British and American culture
Education in the UK

Next in a series of articles on British and American culture.

Pre-school education

In the UK, some children under five go to nursery schools.

In the US, kindergartens or Pre-K offer pre-school education to children between the ages of 4 and 5.

Primary education

In the UK, school is compulsory from the age of 5. Only 7% of British children attend private schools where parents have to pay fees. Students sit exams at the end of each key stage which is at 7 and 11 years old.

In the US, school is compulsory from the age of 5-6. The primary education system goes from Kinder through to fifth grade (K-5). At primary level, school transport is provided by the emblematic yellow buses.

Secondary education

In the UK, students aged between 15 and 16 take exams called GCSEs (GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education). After that, a student can legally leave school and start work. However, if they want to go on to university, they must take A levels at 17 or 18 (A level is short for Advanced level). There are two courses: the first year is called AS (short for Advanced Subsidiary), which students must pass before they can go on to the second year.

In the US, secondary education is divided into Middle School or Junior High School (6th to 8th grade) and High School (9th to 12th grade). Middle School or Junior High School is for students between 11 and 13 years old. In the final year, students take state exams to determine the level attained. High School is for students between 14 and 18 years old. In the final year, the famous Prom or graduation ceremony is held.

Higher education

In the UK, there are two types of Higher Education establishment: universities, which can award all types of degrees; and other further education colleges which can award their own qualifications, even though most of them offer degrees through a university.

In the US, the SAT (short for Scholastic Aptitude (or Assessment) Test) is an entrance exam required by some American universities. University life is divided into several stages which start with college (for the first two years), followed by the degree (for four years), and through to a Masters and a PhD (short for Doctor of Philosophy, from the Latin 'Philosophiæ Doctor'). The latter two are specialist university qualifications.

Next in the series

Next month you can read about transport in the United Kingdom and United States.

A Spanish language version of the text above is available in the 'Guía Cultural' section of Macmillan Diccionario Pocket, a brand-new bilingual English-Spanish/Spanish-English dictionary.
Spanish text written by Paz Blanco Castro
Translated into English by Sinda Lopez

If you would like to see a guided tour of Macmillan Diccionario Pocket on CD-ROM, download this file (SBCD.exe 1.95MB).