school systems

[kelem_ryu]

could someone explain the american and english school systems to me (others are appreciated to)? there is often talk about 7th grade and the like, but nobody ever explained those things to me troughoutly.

 

 

 

EDIT: what's the difference between university and collage?

 

in germany the marks 5&6 are both negative, right? what's the big difference between them, if there is one?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

here's the austrian. (no kangoorus, we speak german. just because it's often mistaken for australia)

 

 

 

we enter school at the age of 6.

 

 

 

-4 years elementary school

 

 

 

then (usually at the age of 10) EITHER

 

 

 

-4 years Hauptschule (translates to "mainschool") OR

 

-4 years AHS (general educating higher school) "Unterstufe" (roughly "lower level" better maybe undergrade)

 

 

 

these 8 years are mandatory

 

 

 

from their (usually at the age of 14)

 

-people from Hauptschule usually take a polytech year, because you aren't allowed to work below the age of 15 and then enter apprenticeship as a mechanic or something

 

 

 

-most people from AHS take 4 years of AHS "Oberstufe" (probably translates like upper grade) after those 4 years you do a big final examination called the Matura.

 

 

 

-alternatively you can do 5 years of a wide variety of BHS (~profession educating higher school) regardless if you come from Hauptschule or AHS (although AHS is much harder so it's easier if you come from there) there are BHS for electronics, chemistry, construction, hotel management, ...

 

the 5 year BHS also ends with a Matura

 

 

 

-there also is a 4 year option for BHS wich doesn't end with Matura

 

 

 

 

 

the marks you can get range from 1 to 5, where 5 is negative. if you got a 5 in the end of the year in any subject, you have to repeat THE WHOLE year (well newly you can advance with one 5 under certain circumstances, but never with two 5s.) generally spoken if you got one or two 4s you are average. only 1s is about impossible.

 

 

 

in AHS grades are called 1 to 8. so if you are 15, go to an AHS and never repeated a class you are probably in the 5th or 6th grade.

 

if you are at a BHS at the same age, you are in the 1st or 2nd grade BHS.

 

 

 

the subjects in AHS are the same for everybody: German, English and Math are the main subjects. either from 3rd or from 5th you have to take another language probably Latin or French, but Italian and Spanish are also common.

 

Besides that the subjects are:

 

geography, biology, musical education (suprisingly enough you don't learn to play instruments here), "artistic" (in lack of a better word) education (you draw and paint and stuff), pyhsical education, physics (grade 2 to 8), chemistry (grades 4,7&8), uhm "~craft" education (grades 1&2), history (grade 2 to 8), informatics (grade 5), psychology/philosophy (grade 8) and religion (all grades, but it's mandatory, if you aren't on a katholic private school), some people also have geometric drawing not sure why or where though.

 

 

 

on BHS the subjects are very individual. you still got most of the above stuff, but to a much lesser degree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

after school, or after you turned 18 (wichever comes later) you need either to do 8 month military service (our army is pathetic. we have a dozend 30 year old interceptors. recently the purchase of new ones was a HUGE issue. it seems we'll buy 18 Eurofighters, planned were 24, 18 is a compromise, because everybody called bloody murder on wasting that much money on something as unneccessary. the producer even grants us priority, because they are afraid we'll cancle the order...) or you can alternatively do a whole year social services (like in an old peoples home or working with handicapped people), if you are male.

 

 

 

 

 

if you want higher education, the most common means is one of the universities. they used to be free of charge, but since we got that new government it's about 800ÃÆââââ¬Ã¡Ãâì per year, if your parents earn somewhat decent. it caused a big uproar (still is). since if you're parents don't earn too much you now get financial support from the government i think it's pretty okay (to have or not to have 200ÃÆââââ¬Ã¡Ãâì a month :D )

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that's about it. hope some of you find it interesting and looking forward to know about your systems.

