british school levels

[palladini]

how are school grade levels set up in england? for example, would a 'year seven' student correspond to a seventh grader in the u.s?

[dafyd]

I'm not exactly sure how it works in the US, but suffice to say that Year 7 is the first year of secondary school. Usually, Years 1 & 2 are at infant school, years 3-6 are at junior school, and years 7-13 are at secondary school. Year 7 is the year in which the child celebrates their 12th birthday. Hope that helps...

[Laura-sakura]

Just to clarify dafyd's point, year 11 ( the 5th year of secondary school) is the final compulsory year of school.  Year 12 would be 6th form (My school did'nt have one).  At 16, or when you have finished year 11, a pupil can choose to enroll at college.

[palladini]

thanks! that answers my question. it sounds like year seven there corresponds to the sixth grade here; the grades are grouped and numbered differently.

[morg_monster]

yep thats right, we start school here in the UK a year earlier, our first year at school is called 'reception' (or at least it was last time I checked!) then US kindergarten = UK Year 1, US grade 1 = UK year 2 and so on.

[dorset 1954]

Sorry, I want to make this crystal clear. So at the END of tenth grade a kid is 16? Ninth = 15. Eighth=14. Seventh=13. Sixth=12. Fifth=11. Fourth=10. Third=9. Second=8. First=7 ???

[speakertone]

In the U.S. and Canada, that is correct, yes.