In the process of working on a couple of my fics I've found that I need some insight from our British members. I'd like to be able to properly describe a character's muggle schooling while living in Britain. I know this is a hugely open-ended request; much like saying "Describe school in America" would be. However, I'm not looking for specifics per-say, but more a feel for what life would've been like.

Some key points that would be of great assistance:

1. What are the "core" classes that most students take and the names for the classes? In the U.S. we have multiple History classes that are all "core" classes: U.S. History, World History, and in some cases State-specific History. Is there a similar break-down in History in the U.K.? Also, Math is broken into Algebra, Geometry, etc. I assume it's the same in Britain, but which maths are required classes and which become electives? Similar information for the other classes would be much appriciated.
2. Do most/all/few schools require uniforms? If so are most uniforms the same from school to school only changing colors or emblems etc.?
3. What is the grade-level breakdown? In the U.S. most schools are broken down as: Elementary School (grades K-5), Middle School (6-8), and High School (9-12). Some school districts will break High School in Jr. and Sr. levels with 9&10 and 11&12 split.
4. Do most cities have their own School Districts? I'm not sure how this even works in most U.S. areas, but in my experience most cities of certain population levels will have their own School District to manage all the schools. Some smaller cities will join with other nearby towns to create a single district due to the smaller student populations. Is there a similar mechanic in Britain?
5. What, in general terms, is required to graduate? In my state you had to have a specific number of class credits. Of the specified credits there had to be at least X number of Math, X number of Science, etc. credits. Is it similar in the U.K.?
6. Lastly, what - in general terms of course - is an "average" student's day like? Do you have off-campus lunch? Do you have 4 classes a day or 8? Basics is really all I'm looking for here.

These are just some basic questions. What I'm looking for is to understand better what the life of a normal studen in Britain would be like. I don't want to try and write this portion of my fic based on U.S. school knowledge as it would really screw the characterization horribly. Any insight folks could provide would be much appriciated.

 

At what age? I mean, the basics change through the years.

 

Mostly looking for what would be late Middle School through High School (7th grade-ish to graduation). I know it's a fairly large range and most likely involves a fair amount of change, but that's the spread I'm looking at in my fic.

 

What are the "core" classes that most students take and the names for the classes?
At my school we take all subjects up until you reach year nine (13-14 year olds) but once you reach year nine you get to choose the subjects you want to take but you have to keep Maths,English, science and a language. Maths is just one subject we don't have separate subjects for algebra etc. In my school the only subjects that breaks down like are Science which is split into Biology, chemistry and physics and Geography which is split into human and physical .

Do most/all/few schools require uniforms?

Most schools have uniforms it's normally a shirt,tie and blazer or a simple polo-shirt with a jumper over. Most schools have there emblem on them and most uniforms vary in colour.

What is the grade-level breakdown

In Britain the schooling breakdown is primary school which is years 1 to years 6, this is normally age 6 to 11. Then secondary school which is years seven to eleven and age 11 to sixteen and finally college which is 16+.

Do most cities have their own School Districts?

Most major towns have there own school but sometimes if theres say four smaller towns they will join under just the one school.

What, in general terms, is required to graduate?

My school uses things like A as top marks for a project or piece of work, B for pretty good, C for acceptable, D for needs more work and F for fail. We have grade E between D and F but that just means that you have passed but barely and you need to redo the work.

Lastly, what - in general terms of course - is an "average" student's day like?

The amount of lessons varies from school to school mine has six lessons a day with two in the morning, break, two mid morning to lunch, lunch at school and one before we go home. We are allowed off the school site but you have to have a pass which can only be obtained if you are deemed as responsible. Most schools start at nine in the morning and finish anywhere between three and four in the afternoon.

Hope that helps.

 

History is just History, mathematics is just mathematics. No splits. English is split between Literature and Language though, and science is split into Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

As for the core classes, it depends on age group.

Primary School (age 4 to age 11) core classes are English, Maths and Science (it doesn't get split to Chem Phys and Bio 'til later) with some Geography, history, art and languages mixed in (usually French).