[knives669]

US:

 

 

 

Six years of elementary school. (grades 1-6)

 

 

 

Two years of middle school or Junior High. (grades 7-8)

 

 

 

Four years of High School (grades 9-12)

 

Freshman- Person in 9th grade

 

Sophmore- Person in 10th grade

 

Junior- Person in 11th grade

 

Senior- Person in 12th grade

 

 

 

After you graduate High School, you go to college. Different colleges cost different amounts of money, and you can get loans and scholarships to cover the costs. It's highly recommended in the US that you go to college. Jobs that accept a High School education to be the highest education of an individual are growing smaller and smaller. The time you spend in college depends on what you want to study.

 

 

 

Hope this helps. :D

[cyco]

Depending on where you move can also make a diffrence. But not much.

 

Like my Elementary school had k-6 then in my 4th grade year they moved it to k - 5 since we had to many people wich made middle school 6 - 8.

[kelem_ryu]

Helps a lot :D

 

 

 

Jobs that accept a High School education to be the highest education of an individual are growing smaller and smaller.

 

 

 

same here

[GoingUnder]

English:

 

 

 

Nursery/kindergarden whatever

 

 

 

Primary school:

 

[infant]

 

Year 1-age 5-6

 

Year 2 -age 6-7

 

[junior]

 

Year 3-age 7-8

 

Year 4-age 8-9

 

Year 5-age 9-10

 

Year 6-age 10-11

 

 

 

High school:

 

[lower school]

 

Year 7-age 11-12

 

Year 8-age 12-13

 

Year 9-age 13-14

 

[upper school]

 

Year 10-age 14-15

 

Year 11-age 15-16

 

 

 

Sixth form/college:

 

Year 12-age 16-17 -----> Leave or stay for furthur education

 

Year 13-age 17-18

 

 

 

Woot I think i screwed up somewhere, so american's have "grades" and we have "years" and someone could help me no what happens at universities :S

[katha610]

german: (even though you didnt really ask for it : )

 

 

 

4 years of Grundschule (enter age 5-7)

 

after that:

 

 

 

5 years of Hauptschule (basic education)

 

or

 

6 years of Realschule (basic but subjects can be choosen to put emphasis on)

 

or

 

8 years of Gymnasium (academics... divided in Unterstufe, Mittelstufe and Oberstufe) -- side note: depending on state 7years possible

 

 

 

9 years are mandatory, possibility to switch possible under special circumstances (but never after 9 years of school are completed)

 

 

 

completing 9th grade on a gymnasium = finishing hauptschule

 

completing 11th equals ) =realschule

 

 

 

grades 1 to 6. 6 is worst 1 is best, used 1st to 11th grade.

 

gymansium:

 

subjects are given. last two years points, 15 is best 0 worst. you have to choose 2 majors and several minors

 

 

 

alright... i dont want to think about school anymore.....

[Phil]

Scottish...

 

 

 

Primary school - 7 years (5-12)

 

 

 

Secondry school - 6 years (12-18) - 4 years are compulsary - they can go either work or college at 16 years old or continue at secondry and complete 5th & 6th year.

[Lionheart_0]

Canadian (yes there is a diffrence from American)

 

Elementry school:

 

 

 

Juniour kindergarden

 

Senior kindergarden

 

Grade 1

 

Grade 2

 

Grade 3

 

Grade 4

 

Grade 5

 

 

 

Middle school:

 

 

 

Grade 6

 

Grade 7

 

Grade 8

 

 

 

Highschool:

 

 

 

Grade 9

 

Grade 10

 

Grade 11

 

Grade 12

 

 

 

At this point there are a few choices. You can take another half or whole year of grade school

 

 

 

You can Get an apprentiship and learn and work in a trade

 

 

 

You can go to collage to help get a job

 

 

 

Or you can go to University to get a higher standard of education for the top jobs.

