the british school system...

how the freak does it work?

when ever i'm reading a NO biography or when someone asks them what they were like in school, i have no idea what they are refering to. i'm also reading irvine welsh's glue and i have little clue as to how their school system works too.

are the scottish and british school system the same? like what do you need to graduate from high school, when do you graduate (16 right?), and what is an O level? and how do you get to college or university? have to take a test or what? it seems so different from us north americans, and i just can't imagine finishing high school at 16, that seems a bit young to me.

I don't know the ins and outs of the Scottish education system, but this is the English system...

Basically you go to Primary School from the ages of 4 or 5 to 11 (some areas still have Infants and Middle Schools that run 4-8 and 9-12). After that it's High School from ages 11-16, where you sit GCSE exams (used to be called O Levels, and you used to have to write more than your name to get a pass). Education to age 16 is mandatory. After that, students can do 'A'levels betwen 16 and 18. If you want to get into University, you usually need to have passed these. Students commonly do three subjects. Most University degrees last three years, and most students tend to graduate around age 21/22. Some people then go onto do postgraduate degrees (including teacher training) or even doctorates. A bit different to the US system !

Originally posted by Easy E I don't know the ins and outs of the Scottish education system, but this is the English system...Basically you go to Primary School from the ages of 4 or 5 to 11 (some areas still have Infants and Middle Schools that run 4-8 and 9-12). After that it's High School from ages 11-16, where you sit GCSE exams (used to be called O Levels, and you used to have to write more than your name to get a pass). Education to age 16 is mandatory. After that, students can do 'A'levels betwen 16 and 18. If you want to get into University, you usually need to have passed these. Students commonly do three subjects. Most University degrees last three years, and most students tend to graduate around age 21/22. Some people then go onto do postgraduate degrees (including teacher training) or even doctorates. A bit different to the US system !

thanks. with the GCSE exams, how many do you have to pass before you can graduate? and are there certain subjects you have to pass in order to graduate, like english? and i thought O levels were coarses, not exams. are they like SATs exams in the usa?

and with the A levels, what's with the three subject thing? is that like picking a major that you will continue studying into university?

Come to that, is the US system really like it appears in all the TV shows and movies? i.e. everybody is obliged on starting school to sign up to a particular a sub-cultural clique, everyone worries about who is 'popular' and stresses over going to the 'prom', and goes to their reunion 10 years later where the nerds can gloat about having become multi millionaires and the old football heros have turned into sad alcoholics with jobs in the food service industry?

Oh, yeah, and do all the high school kids really look alarmingly like they are quite obviously in their late twenties, if not thirties (see any number of US tv shows)?

I don't remember in my UK schooldays experiencing anything like the tribal cliqueyness that US schools are always shown as having - my school seemed mostly just a random collection of roughly equally dysfunctional individuals.

Maybe its really a small town US thing though, if its not a total Hollywood fiction.

Originally posted by snucker

thanks. with the GCSE exams, how many do you have to pass before you can graduate? and are there certain subjects you have to pass in order to graduate, like english? and i thought O levels were coarses, not exams. are they like SATs exams in the usa?

and with the A levels, what's with the three subject thing? is that like picking a major that you will continue studying into university?

Well, you can do GCSE exams in loads of different subjects, and I think they are pretty difficult to fail. You get about 35% for turning up on the right day, a further 10% for bringing a pen with you, and 25% for being able to take the cap off the pen. It's all part of President Blair's "all men are equals" policy, devaluing education so that everyone can have a degree. Most employers usually expect you to have an English GCSE - let's face it, if you can't speak your own language you are fucked really !

I don't know what SATs are in the US, but 'O' (Ordinary)Levels were exams you did at age 16 (until around 1990 anyway) in a variety of subjects that you had studied for 2 years, the forerunner of the GCSE. These were in all the common subjects, and again most employers would expect English and Maths.

With 'A' levels, most colleges (or sixth-forms in some schools) encourage you to do three subjects at an 'A'(Advanced) Level that you had been good at during 'O' Levels. Most University students end up taking a degree course in one of their 'A' level subjects - many Universities will only accept you in those subjects.

I did a whole bunch of 'O'Levels way back in 1979 and 'A'Levels in 1981, and they were much tougher than the exams the kids today have to face. I think they call it progress, this lowering of the educational standards...

didn't know that. in ontario, they're just getting rid of OAC (aka grade 13). OAC is optional, so you can graduate at 18 if you wanted. if not, you graduate at 19 and do four years of university. best 6 OACs including pre-requisites will get you into university. there's no test, just an average of your best 6 OAC courses. they're changing that to god knows what. god, i feel like i'm in school longer than the rest of ya.

but back to britian...answer those questions!

Originally posted by snucker didn't know that. but back to britian...answer those questions!

I did. Above. And it's BritAIN not Britian ;)

Originally posted by Easy E > Originally posted by snucker> > thanks. with the GCSE exams, how many do you have to pass before you can graduate? and are there certain subjects you have to pass in order to graduate, like english? and i thought O levels were coarses, not exams. are they like SATs exams in the usa? > > and with the A levels, what's with the three subject thing? is that like picking a major that you will continue studying into university?

