Understanding the U.K.'s educational system

[gioiamia]

Okay, I tried writing this up as a post that didn't make me sound like a moron, but it was just long and convoluted. So I gave up and I'm opting for admitting I'm ignorant and uneducated and would love someone to wise me up regarding a few things about the U.K. I tried looking this up online, but couldn't find something that clearly answered each

Comments

[emluv]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_England

This has it all broken down. It's different by country within the U.K., so this is just England.

[wendymr]

Lots and lots of questions there, and since I didn't go to school or university in the UK (though I taught in a university) I don't know sufficient detail to answer. Though, no, boarding-school really is not that common, except for people of a certain class and income-bracket.

I highly recommend posting this on dw_britglish.

[lorelaisquared]

Oh, good questions. I have some of these myself, although with my recent UK job search I've worked out some of the grading, particularly elementary.

This is adapted from what was sent to me from the agency I'm working with and it has been SO helpful.

The UK system is divided into stages and there are years (grade levels) within each of them:

Key Stage Foundation
Nursery: ages 3-4,
Reception: ages 4-5,

Key Stage 1
Year 1: ages 5-6
Year 2: ages 6-7 *National tests and tasks in English and Mathematics

Key Stage 2
Year 3: ages 7-8
Year 4: ages 8-9
Year 5: ages 9-10
Year 6: ages 10-11 *National tests in English, Mathematics and Science

Key Stage 3
Year 7: ages 11-12
Year 8: ages 12-13
Year 9: ages 13-14 *National tests in English, Mathematics and Science

Key Stage 4
Year 10: ages 14-15 *Some children take
GCSEs
Year 11: ages 15-16 *Most children take GCSEs or other national qualifications

Post-compulsory education and /or trainingYear 12 (college Year 1): ages 16-17

[harmony_bites]

One place I recommend for these kinds of questions is hp_britglish--you might want to look in their memories

http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=hp_britglish&authas=hp_britglish

They have 42 entries on British Education--as you might expect for a com devoted to Harry Potter Britpickery