 

 

 

Edit: most people enrole into kindergarden at age of 4, sometimes 3. Its usaly so the kids know how to act with others, and some very basic stuff (extreamly basic reading, and like 1+1 crap)

[cydoor]

Estonia

 

 

 

:: Kindergarden ::

 

 

 

:: Elementary school ::

 

1-4 grade (ages 6-10)

 

 

 

:: Basic shool ::

 

5-9 grade (ages 11-15)

 

 

 

Then you can choose whether you go to:

 

 

 

:: Gymnasium ::

 

10-12 grade (ages 16-18)

 

 

 

or

 

 

 

:: Vocational school ::

 

That's for studying a certain job. Like mechanics, builders, chefs and even some low-level programming. Also gardening.

 

 

 

After gymansium you can go to University.

[Fadfdfd]

Our School System (US of A)

 

 

 

Goes like this

 

 

 

Kindergarden--->Elementary(1-4 grade)--->Intermidiate School(5-6)--->Middle School (Junior High 7-8)--->High School (9-12)

 

 

 

Then College (Freshman, Sophmore, Junior, Senior)

 

 

 

If you choose to go to College, but most people do.

[edicius]

The American Educational system must be amazing..

 

 

 

Atl skater234: your skinny

 

Atl skater234: usally ppl that have babys be fat

 

clegslass: omfg.. yeah the woman

[Pete_the_Viscous]

Something to remember is that when someone from the UK says "college", they probably mean a sixthform college. After year 11 (ages 15-16), education is no longer compulsory; not all schools offer a sixthform (the next two years, taken before university), and there are seperate colleges that people go to.

[Phil]

Something to remember is that when someone from the UK says "college", they probably mean a sixthform college. After year 11 (ages 15-16), education is no longer compulsory; not all schools offer a sixthform (the next to years, taken before university), and there are seperate colleges that people go to.

 

England yes, UK no :wink:

 

college here means somewhere where you can take courses, like HNCs for example. You can also get highers if you didn't manage to get them at school. It's more like a uni than a school.

 

We don't have 6th form colleges up here.

[Pete_the_Viscous]

 

England yes, UK no :wink:

 

college here means somewhere where you can take courses, like HNCs for example. You can also get highers if you didn't manage to get them at school. It's more like a uni than a school.

 

We don't have 6th form colleges up here.

 

 

 

Bah, sorry, my mistake. I'm (provided I've not mucked everything up) going to uni in Scotland, and that confused me more than a bit (which I suppose is not hard). Then there's the whole fast-track/skip-a-year business: I've not got a clue how old the people on my course are going to be... but I suppose it's not such an issue at this (general) age.

[weezcake]

There are different systems in America, all dependent on where you live..

 

 

 

San Francisco Unified School District:

 

 

 

[1 grade = 1 year]

 

 

 

Preschool (optional, 3-4 years old)

 

Elementary School (Kindergarden - 5th grade)

 

Middle School (6th - 8th Grade)

 

High School (9th - 12th Grade)

 

 

 

And if you wish...

 

City College (2 years, most people will transfer to a university)

 

University (Usually 2 or 4 years, depending if they transfer)

 

Graduate School (Usually another 4 years, if they decide to go to grad school; this is to achieve a Master's or Doctorate's degree [PhD])

 

 

 

Also, there are a few schools that combine Elementary and Middle School and go from K-8.

 

 

 

If you'd like to know about a specific state/county, just ask?

[Phil]

I'm (provided I've not mucked everything up) going to uni in Scotland, and that confused me more than a bit (which I suppose is not hard). Then there's the whole fast-track/skip-a-year business: I've not got a clue how old the people on my course are going to be... but I suppose it's not such an issue at this (general) age.

 

Which uni and to study what?

[apinagez]

Brazil:

 

Preschool: 2 or 3 years

 

Fundamental level: from 1st to 8th grade

 

Medium level: 1st to 3rd grades

 

Prep School (optional): 1 year

 

Vestibular: A huge exam you take to decide to which (public) university you can go. (Public universities are usually the best here, with a few exceptions in areas like Arts, Marketing and Administration).

 

University (3 to 8 years, depending on the course you're taking)

 

 

 

That's it :)

[Aznhuskarl]

I have the similar system from Going Under and LionHeart.

