Hi,

In the UK we start school aged 4 and then are in primary school for seven years until we are 11. Then you move school and go to a secondary school which usually goes up to age 16 or 18. At 16 we take GCSE exams which mark the end of compulsory schooling. You do however, have to be in some sort of education until you're 17, and that can either be at school, at a college or in some sort of apprenticeship.

If you carry on at school until you are 18 you will usually study for A-levels or the IB (international baccalaureate) which are both academic qualifications. With A-levels you usually do 3 or 4 subjects and you have a completely free choice (or at least it's only limited by the subjects your school offers). With IB you have to do more subjects and there are some that are compulsory (Maths and English I think).

If you go to college when you are 16, there is usually a much bigger choice of qualifications to do than at school. Most colleges offer A-levels, but also lots of BTECs which are very varied and offered at different levels. Some are more academic than others but some give you much more of a vocational training so you are trained to do a particular job.

After doing A-levels, IB or BTECs lots of people will then go to uni, and all of these qualifications are suitable for going to uni. A typical bachelors degree in the UK is 3 years long, but there are longer degrees, such as medicine and dentistry, which are both 5 years.

Hope this helps!

Ruth has written a very good and comprehensive summary. Well done.

It's also worth noticing that the same words can have different meanings within the education systems of different countries. As you can see from Ruth's answer, when we are talking about the system in England and Wales the word 'college' usually refers a place where 16-18 year-olds voluntarily complete their last two years of secondary education. This is different from France, where 'college' is a secondary school for 11 -15 year-olds, or the USA, where 'college' refers to an institute of higher education i.e. university.

Context is everything.

You are quite right, Aurélie. In the UK, the term 'public school' refers to certain very old and elite fee-paying schools, many of which date back to the 16th century. Previous to this period, schools were under the control of church authorities, and there were strict religious, regional and professional restrictions on whose sons could attend. Schools such as Eton, Rugby and Harrow, which are still the country's top schools, were 'public' in the sense that there were no such restrictions on admission.

To refer to the equivalent of French "écoles publiques" or US public schools we would use the term 'state schools.' State schools are under the control of the government Department of Education, and are free.

Following on Su.Ki's commentary, something that I think can be confusing :

Also, in the UK, "public schools" are actually private schools, the most expensive and elitist schools (I believe ?)

On the contrary, public schools in the US are just like French "écoles publiques" ;)