The Education System of the UK and the USA

USA

    There is no single educational system in the USA – instead each of the 50 states has its own system. In most states, however, children go to school from about the age of six until at least age sixteen. Each of school is called a “grade”, and in order to graduate, all American students must successfully complete 12^th Grade.

    The typical case, a student attends seven years of Elementary education, which is often divided into four forms of Elementary school (Grades 1-4) and three forms of Middle school (Grades 5-7). This is directed by secondary school, split into Junior (Grades 8-9) and Senior High (Grades 10-12).

    After the finishing Senior High, graduation students have the High School Diploma. If they choose to, they can then go on to higher education at college or university.

UK

   In the UK, all children must go to school from age five to age sixteen. They go to primary school for seven years and secondary school for five years.

   Primary school may be divided into Infant school (three years) and Junior school (four years). There are different kinds of secondary school, but all pupils follow the same national curriculum that leads to GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) qualifications.

   After age 16, British students can choose to leave school, or – if their GCSE results are good enough – they can go on to attend Sixth Form for a future two years.

   At the end of this time, they sit “A” (Advanced) Level exams to qualify for entry to college or university.