from: http://www.emptyclosets.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4570&postcount=16 For the edification of those not from the US: for highschool, it goes: freshman, sophmore, junior, senior, with senior being your last year of high school, where you are generally 18 (maybe 17) on finishing (in June). they also use the same series in college in the US, where again senior year would be your last and you would usually be 22 (maybe 21) on finishing. So being "a freshman" in the States is a confusing designation, because it could mean you're in Grade 9 (which is what we'd call it in Canada) or first-year university, which are two very different stages of life. (I've always thought it would be funny to tell someone you're dating a freshman or a sophmore and then see how much confusion you could create as they try to figure out if you mean in high school or in college.) In this case, I think Wolfe is a freshman in high school, which means he's 14 or 15. Oh whoops... I was wrong: he says he's 16 because he was held back in Grade 7. That makes sense. How does the UK system work? I know there are O-levels or A-levels or something like that...
The UK system is generally (and I will explain other later) -- Primary School Year 1 - 6 Year 2 - 7 - Key Stage 1 SATS Year 3 - 8 Year 4 - 9 Year 5 - 10 Year 6 - 11 - Key Stage 2 SATS -- Leave Primary School Year 7 - 12 Year 8 - 13 Year 9 - 14 - Key Stage 3 SATS (I think) Year 10 - 15 Year 11 - 16 - GCSEs - what used to be O levels and CSEs -- Legall allowed to leave school Year 12 - 17 - AS Levels Year 13 - 18 - A Levels. For me in the Private system however: -- Prep School Reception - 5 Year 1 - 6 Year 2 - 7 - Key Stage 1 SATS Year 3 - 8 Year 4 - 9 Year 5 - 10 Year 6 - 11 - Key Stage 2 SATS -- May leave Prep School here Year 7 - 12 Year 8 - 13 -- Leave Prep School 3rd Year - 14 4th Year - 15 5th Year - 16 - GCSEs Lower 6th - 17 Upper 6th - 18 - Take International Baccalaureat (IB). I'm in the "4th Year" at the moment, but I am taking French GCSE early (in fact I have already started it - done the oral part). Hope that explains it, Will
Thanks guys. That will be useful for future reference. Although I'm in the UK, a lot has changed since I was at school (no SATS then for example).
Okay, what are SATS? Some type of standardised testing? What is GCSE? I always get confused... isn't the "private system" run by the government in the UK (as opposed to in Canada and the US, where the public school system is government-sponsored)? I know! Let's call two different years 6th year! *rolls eyes* That is an AWFUL lot of standardised testing... is that a legacy of the Thatcher years? Here in Canada you have government-administered provincial exams which you generally take at the end of high school... and that's about it. Hmmn... actually maybe our current right-wing government added testing in Grade 10. All I know is that I didn't have to take any government-required tests until I was at the end of high school--although that was a while ago now.
SATS are standard tests - part of the national curriculum and basically just a way for schools' successes to be measured. GCSEs are the basic qualification that the British System offers. These are also the first ones looked at by universities. The exams are in three tiers, Foundation, Standard and Higher. The grades available are tiered so if you take Higher level, the highest you can get is an A* but the lowest you can get is a C. If you fail to reach that standard you get a U - ungradable. The private system is just as it says on the box - private. Public schools are also private. Only the state system (majority) is Government Funded. And yes it is a lot of testing, and yes the government has got a lot of stick over it, and SATs were first suggested under Thatcher, but introduced by John Major (PM '91-97). Oh yeah, and yes I am fed up with it all. Btw - the IB is not a UK government test - it is run by the IBO in Geneva as an alternative to National Exams. It therefore carries sufficient international weight that it can be used in pretty much any country in the world as sufficient proof to get you into a university without having to take any other exams - I don't know whether you have come accross this in Canada / USA, but I know it is taught. Will
The school I go to in Texas has IB classes. But you can take IB/AP classes from the beginning of 9th grade though.
Yeah, although it does depend on your school. My school does not offer IB, but does offer AP classes.
Wow. I just tried to list all the stuff I took and couldn't remember! Is it possible to take an extra 7th class b/c I'm pretty sure I did 7. HL: Math Chem Bio Spanish English or Literature or whatever it was called SL: Physics Social Studies or World History or whatever it was called I got 6s on everything but Physics (5), English (7), and Social Studies (7). ETA: Oh! I remember now. I took Bio HL but it didn't count in my total IB score -- I just took the class and test as a separate thing. So my total was 37.
Nice, I'm looking at: HL Maths Chemistry Biology SL History English Russian (and then extended essay, theory of knowledge and CAS) My problem is that for the 2 Unis that I am hoping to get into, I need 41 points or more... I have a lot of work to do. And also my friend's brother got all 45 points: http://www.xtensions.co.uk/diploma.jpg
