School System in the UK

[Amy]

Can someone explain it? It's not as confusing as the US's, but I don't kow exactly how it works. I need to know what grades sixth form would be equivalent to in the United States high school system.

Thank you!

[gaius]

Errr well to get into a top university, all a's my university (10th in the uk) I needed 3 b's aswell as my extra curriculars to get in to French and german

[James2612]

In the UK you leave school at 16. Then you can go on to sixth form or go to work.
To go to university you need to go to sixth form first. Sixth form is collage!!!

Hope that helps!!

[Amy]

Yes, it does. Thank you!

After finishing 10th grade here, would a student go onto a sixth form?

[gaius]

Yeah u can go to college sixth form,get a job, do and apprenticeship for something like being a mecanic then if u do well at sixth form/college u can apply got universities

[Zoiek]

It actually varies by country (i.e. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland pupils do GCSEs in Years 10 and 11 and then leave school to go to sixth form college to do AS-Levels and A2s, the latter qualifies as the pupils final A-Levels which are used to apply to university. Typically, pupils do eight GCSEs, four/five AS-Levels and three A2s.

In Scotland pupils do Standard Grades, Intermediate 1s and Intermediate 2s in Third and Fourth Year - however Scottish pupils usually do not go to sixth form colleges. Instead, most Scottish pupils continue as normal through school into Fifth and Sixth Year. Fifth Year is the year when Scottish pupils do Highers (which can be used to get into Scottish universities due to them having four years, instead of three as is normal in other parts of the United Kingdom). If pupils want to get into an English university it is wise to complete Sixth Year and do Advanced Highers which are worth the same amount of UCAS* points as A2s. Scottish pupils usually do eight Standard Grades/a mix of eight Standard Grades/Intermediate 1s and 2s/eight Intermediate 1s and 2s, five Highers and a mix of Advanced Highers and Highers in Sixth Year; students wishing to study at an English university mostly do three Advanced Highers as this is roughly equivalent to what English pupils do too.

*UCAS stands for Universities & Colleges Admissions Service and is the organisation which makes it possible for British pupils to apply to universities or colleges.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCAS

If you have any other questions, please ask, I'll do my best to answer them.

Also, a model of how the years work:
United States: Twelfth Grade.
England, Northern Ireland, Wales: Year 13.
Scotland: Sixth Year.

[Zoiek]

Also, a model of how the years work:
United States: Twelfth Grade.
England, Northern Ireland, Wales: Year 13.
Scotland: Sixth Year.

Slight alteration:
Northern Ireland: Year 14