British Education System 📚

Understanding the British school and educational system. You start with nursery and then you go to primary and secondary schools before making a choice as to whether you want to go on to a college or sixth form and then perhaps onto university or vocational studies. Lots to get through so sit tight!

The reason why we've made this video is because everywhere in the world has different education systems and they can be so hard to understand. When you meet Americans, for instance, 'college' means 'university' and suddenly there's lots of different words like Sophomore and Freshman being thrown around and it's all very hard to understand. We hope this video helps to clear up some confusion!

Of course none of this applies if you are one of the lucky British children that get chosen to go to Hogwarts!

Skip to:

0:34 - Nursery
1:04 - Primary School
2:01 - Secondary School
3:37 - Sixth Form / College
5:09 - University

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Hello! We are Joel & Lia. We post videos every week, all about British culture, British accents and the English language! We live in London and love sharing our top travel tips in the UK and abroad. As well as being best friends we share a passion for language, different accents and all things British. With past and future trips to the USA, lots of our content is American vs British.

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[keiliefae]

In America we have Pre-school which is optional for 3 year old and 4 year old children. Then we have Elementary School. You have to be 5 years old to go to Elementary School. You start in Kindergarten. Once you pass Kindergarten you go to 1st grade. Elementary school is Kindergarten through 5th grade. Then you go to Middle School which is 6th-8th grades. After that is High School which is 9th-12th. Most children graduate High School at 18 years old. We are required to attend school 180 days per year or our parents can go to jail. Once we graduate from High School we have many choices. We can enter the work force and take a low paying entry level job or attend college (2 year associates degree) or University (4 year bachelor's degree) or a trade school. Trade schools are where you can become hair stylists, electrician, plumber, etc. If you choose University and graduate you can opt to go on to get your masters degree (2 more years). The highest level would be after your masters to get your doctorate. Elementary, Middle and High School is free and provided by our government. College, University and trade schools are paid for by you. A person can walk away owing well over a hundred or two thousand dollars for their post high school education. If we meet certain income requirements we can get a $4000 grant from the government per year up to 4 years of University. We also have government student loans that are paid back monthly starting 6 months after getting your degree. The payment can be hundreds of dollars a month until it's paid for. I work in the medical field and know some doctors who are much older and still paying their loans. Anything over the amount of grants and loans is your responsibility. With the cost of education in America it is hard for anyone who comes from low income to advance themselves because they do not have the funding to attend post-secondary education. The number of students fighting for private scholarships is unbelievable. Education is a huge topic in America right now. Every person who runs for a government office has promised change but once they get elected they forget about all their promises.

[SincerelyBreana]

This was actually quite interesting, I never really understood how the British school system works.. until now of course.

[unprocessed_life]

Well, you're half right about the US. Some unfocused students take a variety of classes until they decide on a major. But you have to declare a major at most schools by your third year and hopefully before.

There ARE liberal arts schools that are more general though and obvi there are vocational schools.

[rebeccab]

The government has made it a requirement where u can’t leave education now until 18 so u can do college, sixth form or apprentice

[margarita.shaljyan]

I've been watching your videos last three days and I must say you two are so good at what you do and you are so positive and cute.

[CEChelsea]

Thanks for this video! Super informative. I am planning to study abroad somewhere in the UK (from the US) in a year so this was interesting and helpful for me to hear.

[alishasaleem]

i think another difference between sixth forms and colleges is that a sixth form has pupils ages 16-18 and colleges can vary in ages ! xx

[beckysloan]

Great explanation. I watch several bloggers from the UK and I’ve always wonders how the education system there works. I hear them talk about GCSE’s and sixth form. Now I understand it.

Here in the US we have the option of going to vocational-technical school during junior & senior year (year 11&12 for us) where we can learn trades like computer specialties, nursing, mechanics, cosmetology, etc free of charge.

[itsgiullie]

Thank you so much fo explaining it in such a simple way. I'm kind of writing a short story right now and I was so confused about how your educational system worked. It is so different from Brazil! Again, thank you so much.

[rachelsaunders]

*English school system, I was hoping you'd mention slight differences with Scotland.

[theboringkaren]

I never understood UK college until I watched Skins. I actually wish we had the same format in the states. I will say that I'm a big fan of one year grad school over in the UK. If only they would have accepted me :*(

[garza]

Very interesting topic. As a teacher in Texas, hearing your explanations were quite fascinating. I enjoyed the differences in educational systems in both countries. I must say 9k is rather unheard of in Texas.