Well, you can do GCSE exams in loads of different subjects, and I think they are pretty difficult to fail. You get about 35% for turning up on the right day, a further 10% for bringing a pen with you, and 25% for being able to take the cap off the pen. It's all part of President Blair's "all men are equals" policy, devaluing education so that everyone can have a degree. Most employers usually expect you to have an English GCSE - let's face it, if you can't speak your own language you are fucked really !

I don't know what SATs are in the US, but 'O' (Ordinary)Levels were exams you did at age 16 (until around 1990 anyway) in a variety of subjects that you had studied for 2 years, the forerunner of the GCSE. These were in all the common subjects, and again most employers would expect English and Maths.

With 'A' levels, most colleges (or sixth-forms in some schools) encourage you to do three subjects at an 'A'(Advanced) Level that you had been good at during 'O' Levels. Most University students end up taking a degree course in one of their 'A' level subjects - many Universities will only accept you in those subjects.

I did a whole bunch of 'O'Levels way back in 1979 and 'A'Levels in 1981, and they were much tougher than the exams the kids today have to face. I think they call it progress, this lowering of the educational standards...

sorry, i guess you beat me to the posting. and quick typing does cause typos. SATs is this one exam americans have to take before they are accepted into university/collge. i quite remember what SAT stands for. never taken one.

anyways, thanks for your answers!

Scottish system is different to the rest of the United Kingdom. You do seven years of primary education (from ages 4/5 to 11/12), then at least four years of secondary education (you have to be 16 before you leave school). At the end of your fourth year of secondary education, you sit Standard Grades. Anyone who doesn't pass at least a few of these is officially Thick As Pigswill. :stupid:

You can then do up to another two years (for six total) of secondary education, sitting Highers in fifth year - reasonably clever gits will sit five of these - and then I get confused. It's not a million years since I left the school, but already they've changed things, and added in Advanced Highers or whatever, where they used to have Sixth Year Studies, which one could take in a subject after doing the Higher. Maybe they still do have them, I don't know.

Scottish universities do four year courses (one year more than most English), after which one sits on the dole for months, as I am currently doing, drinking and/or smoking at the expense of the Great British taxpayer.

School? Who the fuck needs school?!

Seriously, though....high school for me was all about trying to pop zits in time for the girl(s) of my dreams not to see them full-grown on my face; trying to read magazines in the library without getting noticed by the preppy kids; reading bits of Kafka, Catch-22 and The World According to Garp; and switching shampoos weekly because none of them seemed to work at getting the grease out. In other words, I'm not qualified to provide an examination of the American school system......

Originally posted by Taboo # 7 School? Who the fuck needs school?!Seriously, though....high school for me was all about trying to pop zits in time for the girl(s) of my dreams not to see them full-grown on my face; trying to read magazines in the library without getting noticed by the preppy kids; reading bits of Kafka, Catch-22 and The World According to Garp; and switching shampoos weekly because none of them seemed to work at getting the grease out. In other words, I'm not qualified to provide an examination of the American school system......

so i guess i shouldn't be asking what you do for a living...:D

Originally posted by Easy E > Originally posted by snucker> > thanks. with the GCSE exams, how many do you have to pass before you can graduate? and are there certain subjects you have to pass in order to graduate, like english? and i thought O levels were coarses, not exams. are they like SATs exams in the usa? > > and with the A levels, what's with the three subject thing? is that like picking a major that you will continue studying into university?

Well, you can do GCSE exams in loads of different subjects, and I think they are pretty difficult to fail. You get about 35% for turning up on the right day, a further 10% for bringing a pen with you, and 25% for being able to take the cap off the pen. It's all part of President Blair's "all men are equals" policy, devaluing education so that everyone can have a degree. Most employers usually expect you to have an English GCSE - let's face it, if you can't speak your own language you are fucked really !

I don't know what SATs are in the US, but 'O' (Ordinary)Levels were exams you did at age 16 (until around 1990 anyway) in a variety of subjects that you had studied for 2 years, the forerunner of the GCSE. These were in all the common subjects, and again most employers would expect English and Maths.

With 'A' levels, most colleges (or sixth-forms in some schools) encourage you to do three subjects at an 'A'(Advanced) Level that you had been good at during 'O' Levels. Most University students end up taking a degree course in one of their 'A' level subjects - many Universities will only accept you in those subjects.

I did a whole bunch of 'O'Levels way back in 1979 and 'A'Levels in 1981, and they were much tougher than the exams the kids today have to face. I think they call it progress, this lowering of the educational standards...

easy there for people of average intelligence and above they're easy. only about 45% of 16 year olds manage to get at least 5 gcse's at grade c and above. and these days, art, music and technology (woodwork etc) are no longer good choices for the illiterate, you have to be able to write about artists, compose music and write detailed accounts of what you're making etc. in pe you've even got to know the names of ALL the bones and muscles in the body. shit, i can't even do that and i teach biology! blair has done all he can to ensure that the class structure remains in the uk education system at least. it's true that gcse's are easier than o levels, our english teacher once showed us an old o level question that was on a new a level exam, but i'm sure the mark scheme was different