English Schooling System

How does it work? i cant work it out.

This is what i want to know. acording to my english mate in England you only have school till your 16 and then you leave. you dont get to stay on. or something. you have to go to a collage.

In scotland you can leave school to go to collage but most people dont. Im 16 right now and if i pass all the exams i just did in may (i find out in August) then i will have enough qualifications to get into my chosen course at many universities (though i've chosen to stay on for my last year of school). in England how old are you before you get the qualifications you need to get into uni?

You can stay on at school and do your A levels until you are 18, or you can go to a sixth form center or go to college

ah right. so English people can stay on at school.

how old are English people when they get the qualifications to get into uni?

yeah i dont know of any schools that dont have a sixth form, there is good money in getting the A level students through

Is A level over two years? becouse acording to the same mate as before A levels are equivelant to Adv Highers in Scotland. Which we do between the age of 16 and 17. But in Scotland you only need Highers to get into uni. Which are done between the age of 15 and 16.

is there something in between GCSE and A level in England?

Nope, you go from GCSE to A level, you cant take A level until you are 16 unless you are in one of those gifted children schools.

I forgot to mention though, that sixth form is also there so you can re-take GCSE's if you want to improve your grades.

The english school system confuses me

Ah right ok. I think i prefer the Scottish system then. You do Standard Grades that are equivalant to GCSE. if you get a credit in them you do highers. if you dont get a credit in them, you do INT2's. If you pass Int 2 you can do higher the next year. Highers take one year, and if you pass four of the five then you can get into most uni's. if you fail then you have another year to get more highers. So essentially you get two chances at getting into uni.

I dont have any good GCSE's and any Alevels.. and i have a Degree in engineering. I left school at 16 and Joined the MOD (RAF Civilian) left at 22 and went to Uni, here i am today..

Bit wierd..

aye, you can do that here too actualy. but you can leave at fifteen. technically. i could have left a year and two months ago, when i was nowhere near being 16.

At least one thing I know for sure is that it isn't compulsory for a guy when he reaches 18 - to be enrolled into the army for the next 3 years in the UK.

Here it is, and many people choose to migrate before their son(s) reach the age of 18 to avoid this discourse.

The Singapore School system is modelled after the British one, (a throwback from pre-independence days) - so I don't know if its still the same on the UK side.

Primary School - 6 years, up till the age of 12.

Secondary School - 4 years, up till 16, with the GCSE 'O' levels determining your eligibility for college / Pre-University / Polytechnic (Diploma).

College / Pre-U - 2 / 3 years, after which you will sit for the GCSE 'A' levels to grade you for entrance to the University.

If you choose to enter a Polytechnic, this will give you a Diploma at the end of your course. You can choose to get that degree after the diploma, but it'll just be a waste of time.

Most schools are doing away with the 'O' levels now though... and an 'A' level cert is practically nothing and of no value in this day and age.