How does the UK education system work?

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I’m moving to the UK soon and I tried learning about the education system but it confuses me to the point when I stop thinking and sit in silence because I’m used to elementary and high school (at any age if it’s public school) but I don’t get the year 3 or 10 or levels or these capital letters put together and I wanna cry I’ve never felt this stupid.

Like, I’m in grade 10 and I’m going to London. Do they have textbooks? Can I get them online (for free haha)? I want to study it before going there. Do I choose what I want to learn? Please explain it calmly and in detail dissected please

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Anonymous 0 Comments

In most of the UK, school is split into primary (age 5 – 11) and secondary/high school (age 12 – 16). The actual grades are called “years”, and kids go from Year 1 to Year 11.

At the end of Year 11, at age 16, you sit your final exams of secondary school. These are called GCSEs, and you sit one exam (plus coursework) for every subject you’re studying. Certain core subjects are mandatory for all students (English and Maths are always mandatory at every school), but in Year 9 (age 13/14), kids choose which subjects they want to do at GCSE level and drop the rest. You have to take a minimum of 5 subjects, but most students take 9. There’s no upper cap.

After your GCSEs, you’re required to stay in some kind of school until you’re 18, but you have a choice about exactly what kind of schooling you want to do for your last two years. There are a few options, but the most popular ones are:

* Stay on at school for another two years and sit another set of exams, called A-Levels. This is the most straightforward “academic” option, and usually what people pick if they want to go to university afterwards.
* Start an apprenticeship. This is usually for people who want to go into a trade, like plumbing. It lets you start working while training.
* Do some kind of vocational course, like a BTEC, at a community college.

What options will be available to you will depend on how you did on your GCSEs. For example, if you wanted to do a English A-Level, you would have needed to get a decent grade on your English GCSE.

Hope that helps.

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