school leaving age!

Question - at what age do students in the UK enter university?

Here in the US, most students earn their high school diplomas at age 18 or 19, but I was one of a relatively small group that completed at 17. Does the UK grant something similar to our high school diploma? Just curious! How would the new rules about school-leaving age apply in such a case?
 
We don't have High School Diplomas Billcat. Our High School starts at 11ish and goes on to 15/16ish when they take the GCSE exams. My daughter will be 15 when she takes hers. Most will be 16 because they have their birthday earlier in the year. They are in High School for 5 years then have the opportunity but no compulsion, to go on to (6th form) college which may be for 1, 2 or 3 years of study or more depending on what qualifications they start with and what they aim for.

The course and career choice my daughter is aiming for takes the students in at different levels. She is hoping to get in on the middle level if her results are good but if not then she can do a year at the lower level to get her up to the required standard for the middle level and when she gradutes from there she can go on to do another year for her diploma. So she'll be either almost 18 or almost 19 by then - but she could opt out any time before then if she wants to limit her careeer options, which I hope she doesn't.

Then again after the middle level she could always opt for an apprenticeship style of work/study too. There are many options.

What age do they start school in the USA and what age do they move to a different school?

Mine stated reception class at 4, then 2 years of infants, 3 years of Juniors (all in the same primary school) before moving on to High School.
 
Last edited:
Willow,

It may very a bit from place to place (especially with regard to in which grade students move from elementary school to middle school).

These days, this is a fairly typical program:

Starting when you are age 5, you enter elementary school for six years(kindergarden and grades 1-5).

Assuming you did not skip or repeat a grade, you would be 11 when you transfer to Middle School (Grades 6-8, 3 years).

You would most likely be 14 when you enter high school (Grades 9-12, 4 years). Assuming you complete high school, you would most likely receive your high school diploma and graduate in June when you are age 18.

After high school, many of us went on to college or university. The only real difference in the US between the two is that colleges typically offer only four-year Bachelors degrees, while universities also offer Masters and Doctorates. My school, Dartmouth College, is ranked as a major research university. It is unlikely, for historical reasons, that it will ever be known as Dartmouth University, as that is the name the State of New Hampshire created when they made an unsuccessful move to invalidate the Royal Charter that created Dartmouth in 1769.

When I started school, we started in the fall of the year that we reached the age of 5. So, being born in late 1952, I started school in September 1957, at age four, along with the other kids born in 1952. Of course, I turned five shortly after school started.

In most states, students can legally drop out of school at age 16.
 
Billcat said:
Question - if these young folks who now leave school at an earlier age do not want to be in the classroom, might they be disruptive and slow/stop the progress of those students who DO wish to get an education?

While I am very much in favor of folks getting an education, after a certain age I don't think you can successfully force it on young people.
Click to expand...

This is a very valid point and probably a problem in all schools.

What about bringing back National Service. If they arnt into further education and not all of them are, they can do 2 years in the Army.

Make this counrty a better place.
 
Idiotic.

Force people who don't want to be there to be stuck in education for another 2 years. This means the teachers having to hold them there for another 2 years and spend the time getting them to turn up and work rather than teaching the ones that actually want to be there.

The school leaving age at the moment is already too high. At the age of 14 you can tell who are wasting their time by staying in school. I feel sorry for the people who are going to be stuck with the same no-hopers for another 2 years thanks to this.

For me college is a breath of fresh air, there is no need for discipline, if someone doesn't want to be in the lesson, they don't have to stay, if a teacher wants someone out of the lesson, they kick them out. You are left with the people who want to do the work doing the work and the teachers can concentrate on their job - education not babysitting.
 
I get the impression that the etxended years will be more of a college format than a school format, and more importantly with more options to do vocational subjects. Perhaps if schools did more subjects which covered more interesting subjects some of those who lose interest in the standrad stuiff may actually be interested in staying on.

