What country are you from and do you call it 1) elementary, junior high, high school 2) elementary, middle school, high school, 3) primary, ???, secondary?
Fyi: it’s called post secondary because, I think, UK calls it primary, secondary, and after that is post secondary.
Czech Republic, and it’s pretty much the same as Slovakia (and perhaps other countries around here.)
Základní škola (elementary, ages ~6+), Střední škola (high school, ages ~15+), Vysoká škola (college, ages ~19+).
Střední škola is sometimes replaced with 4 or 8 years of Gymnázium starting after ZŠ (4-year G.) or after 5th grade (8-year G.) Střední škola is normally focused on a particular field, whereas Gymnázium is more generic and is normally followed by Vysoká škola.
Ontario Canada Elementary, secondary but it depends on the school. Some are called high school, mine was called secondary school in the 90s but I think it’s called a high school these days.
I went to school in the US state of Georgia. It was elementary (k-5), middle (6-8), and high (9-12). There was a school district next to mine that had a primary school that was k-2 and elementary was 3-5. There were other districts that had the 6th grade in elementary school, although that was becoming less common.
When I went to school, we had grades 1-5 at one school (ages 6-10) 6th grade at another, 7th grade at another, 8-9th grade at a 'middle school 'sometimes called “junior high” and grades 10-12 at the high school, compulsory schooling ending at age 17 or 18 unless you failed a year, they didn’t allow skipping grades.
When my kids went, there were elementary schools for grades Kindergarten-5 (so ages 5-6 to 10-11) OR K-8, middle school for grades 6-8 if you weren’t at a K-8 and high school for grades 9-12.
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). 🤷♂️
Osnovna šola (primary school) 1-9 starting at age 6 split into razredna stopnja (class level)1-5 and predmetna stopnja (subject level)6-9.
Srednja šola (secondary) 1-2/3/4 depending on programme or gimnazija (general education secondary) 1-4
Visoka šola (high school) comes after secondary vocational and is usually 1-3
Fakulteta (basically uni) after any secondary that meets criteria usually after gimnazija (you don’t have any qualifications by finishing that) 1-3 for dodiplomski študij (bachelor), 1-2 for magistrski študij (masters) and however long it takes to get a PhD
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 (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.
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.
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.
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…)
Kindergarten, Elementary/Primary 1-6 grade, Junior High 7-9, Senior high school 10-12, though most say year 1 junior(7th grade), year 1 senior(10th grade), then College/University/Tech University.
Some choose vocational high school after junior high, and most people from vocational high choose Tech University.
I attended a complete high school, means the whole secondary education combined, so we call junior high section 1-3rd grades and senior high section 4-6th grades🤣
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