School Systems

[K0MP4CT]

I have a few friends from Canada. Being from the UK, whenever discussing school, or anything related to school, it is VERY difficult to follow the story. 

 

For example, in the UK we refer to our stage in school by "years" whereas in Canada/US, they use "grades." This is a pain in the arse for several reasons. Is year 1, the same as grade 1? I know it isn't, but what is year 1? 

 

We have nursery, primary, comprehensive, college, university. What does Canada/US have?

 

KeyStage 1, 2, 3 and 6th form. A levels and GCSEs. What's the Canadian/US equivalent?

 

If there's any extra information you'd like to give, feel free. I'm just trying to understand

[Unhelpful]

3 minutes ago, K0MP4CT said:

 

Preschool -> Kindergarten -> 1st - 8th grade -> highschool (which goes in order of freshman, sophmore, junior, and senior.) Freshman being 9th, sophmore 10th, junior 11th, senior 12th.

[K0MP4CT]

Just now, JoeyDM said:

Preschool -> Kindergarten -> 1st - 8th grade -> highschool (which goes in order of freshman, sophmore, junior, and senior.)

What would be your age during the different schools?

[Unhelpful]

Just now, K0MP4CT said:

What would be your age during the different schools?

There is a range of about 1.8 years depending on when the parents start them, so keep that in mind.

 

Preschool 4-ish, Kindergarten 5, 1st grade 6, 2nd is 7, 3rd is 8, 4th is 9, 5th is 10, 6th is 11, 7th is 12, 8th is 13, and freshman in highschool is 14.

[Unhelpful]

2 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

 

I forgot to talk about the difference between elementary and middle school, thanks.

 

Highschool senior graduating age average is 18.

[MrDynamicMan]

Hmm. Lived in both the US and South Africa. US seems to be covered, so I'll do SA. 

Grade00 (nought nought),  grade 0 (nothing to do with the twin towers), grade 1, 2, 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,matric.

 

Grade00 is pre-kindergarten, 0 is kindergarten, the others are self explanatory. 

Grades 00 to 2 are pre-primary, grades 3-7 are senior primary, 8-matric are college, after matric it's post matric (an optional gap year get-better-in-your-field-before-entrance-exams kinda thing, that's mostly for Brainier kids,) 

 

You get to choose your specific subjects that you take for matric in grade 10. Matric is basically just grade 12,  and it's referred to as both equally. 

[dalekphalm]

Canada works much the same as the US - the ages and grade numbers are the same.

 

The main difference is that in High School, it's far less common to refer to them by their "names".

 

The other main difference is that we reverse the way we say the grade.

Eg:

In US - 5th Grade

In Canada - Grade 5

 

Eg: Freshman = Grade 9

 

Very few areas and schools will call Grade 9 "Freshman year". I've never met someone who had a school that used Freshman, etc.

 

For "Post-Secondary Education", we have University and College. There are some big differences between Canada and US here.

 

In the US, College and University are often synonymous, and the words are used interchangeably. Or a College might be a particular branch of a University, etc.

 

In Canada, University is the same as American University, for the most part. And degrees are pretty well interchangeable and cross recognized.

 

College is a lot different though. In Canada, a College is the equivalent of an American "Community College" - but without the stigma attached to it. In the US "Community College" is known for being for idiots and University dropouts. In Canada, Colleges are generally advanced technical institutes, and are very well renown, and the diplomas/certificates you get are very useful in the job market.

 

University is still seen as the "higher" level (meaning: harder and more prestigious) compared to College, but College is also seen as more practical and hands-on, which can sometimes lead to a College student landing a well paying job before a University student of a similar industry (This is a generalization, and is of course, not always the case).

 

Both College and University are acceptable educational paths in Canada.