 

 

 

I'm from Canada BUT from Quebec. The system is slightly different at the end:

 

 

 

-=*=-

 

 

 

French schools {that I've been}:

 

 

 

Primary/Elementary school:

 

[infant]*

 

Year 1-age 6-7

 

Year 2 -age 7-8

 

[junior]*

 

Year 3-age 8-9

 

Year 4-age 9-10

 

Year 5-age 10-11

 

Year 6-age 11-12

 

 

 

-=*=-

 

 

 

High school/Secondary School:

 

[lower school]*

 

Year 7-age 12-13

 

Year 8-age 13-14

 

Year 9-age 14-15

 

[upper school]*

 

Year 10-age 15-16

 

Year 11-age 16-17

 

 

 

-=*=-

 

 

 

Here's the important changes:

 

 

 

Coll̮̬̉̉ge Etude G̮̩̉̉n̮̩̉̉rale Et Professionel (College of General and Professionnal Studies):

 

Pre Universitary:

 

2 years (17 to 19 if there's no failure). You're allowed to go to University as you take the necessary courses from the program. You can't get a job (no Professional Diplomas only Collegial Dilpoma, so no jobs.}

 

3 years (17 to 20 if there's no failure) You focus on a technique were you learn more intensively the technique with more course loads. You can get a job {with the Professional Diploma of the prgm. The job market may depend also of the prgm and your experience too} You can go to University IF you have the right courses and technique.

 

 

 

for example, an electotechnician can go to Electronic Enginerring Technology in the Micro Computer domain IF he/she learned calculus 2 and 4, physicss, chemistry, linear algebra, C++, Computer Projects, Digital Systems, Analog Systems, and then the basic English, humanities, French courses.

 

 

 

*In the school system, most of schools don't separate the levels unless it's the school structure or building that separate the classes. High schools have the French, English, Math, History, Geography, Physic, Chemistry, and some specific optional courses {such as Spanish, Music, Arts.} The newest governemtn made changes to remove uselss courses {that waste the ppl's money} such as Moral, religion, Career Program, Personal Social Life, and other...{oh shoot, I forgot one of them..Sexual Education is removed from the course list}

 

 

 

end of comment...

 

 

 

*I wonder how many Quebecers are ready this right now*

 

 

 

Update..I forgot something.

[Mr_Putter]

Hey, since this topic is about school, I thought I should post this link.

 

 

 

Basically, it compares children from many different countries, at different ages, in math and science. Very interesting.

 

 

 

http://4brevard.com/choice/international-test-scores.htm

[katha610]

sounds like the PISA -test...which i dont trust anyway.

[Pete_the_Viscous]

 

Which uni and to study what?

 

 

 

Edinburgh, for Physics.

[Phil]

 

Which uni and to study what?

 

 

 

Edinburgh, for Physics.

 

Ahh I know someone else from this forum who is(was?) doing Physics at Edinburgh Uni.

 

But yeah good luck with that. I'm sure you'll like Edinburgh. It's a great city.

[kelem_ryu]

thanks for all the replys! (each of you)

 

 

 

hm.. what's the difference between university and collage?

 

 

 

 

 

oh and in germany both the marks 5&6 are negative, right? so what's the difference, other then 5 is bad and 6 is worse?

 

 

 

(i'll edit those questions into the original post)

[Pete_the_Viscous]

Thanks. Yeah -- I go there a lot: it's nice.

[Lionheart_0]

thanks for all the replys! (each of you)

 

 

 

hm.. what's the difference between university and collage?

 

 

 

 

 

oh and in germany both the marks 5&6 are negative, right? so what's the difference, other then 5 is bad and 6 is worse?

 

 

 

(i'll edit those questions into the original post)

 

 

 

It matters where you go. From what i know, in the states and most places they are basicly the same thing.

 

But i know in Canada, and i think england, Collage is more for getting into the work force quicker, and university is something you would take before collage if you wanted a really good job (i.e., Teachers here need 4 years of uni, so i need to take uni for 4 years in some kinda subject, and then 1 year of teachers collage, also doctors and politicans need to go to uni as well)