It is called sixth form because you do five years of education in secondary school, then sixth form is your sixth, not because there are other forms in that sense of the word.

Sixth form/college didn't used to be compulsory, but they made them so last year. If you go to a secondary school, you don't have to gi to their sixth form too, but I think only previous pupils of a school can attend their sixth form.

College/sixth form year groups are usually also divided into forms, but at this level they don't play as large a role as the course studied are so diverse. Most forms only meet for notices etc once a week at this level, as opposed to the twice daily at secondary school.

When you are 18 college/sixth form ends. You can take most college courses as a mature student though, but mostly evening classes.

After 18, you go to university - if you can afford it. It isn't compulsory. There are two levels of degree courses: a bachelors degree is three years and a masters degree is four. If they include work experience they are a year longer. You can take all sorts of subjects and combinations within a course, but you normally only take one course. You take exams at the end of each year and if you don't pass you don't get to continue your degree. Language confusion strikes again as we use the word college here also: on a university campus, the different faculty buildings are usually called colleges. This is completely seperate to 16-18 education colleges.

I hope this is of use to someone. Having been through it fairly recently I'm well versed in most of it.

 

[njlauren]

Hey, c'mon, we know all about UK education now, how about OWLs and Newts... *lol*

One of the things I understand that is a bit different is that with medicine and law you don't do what you do in the US, you go into it as a track from undergraduate. In the US you do 4 years UG, with a concentration in pre med (taking chem, organic chem, bio, possibly bio chem), then you apply to med school....is that still true in the UK, or do you do the equivalent of undergrad then go to professional school?

 

[shiny5437]

Hey, c'mon, we know all about UK education now, how about OWLs and Newts... *lol*

One of the things I understand that is a bit different is that with medicine and law you don't do what you do in the US, you go into it as a track from undergraduate. In the US you do 4 years UG, with a concentration in pre med (taking chem, organic chem, bio, possibly bio chem), then you apply to med school....is that still true in the UK, or do you do the equivalent of undergrad then go to professional school?

For both of those you go into them directly as an undergraduate at 18 years of age. For medicine the boundaries between preclinical and clinical years are getting a bit blurred as the vogue is to get the students into the clinical setting sooner. The first couple of years are still very science based but with much more of an eye to clinical application and the subjects are more integrated rather than stand alone biochem, physiology, anatomy, etc. Courses are normally 5-6 years for most people.

 

[Scotsman69]

My degree is written in Latin...

But it's from the venerable University of Glasgow. Scotland had four universities for centuries, when the much larger and more populous England only had two. Oh, and an Honours degree in Scotland takes four years...

...and if you "go up" to "read" at Oxford or Cambridge Universities, which are split into individual colleges, then after three years you graduate with a Bachelors of Arts. Then, after a year of meaningful life, but not necessarily education, you may apply for a Master of Arts. Both award ceremonies are conducted in Latin and often run concurrently so you go out of one door with your BA, go round the back and come in again to receive your MA...