Secondry school, or high school goes from age 12 to 16, and is split into two stages. The first stage is the first three years, ages 12 to 14. In this stage you do a hell of a lot of subjects, though it varies from school to school. To get a general idea though, I did: English, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, French, Spanish, ICT, Art, Design, History, Geography, Latin, P.E., Religious Studies, music.

The second stage of secondary school is the two years in which you take your GCSEs, the first set of academic qualifications you do in the UK (with some exceptions like vocational courses). For these, you chose your subjects that you want to continue, with a maximum of about 10 (most people do the maximum). English Lit and Language, the sciences, and maths are compulsary. The rest are up to the students. New subjects are also made available at this stage, such as business studies.

After GCSE's, then you can leave school if you wish. Most people, however, go on to do A-Levels, the next stage of qualifications, at college, though most high schools are also colleges. A-Levels take 2 years to do, though technically the courses are split into two component parts: AS levels (the first year, worth half an A-level) and the full A-levels (the second year). At Christmas and Summer of each year exams are taken, as well as coursework undergone over the year, to determine grade. AS levels are qualifications in their own right. Most people do 4 AS levels, then drop one subject and continue to do 3 A-Levels in the second year. Even more subjects are opened up at this stage, such as Economics, Philosophy, Ancient Greek, other languages like Russian and Chinese...etc etc. But as you only chose 4 or so, there is a lot of specialisation.

After college you can go to university. The government has a target of getting 50% of the population going there, but it's unrealistic.

All schools require uniforms, most schools uniforms are different, though they are all similar: grey/black trousers (or a skirt), shirt or blouse, tie, jumper, blazer, often with a crest. Its only really the colours that differ.

Answered in my first part.

State schools (that is, schools provided by the government, free of charge except for taxes) have catchment areas: if you live in a certain school's catchment area, then you go to that school. Housing in catchment areas of good schools is quite expensive.

There is no graduation. You either pass your exams or not, either way, you leave school with little to no fanfare as you get your results weeks after you have left.

I really can't answer this as it is different for every school. Generally though, it goes something like this:

Registration
First set of lessons
Break
Another set of lessons
Lunch break
Another set of lessons
Home time/after-school activities.

The set of lessons can be either one long lesson or a several. At my school, each set comprised of three periods, each 35 minutes long. Subjects could either be a single period of a double. First break is about 20 minutes long, lunch is about an hour, and is on-campus.

 

Wow, thanks for the great information so far.

Just to make sure I've got a clear picture in my mind:

It sounds like the GCSE's are what in the U.S. would be considered, for the most part, the final exams to graduate High School. Then the AS and A-Level courses are a lot like what would be required in the U.S. to get an Associates degree from college, and University for ya'll would be the Masters and Doctorate level studies. Do I have that about right?

Next, Taure you mentioned languages. In the U.S. High School students (as far as I know) are required to take at least 4 credits (2 years) worth of a language other than English. It sounds like in Britain more is required, and from an early age. Am I reading that correctly?

Lastly (for now), you said that the High School's usually also act as colleges. Are the college level students given more freedoms at school? I'm refering here to the ability to say...leave campus at will, or schedule all their classes for the afternoon and none in the morning, etc.

Again, thanks for the help here. I knew there were fairly significant differences, but not to this degree. Now I won't make a total fool of myself trying to write this element into my fic.

 

Yeah, though its on the same site and share the same buildings and teachers, the colledge students (more commenly called Sixth-form students, which is a relic left over from the old schooling system) are considered seperate. They can't get detentions, don't have to wear uniform, and can leave the campus at will, though most colleges have rules against not leaving in lesson time. The idea is that, as you are not there by law but by choice, you should want to go to class etc and not abuse your freedom. You can't choose your lesson times though, as all the timetabling is quite complex as everyone has chosen different cobinations of subjects.

In the past this was true: it used to be compulsary to take at least one foreign language at GCSE level, and it was the law that all schools should teach at least one foreign language (most commonly French) from the beginning of secondry school up til the time when GCSEs were chosen.

