Quick education question

[minsue]

What is the Brit equivalent of a US high school diploma? Is it equivalent to A Levels?

 

[oggbashan]

A levels are taken at 17/18 and are required for University Entrance.

GCSEs are taken at 15/16 at the end of compulsory education.

The status of A levels versus anything else depends on the subjects. 3 A levels in Science or Math would be a high standard. 3 A levels in so-called soft subjects such as media studies would not be so highly regarded.

Entrance to a high status university would require at least 3 'hard' A levels with passes at A (highest) grade. 4 would be better.

Og

Edited for PS: A US candidate wanting to attend a UK university would probably need an International Bacculeuriate or some other evidence of transferable qualification. Very high scores on Sats might do.

 

[English Lady]

Well, it depends what age you're loking at.

at 16 we take GCSE's over here,thats when we leave secondary school and go to 6th form college which is then A levels at about 18 years old....any help?

 

[minsue]

Thanks, guys. I'm still pretty much at a loss as to whether it's closer to your GCSE's or A Levels since it is only compulsory (at least in my state) to attend school until the age of 16, but you get no certificate until your high school diploma which is usually at age 17-18.

Thank you muchly for your help, though.

 

[minsue]

Edited for PS: A US candidate wanting to attend a UK university would probably need an International Bacculeuriate or some other evidence of transferable qualification. Very high scores on Sats might do.

That's what I was thinking. They didn't have the International Baccalaureate program when I was in school. Not here, at any rate. There's only 2 or 3 schools that offer it now in the entire area.

 

[oggbashan]

Thanks, guys. I'm still pretty much at a loss as to whether it's closer to your GCSE's or A Levels since it is only compulsory (at least in my state) to attend school until the age of 16, but you get no certificate until your high school diploma which is usually at age 17-18.

Thank you muchly for your help, though.

The real answer is: It depends.

On the academic standing of the institution of the school, how its diploma would be recognised by the Ivy League, and how hard that particular diploma was. If almost every student who stayed on to 17/18 ended up with a diploma then I doubt it would be equivalent to A levels.

Og

PS. I can only give you a forty-year old equivalent. A US high school diploma in the 1960s was regarded as halfway between. Even a good US student would have struggled in the first year at a UK university.

Now UK universities have gone down market and take students they would never have considered in the 1960s, a diploma MIGHT do, but not for the first rank universities.