Secondary education (11-18)

Secondary/Senior school age

Pupils enter senior (secondary) school aged 11-13 and stay there until 16-18. At 16 they take their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams and then stay in school for another 2 years to take their A-level exams, which are necessary for university entrance. There is keen competition amongst the best senior schools. Every year, the quality mass media (BBC, The Times, Guardian, Independent) publish detailed school ratings, including A-level results and, most importantly, the percentage of students from each school entering the best universities – Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrew's, Bristol, Durham, etc. The most prestigious English schools always take the top places: boys' schools – Westminster, St. Paul's, Eton, Magdalen College, Winchester, Harrow and Charterhouse; girls' schools – St. Paul's Girls, North London Collegiate, City of London, Wycombe Abbey, Badminton; mixed – Sevenoaks, Westminster (from 16 years). 20-45% of leavers from these schools go to Cambridge and Oxford. Considering that the ten schools below this group only get 4-8% of their students into Cambridge and Oxford, these results are fantastic.

Most children will stay in their secondary school until they go to university, i.e. until they are 18. These 5 or 7 years can be divided into 3 periods:

• Up to the age of 15 pupils study general subjects, several European languages, information technology, drama, music, creative arts, Latin, ancient Greek, design and technology and all sorts of sport.
• From 15-16 they study for their General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams. Apart from the compulsory subjects (mathematics, English, physics, chemistry, biology, French, geography and history) they must also choose several additional subjects (for example, Latin, drama, information technology). Pupils then sit set national exams in all these subjects for their GCSE exam certificates.
• From 17-18, students study at Sixth Form or college, where they study for their A-level exams[link] or International Baccalaureate (IB), which are essential for gaining a place at British, European and American universities.