However, due to a massive lack of interest in foreign languages by UK students, combines with a shortage of teachers, these regulations were removed a few years ago, to the joy of a great many students (who prompty gave the subjects up) and the anger of a great many education authorities.

That's roughly it, other than Universities. After college, when you go to university, you get a Batchelor Degree. If you want a Masters, that takes another year of study, and then if you want a doctorate, another couple of years, depending on research. We don't really have Associates Degrees.

 

Excellent! Thanks a ton Taure. This information should make things a lot easier for me; especially the information on the languages and college-level freedoms.

In looking over your information on History and Maths it raised another question. Since the classes aren't broken into specifics as they are in the U.S., do the classes then focus on specific aspects during certain years? Say for example in year 1 basic world history, year 2 British History, etc.? Or is the long-approach taken and history from "then" to "now" is simply stretched over the full years from start to GCSEs?

The definition I found for GCSEs was General Certificate of Secondary Education. I'm curious if there are any "student definitions" for the GCSE's. An example of what I mean would be in the U.S. be have a G.E.D. certificate wich can be obtained if you drop out of High School prior to graduation. The G.E.D. stands for General Education Developtment, but most students call it the "Good Enough Degree".

The A-Level and AS-Level definitions were Advanced and Advanced Subsidiary levels. Again, any nicknames for these?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but I'd like to make sure that I at least get basic jargon correct from a students point of view.

Edit:

More questions...sorry.

Since the mid/late '80s early 90's computer labs have been fairly common in most of the middle to upper class schools in the U.S. The same for TVs, video(and later DVD) players, and other technologies used as teaching aids. Has the same been true in the U.K.? If so, for how long?

What is the school administration like? What's the basic "chain of command" so to speak?

 

Up until GCSEs, what is taught in History is entirely up to the teacher, who will tend to do whatever they specialise in. All secondary school History classes will have one thing in common though: source work: their reliability, interpreting primary sources and secondary sources, that kind of stuff. Generally Primary school History is a rather amateur affair, concentrating mostly on ancient history: the Greeks, the Romans, etc. Pre-GCSE secondary school history tends to focus on British history: kings and queens, castles, the Norman invasion, the Spanish Amarda, the slave trade, that kind of stuff.

Once you hit GCSEs and A-levels, what topics you do will be decided by the course you pick. Different examination boards offer different courses containing different topics. Most focus on modern history, particularly the second world war and the factors leading to it, as well as studying the various dictators. GCSE history also tends to have some sort of politics-related module, I seem to remember it being about the Chartist revolution at my school. I didn't chose to do GCSE History though, so I wouldn't know too well. A-level history is a lot broader, with a massive range of modules offered, though only a few are picked (picked by the teacher, not the students). My year did stuff like The American civil war, Irish history, and Appeasement (of the Neville Chamberlin kind).

No nicknames that I can think of. If you speak to someone of the older generation, they are likely to call GCSEs O-Levels, which was the name of the old qualifications that GCSEs replaced.

 

I can give information for scottish schools if needed.

 

Hmm. Is there a fair amount of difference between the systems? I'd have imagined that the system would be fairly similar in England, Scotland, and Ireland. I suppose that was a fairly silly assumption though. What are the main differences?

 

It is very similar, but there are no GSCE's in Scotland.

Students go through 'years' in Scotland at High School, with student's sitting Standard Grades in Fourth Year from subjects they have chosen to continue in and studied in 3rd and 4th year. They take 8 Subjects throughout these two years, which range in English, Maths, Music etc.

In 5th year students can take up to 5 subjects and sit Highers at the end of year. Then in 6th year student's must choose at least 3 subjects and can choose to do advanced Highers, which are similar to the first year of university.

 

Just to add to Xanatos' description:

Primary school years are generally refered to as P1, P2, P3 etc up until P7. Secondary School years are generally refered to as S1 up to S6.

In S1 and S2 you study a wide range of basic subjects, though there are some small variances from school to school. Unlike what Taure said, foriegn language education is compulsory in Scotland up until you've taken a standard grade in one. Most Primary schools start teaching french around P6, though I know of a small number that start in P1.