[LilBabyDelirium]

This has literally nothing to do.with this video, but you two are both incredibly good looking, funny, and intelligent. I love letting your videos autoplay while I'm at work because your voices soothe me enough to not want to choke people out. ;)

[sish]

Different in Scotland, primary school p1 to p7 . Then secondary school s1 to s6 . Not familiar with reception and sixth form until this video . And no specialist schools, we have catholic schools. A levels are equivalent to Scottish highers

[georgejones]

In the uk, compulsory education finishes at 18 and you must be in education until then. GCSE's are the foundation of A Level but is the only qualification everybody has to get.

[paulohenriquenovais]

In Brazil there are public schools (free) and private (paid) but depending on the level of knowledge, the quality is completely different. For example.. private secondary and high schools are better in terms of education quality than public ones but the scenery is completely different with the universities... The public universities (free) are much better than the private ones... University of São Paulo is a good example. It is the best university in the entire Latin America... It's a state institution and it is free.

Primary School: Age 4 - 9
Secondary School: 10 -14
High School: 15 - 17 (18 in technical schools)

In Primary we study: Portuguese and its literatures; Math; History; Science (biology) and Geography.

In Secondary: Portuguese; Mathematics; Science (Biology); History; Geography; English; Religions; Arts and Fisical Education

High School: Portuguese; Mathematics; Biology; Fisics; Chemistry; Sociology; History; Geography; English; Religions; Arts and Fisical Education

These subjects are all required ones (obligated). In Technical High Schools we choose the Area.. like Cience Computer, Administration, etc... And then we have all high schools subjects with technical subjects, that's why it is four years...

[songkeeper]

Thanks for this! I'm an American ex-pat in the UK for 7 years and I have never been able to figure out the Educational System in the UK. Your video spells it out very clearly but I will still need to watch it a few times before I understand it. I think the UK system is far more complex.

[psudcu]

As a British ex-pat who has lived in the US for many years, I want to clarify some of your statements. First, college and university in the US is the same thing. The only subtle difference is that colleges tend to offer fewer majors while universities have a broader range of majors and typically offer postgraduate degrees including Masters and Doctoral degrees. They both offer university degrees at the associate (2-year degree) and bachelor level (4-year degree - same as honors). A University education can be very expensive depending on the school and how you approach obtaining your degree. However, it's possible to significantly reduce the cost of university education by attending a state university rather than a private university. In addition, if you attend a state university, and there are some superb state universities (Virginia, Michigan, Penn State, University of California Los Angeles or University of California Berkley). They offer major discounts on the cost of a university education if you are a student accepted from that state and are defined as an in-state student. Out of state students pay a much higher cost. For example, the University of Virginia charges $17, 500 for an in-state student but $48, 000 for an out of state student per year. In addition, many of these large state universities have branch or satellite campuses where you can complete 2 years' worth of work towards your bachelor's while living at home so you only need to pay tuition so that would reduce the cost by another 50% for those 2 years. The bottom line is that a university education is expensive but it is possible to significantly reduce the cost.

[hooraylaw]

College and university are used interchangeably in the U.S. high school is from 14-18 and it’s before college/university. Year one of high school and college is freshman, second year of both is sophomore, third year of both is junior, fourth year of both is senior. It’s expected that after 4 years of college you will graduate (finish) with a bachelors degree. You can apply to continue your education by entering a program to earn your masters degree in a specific field like engineering, social work, fine arts, etc. From there you have apply to enter a PhD program and that’s even more work. The people I know with PhDs spent pretty much all of their 20s earning their PhD. Then there are the 2 major “professions, ” doctor and lawyer. I don’t know all the details of medical school but it takes a damn long time. Law school is entered after you complete a bachelors degree then you have to take the law school admission test (LSAT) and your grades from college combined with your LSAT score will help you decide which law schools to apply to. Law school is typically 3 years and upon successfully completing it, you have a Juris Doctor (JD). Then you have to study for the bar exam which is administered in every state. If you pass, you are licensed in the state where you say the exam (there are some exceptions to this that are too specific to get into).

[amicizia]

Hello guys, it is wonderful that you break down the school system in the UK. I wanted to add that in the US the word college at times it is referred to as University and at times it means Junior College which is the first two years of University.

In a Junior college you get to spend less money on the subjects that must be covered in the first two years of University. It also helps the student to rebuild their scholarly average in order to get into a competitive University.

University usually is 4 years the student has the option of deciding a field of study or simply entering Undecided and later on decide which field is best. Although you have a field of studies in order to gain a University degree the student is obliged to study other fields. This is due to the fact that they must walk out with some knowledge in general of every field. Thus the University forces the student to study history, English, Math and so forth. In various level beginners and advanced along the field of study chosen.

After the University some students proceed in their educational background and they get into a Master of Arts (MA) or Master of Science (MS) program. The MA program usually runs for 2 years while the MS program is for 3 years. These programs are only concentrated in the field of choice. After the student might want to continue their education and get a Doctorate which usually lasts 4 years.