Fyi: it’s called post secondary because, I think, UK calls it primary, secondary, and after that is post secondary.
US.
Middle School and Jr. High vary depending on how the grades break.
When I was coming up it was this:
Grade School: 1-6
Jr. High - 7-9
High School - 10-12But when I hit 9th grade, they changed it:
Grade School: 1-5
Middle School: 6-8
High School: 9-12Grade school, didn’t even know that one.
Slovakia.
If I am to translate it word-to-word:
Základná škola - Base school (so primary) (9 years) - split into 1st degree (1-4) and 2nd degree (5-9).
Stredná škola - Middle school (2-5 years based on field of study, 4 and 5 year fields are with graduation)Get ready for a twist: Gymnasium (8 or 4 years) - 8 year gymnasium starts after 5th grade of primary school and 4 year after 9th grade. They also replace middle school. It’s not that popular since you basically won’t get any job without college with gymnasium. It’s really just a preparation for college (literally “high school” (Vysoká škola)) (though perhaps better than middle school).
US. In my dialect, all three are different.
Middle school: 6-8
Intermediate school: 7-8
Jr High: 7-9
I attended an intermediate school that called itself a jr high, so I can understand the confusion.
Finland
0-5 year olds Kindergarten (voluntary)
6 y.o.'s pre-school (mandatory since 2018)
Grades 1-6 in comprehensive school are called “low school” (mandatory) Grades 7-9 in comprehensive school are called “high school” (mandatory)
Second degree years 1-3 (mandatory since 2021), you choose either “upper secondary (gymnasium)” or vocational school (or both).
And if you wish to study further university/uni of applied sciences. Basically everyone does their masters (3+2 years) if they choose uni. Uni of applied sciences is usually 3 years.
For my state in Australia its
Kinder Ages 3-5
Prep Ages 5-6
Primary School Ages 6-12, called Grade 1-6
Secondary/High School Ages 12-18, Called Years 7-12After that you’ve got higher education choices via TAFE or University, theres no cut off ages for that.
School is mandatory from ages 6 To 17.
Romania. We call it primary (1-4), gymnasium (5-8) and lyceum (9-12). They come from French/Latin.
Latin is one of the roots of our language and we underwent a big pro-Latin cultural movement in the 19th century, while French also had a big cultural and educational influence.
Gymnasium and lyceum are both Greek. They did pass through Latin on their way into modern use. Lyceum was the name of Aristotle’s school in Athens.
Sweden
I don’t believe we have the exact same stages as the US or UK, so I will do my best to explain it:
Grundskola - covers years 1 through 9 and is mandatory by law for everyone to attend.
Grundskola, year 1 through 3, student age 7 to 9 years - “lågstadiet”, the frist three years in grundskola is called “lågstadiet”, meaning the “low stage”.
Grundskola, year 4 through 6, student age 10 to 12 years - “mellanstadiet”, the middle three years in grundskola is called “mellanstadiet”, meaning the “middle stage”.
Grundskola, year 7 through 9, student age 13 to 15 years - “högstadiet”, the last three years in grundskola is called “högstadiet”, meaning the “high stage”.
After grundskolan is completed we have “Gymnasiet” for another three years, this is where students really start to get to pick what direction they want to study towards, there are meny different programs to choose between, here are a few of the most common:
Samhällsprogrammet - Society studies, a generic program if you don’t know what to study
Naturvetenskapsprogrammet - Natural sciences, a generic program likw above but you get dedicated science lessons, a good program that prepares you for just about any future studies.
Fordonsprogrammet - Vehicle studies, you like vehicles and want to work with them, you get to learn mechanics and learn how cars work, popular choice for those who have a hard time studying more theoritical subjects.
After gymnasiet you have a big graduation ceremony and party, everybody gets to wear the traditional hat (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_cap#Sweden) and get to ride in the back of a birch covered lorry blaring music, this is called a studentflak and is part of the graduation party for most people.
After gymnasiet you basically have two options for further education: Högskola/Universitet or Kvalificerad Yrkesutbildning (KY), Högskola/Universitet is the more academic route forward, while KY is a trade school.
Canada:
Elementary: grades 1-8
High School: grades 9-12
Weird. I’m in Nova Scotia and we had elementary (primary to 6th), junior high (grade 7-9) and high school (grade 10-12), then college or university. Didn’t Ontario used to have grade 13 as well?
Used to. Now it’s optional. People call gr13 the “victory lap”, and it’s primarily to give students an opportunity to get their grades up before applying to universities.
Grade 13 (called OAC when I was in high school) was not optional for university entrance, it was required. You could attend college with grade 12 but not university.
Which province?
Ontario
Same, but we have middle school where I am. It’s grades 6~8 or just 7 and 8 depending on who you ask.