In S1 at my school we studied Maths (all one subject), English (not split into two, all one subject as well), Science (all one subject), Music, Art, Geography, History, Technological Studies (which despite the name, is actually what I think is called Shop in the US. Wood Work, Metal Work and Graphic Design are all integrated into the course. Usually refered to as Techie), Physical Education (refered to as PE), Personal and Social Education (called PSE or Guidance), Religious Moral and Philisophical Studies (generally refered to as RE), French, Home Economics.

In S2 the time table remained the same, except that some subjects, Maths English and French, became streamed into 8 different levels, you got assigned to a class depending on what your grades in 1st year were like. There were some variances in the timetable available, for instance the top 10% of the year in French got the option to drop one period of it a week and take German that period as well. Since then the school has stopped offering German and has started to offer Spanish instead.

Toward the end of S2 you pick the subjects you wish to study in S3 and S4 for your Standard Grades. You take 8 subjects for Standard Grade, which must include Maths, English and a foriegn language (usually French, but in my case I dropped it completely and took German instead). As well as those 8 subjects (which you aren't just allowed to pick at random, you have to choose according to a bunch of colums of subjects, each colum holding certain types of subjects, ie social sciences which contained geography, history and RE, Sciences which contained Chemistry, Physics and Biology) there are certain compulsory subjects you have to take, which are a period of PSE a week and 2 periods of whats called Core PE. Its called thus because you can also select S Grade PE, which would result in you have 5 periods a week, rather than just 2.

S Grade subjects are divided into 3 levels, Foundation (called Foundy), General and Credit. Foundy being bottom, Credit being top. The course taught for each level is different, and there are different exams for each level and different grades available at each level. The SQA (Scottish Qualification Association I believe it stands for) states that everyone must sit two levels for their exams. This means that you either sit Credit and General or Foundation and General. Basically its to give you a safety net, and results in everyone sitting two separate exams for every subject, usually on the same day.

Toward the end of 4th year, you select your subjects for 5th year. You take 5. No more, no less. 4 levels of subject are offered in this year, Access 3 (which is equivalent to Foundation and is taken by folk who failed Foundation), Intermediate 1 (equivalent to General and sat by folk who passed Foundation), Intermediate 2 (equivalent to Credit and sat by those who passed General) and Higher (which is well above Credit and sat by those who passed it). Again English and Maths are compulsory to take at some level, though no foriegn language is required. Core PE and PSE are also taken. Highers are much more demanding that S Grades, and require just as much, if not more, material to be learned as for Standard Grades, despite having a more year less of teaching time. I believe the statistic year before last for Higher English was that 50 something % of those who sat it failed. And my class last year for Higher English had 2 people out of 28 pass the prelim exam, actual exam results haven't been issued yet.

6th year is fairly similar to 5th year, you again select subjects, only difference being that another level of study is available with Advanced Highers. You are required to have a good Higher (usually a B though sometimes an A) in the subject to take an Advanced Higher. It should also be noted that you don't need to take 5 subjects this year, generally being allowed a minimum of 3 if you take an Advanced Higher or are studying a Higher outside of the school during school hours (ie if you take a class that no one else wants, the school transports you to another Secondary School in the area or to the local college to study that class).

There are generally many more freedoms allowed for 6th year students. Using my school as an example, you are allowed to sign out of school during free periods, though you are required to attend class. We (I'm just going into my 6th year btw) get a common room, which no other year does, which contains a beat up kettel, a beat up microwave, beat up chairs, a lousy stereo system, and a brand new 42" Plasma Flat Screen TV.

At the end of 6th year you can go to University.

At the end of 4th year, if you don't wish to continue schooling you can leave so long as your birthday is before Christmas, if it isn't you must attend until the Christmas Holidays and then leave. Once you leave you can choose to go on and study at college if you want, where many more courses are offered at a wide variety of levels than at school, though the majority of the courses offered are at a level equal to that taught in Secondary School. So its basically a way for drop outs to get a Secondary Education, since you can go into college at any time without any qualifications what so ever.