Of course we know schools can't offer much more because that would mean taking money away from other sources like luxuries for prisoners and putting it where it's needed.
 
***Mr D*** said:
This is a very valid point and probably a problem in all schools.

What about bringing back National Service. If they arnt into further education and not all of them are, they can do 2 years in the Army.

Make this counrty a better place.
Click to expand...

Of course, National Service could also be more broadly defined. No reason why those young folks couldn't be put to work cleaning and restoring parks and other sites of interest.

As my sister said when one of my nephews dropped out of university, there's nothing quite as useful as a year or two in a really dull job to help develop the motivation for education!
 
lancsdave said:
I get the impression that the etxended years will be more of a college format than a school format, and more importantly with more options to do vocational subjects. Perhaps if schools did more subjects which covered more interesting subjects some of those who lose interest in the standrad stuiff may actually be interested in staying on.

Of course we know schools can't offer much more because that would mean taking money away from other sources like luxuries for prisoners and putting it where it's needed.
Click to expand...

There is already strong competition for the vocational courses. This leaves the armed forces or college. For the people who don't want to get shot at this leaves college and when college is forced into accepting pupils and keeping them there it becomes just like school.

The schools are not to blame for not having intresting courses. It is simply that some people would rather go and get stoned, ****ed etc. Hell, it's a lot more fun than any lesson. If that's what people want to do let them wreck their lives, we're gonna need binmen in 20 years time just as much as we do now.
 
Sounds like a great idea to me;sadly my own monster may miss the deadline;she will be due to leave secondary in 2013;suppose we will need to see the timescale for it.Either way she will be going into further eductaion form school.
 
It's pointless to keep some 16-18 year olds in school if the curriculum is strictly academic. If they're not interested in academic subjects by age 16 it won't change in the extra 2 years. If, however, those 2 years will encompass skill courses for those who are more suited to them then fine. In the absence of the apprenticeships we used to have this could be the way forward for learning a trade.
 
SamF said:
Force people who don't want to be there to be stuck in education for another 2 years. This means the teachers having to hold them there for another 2 years and spend the time getting them to turn up and work rather than teaching the ones that actually want to be there.
Click to expand...

I feel sorry for the teachers because they have a tough job trying to teach kids who aren't the slightest bit interested and just don't want to be there. I know, I've tried it and I certainly couldn't do it full time. It would drive me loopy: Two lads poking prodding and punching each other, two girls chatting over on the left about their boyfriends, latest hair products and favourite music, three girls over on the right chatting about 'this well cute lad' and 'this really dorky geek' (or was it a geeky dork?) and someone at the back swinging over on his chair and falling off repeatedly - - and these are the good ones!

It's ironic isn't it that at one time youngsters welcomed the chance of staying on at school as the alternative of HARD work in a dull job was far from appealing. Maybe now life is just too easy for them.
 
Will it means that some young people will be going to school as married couples, pushing their baby buggy?

Personally I think sixteen is old enough to decide if you do, or don't want to continue in education.

Some people left school as soon as possible, and went on to found multi-million pound empires. Others stay until they've made it last until they get a Phd, and still can't get a job on leaving.

A greater concern to me, than the school leaving age, is that further education should be available to all kids, if they want it, regardless of how rich their parents are.
 
SamF said:
If that's what people want to do let them wreck their lives, we're gonna need binmen in 20 years time just as much as we do now.
Click to expand...

Why should the rest of us who work and pay tax support people who want to wreck their lives?
What makes you think their is anything wrong with being a binman. I would like to see you try it in the weather we have had this week.
 
Neil said:
Why should the rest of us who work and pay tax support people who want to wreck their lives?
What makes you think their is anything wrong with being a binman. I would like to see you try it in the weather we have had this week.
Click to expand...


My best friend is now a qualified accountant but he worked on the bins during college holidays. Said if the pay would have been better than he's on now he would switch jobs straight away. Since those days it's got better cos they don't even lift the bins now and the hours are shorter :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top