But primary and secondary are also recognized and used in some official circumstances. Tertiary is something I’ve heard only once, and I’m surprised it doesn’t get used more often.
I went to French immersion, so I also heard a lot of “primary” and “secondary” school. Never heard tertiary, only “post-secondary”
In Denmark it’s called Grade 0. 4-5 Grade 1-10. 6-15 Gymnasium (not sure why?) 15-18
UK:
- Pre-school
- Primary school
- Secondary school (BUT my old HS literally has “high school” in the name so it’s interchangeable with “HS”)
- College (16-18)
- University
It can vary on area though. Some people have middle schools but I’ve no idea what ages they are since I’ve never seen one. Also, some UK people will hear me say “HS” and assume I’m American, not realising some secondary schools are called “high school”
To complicate matters more a “public school” is private.
ETA: I think US grades are off by one to UK “years”. Though I’ve got into arguments with Brits about this I can only reference my own life. So our “Year 7” kids starting high/secondary school are 11yo. I believe that’s 6th grade in the US?
Is “6th Form” not used as an alternative to College anymore (it was archaic when I went to 6th Form 20 years ago so wouldn’t be surprised if it has bitten the dust)
Yeah it is. Sorry I was talking mainly of my experience - I left school to go to college across the country but everyone I knew carried onto sixth form.
That along with all the other complications mentioned in another comment (HE College vs uni) makes for an exciting mess. 😁
Oh and it’s called 6th form cos you’re in year 6 of secondary school. Which is also called year 12!
Oh and it’s called 6th form cos you’re in year 6 of secondary school. Which is also called year 12!
I think it’s a hold over from some time in the past where the year numbers started over again at secondary school, as I understand you’d do your O levels in 5 form, then A levels in 6th.
To add to that, college can sometimes be an alternative to university rather than something which precedes it. And high school can go on until 18. As you say, it can be geographical - I only really have experience of the Scottish system (and even then it’s been a while…)
I grew up in an area with middle schools, and went to one, I think they were age 8 to 12. So people went up to secondary school a year later than most regions. I have no idea why it was like that. We also had spam fritters for lunch which no-one else I know from my generation (Gen X) had to endure. We were just fucking weird I guess.
Weirdos make the world interesting. 🙂
I’ve heard of spam fritters but never had one. I’ve eaten a lot of ‘old fashioned’ foods though like toad int’ hole, kippers, faggots, etc.
In Brazil the names changed quite a bit across the years. I believe that the current ones are
- fundamental - 9 years (6yo to 14yo)
- médio (middle) - 3 years (15yo to 17yo)
- superior / universitário (universitarian) - typically 4~5 years, but it varies
The first two used to be called primeiro grau (first grade), segundo grau (second grade). And even further back, the primeiro grau was actually two, primário (primary - 4y, from 7yo to 10yo) and ginasial (gymnasial - 4y, from 11yo to 14yo).
Texas, US. We called it Elementary (optional Pre-K, required K through 5), Middle (6 through 8), and High (9 through 12). They’re called Primary and Secondary when filling out forms or legal documents.
Also Texas, US (grew up in Lubbock graduated 96) we had Elementary (K-6), Jr High (7-9), and High School (10-12). Now I live in Plano and have kids in school here. The specific area we are in has Elementary (K-5), Middle School (6-8), High School (9-10), and Sr High (11-12). 🤷♂️
In Mexico they are:
- Preescolar/Kinder/Jardín de niños (Preschool): ages 3-5 years old (can vary from state to state).
- Primaria (Elementary school): 6 years. Ages 6-12.
- Secundaria (Middle school): 3 years. Ages 12-15.
- Preparatoria/Bachillerato (High school): 3 years. Ages 15-18.
- Universidad (University, undergrad education): 2-8 years.
- Posgrado (Postgraduate education): Variable length. In my field a “Maestría” (Master’s degree) is 2 years, and a “Doctorado” (PhD) is 4 years.
Sweden, none of the above since we are not English native speakers. 😬
Grundskolan (mandatory for 6-15 year olds). Gymnasiet (optional for 16-19 year olds).
Roughly what percentage of people go on to Gymnasiet? Is the next step University of some sort?
Basically everybody attends gymnasiet. Some programs are focused on preparing for higher studies, such as University, other programs at focused on a trade. All programs have a minimum core curriculum of math, Swedish, English etc.
Yes, the next step is University (or some other kind of higher education), or not, if higher education is not your thing.
Netherlands:
0.5: Kindergarten - ages 4 and 5
1: Basisschool Onderbouw (elementary part one) - ages 6, 7 and 8.
1.5: Basisschool Bovenbouw (elementary part one) - ages 9, 10, 11, sometimes 12.
2. Middelbare school (High school) - Ages 12 - 16/17/18 depending on what level of education you’re going for.0.5-1.5 is because they are usually all in the same school.