At the end of 5th year you can also leave, and you can also apply to University during your 5th year if you wish to not wait until the end of 6th year. Placements for 5th year students at Uni are moderately rare, I know only 2 folk in my year applied last year, and one was turned down. Also if you apply in 5th year you only get a conditional offer to Uni, not an Unconditional which some 6th year students are offered.

 

Very interesting stuff. I always knew our schooling systems were different, but I'd never realized just how much. I can understand why so many folks from across the pond get hacked off when Americans try to write about characters in British schools.

Edit:

I'm curious about the school uniform issue. In most public schools in the U.S. we don't have a uniform, but a lot of cities have been considering changing that. The main argument for uniforms is that it removes an element of segreation from the students. The idea is that allowing students to wear clothes of their choice (within school guidelines) allows for a "class" gap. It is believe this leads to the creation of the various "clicks" among students. The theory is that by requiring uniforms it puts all the students on the same socio-economic scale as far as appearance.

I believe the argument for uniforms is a load of crap. However, I admit that my opinion is based only on my experience of not having to wear a uniform to school. I would be interested to hear what the thoughts are from people who have never known anything other than wearing a uniform to school.

 

Well, the school I go to has a compulsory uniform, but its the least strict uniform of all the Secondary Schools in the area. We have formal trousers, or skirts for girls, "suitable footwear" which is a rather broad definitition. Most schools require formal footwear. For upper clothing, either a white or black shirt, which can be worn with a tie or tieless (ties are compulsory for prefects, house captains and schools captains). Thats whats worn by the majority of older students. Younger students usually wear a polo shirt, which can be either white, red or black, and can either be blank or have the school crest on it. No logos such as addidas or nike or whathaveoyu are allowed. Generally with a polo shirt a school jumper is worn, which is black wool with the school crest on the left chest.

In contrast the other schools in the area generally require formal trousers or skirts, formal foot wear, white or black shirts (schools only have one colour, my schools the only one I know of that allows more than one colour), school tie and a school blazer.

My school is rather proud to boast it has a higher ratio of pupils in uniform to not than any other school in the area.

 

Wow... I can't decide if your school system is sophisticated or just complicated.
I could have described mine/ours with less than half the words you used.

...but I suppose you are just as stupid we are after leaving school, so it doesn't matter that much.

 

Just to add to Mordecai was saying about uniform.

In primary school, the uniform is usually smartish trousers with a polo shirt and a jumper that is the schools colours and has a the schools badge on it.

In secondary schools it differs, my school used to have no uniform when I arrived, but the students got to design the uniform so it wasn't too bad. It was basically dark trousers, either a polo shirt and jumper or a shirt and tie. In sixth year we got an official sixth year tie instead of the universal school one, so by then everyone was wearing shirt and tie.

Pretty much every high school I know of in Edinburgh has uniform, some similar to mine but some do have blazers and certain shoes etc that are required, ours wasn't particularly strict at all.

 

How do you think wearing a uniform in school affects the environment for the students though? Do you think it's a positive uniformity, or does it not really matter? Does it take away the socio-economic aspect of clothing brand names and quality, or do those still apply in where the uniform is purchased etc. etc.? I'm interested more in how it plays into the student's life more than what it is really.

 

Well when you are in sixth year, it was pretty cool to all be wearing shirts and ties, everyone looked really smart and you did really look like head of the school.

On the other hand, on the days we had non uniform days (for charities) everyone agreed it was much more relaxed in school, no-one really felt all that stressed out.

Personally I didn't mind school uniform, but there was always a few 'rebels' who would wear jeans or jsut not uniform, just for the sake of it.

Personally I can see school being a lot less stressful with no uniform, but its worth it if kids are going to get bullied for not wearing "cool" clothes.

 

Hmm...

Occasionally schools have non-uniform days: days where students are allowed to come in to school wearing their normal clothing, rather than uniform.

These days are always utter chaos.

No one works as hard, people always mess around, concentrate less, and any students who usually play up do so more.

However, this is probably because people are used to uniforms, and they are revelling in wearing their home clothes. Were people to wear normal clothes every day, then I doubt it would be like this. Ultimitely, I don't think it changes much.