North American Ed system ( was GSCE's)

[ovc88guelph]

> --
> GulPlum AKA Richard, who wonders if anyone here read his mega-post 
on the 
> main HPFGU list about UK exams a couple of nights ago...  
Actually, no. I'm avoiding the HPFGU until after June 21! I do find 
this discussion about the educational system informative.  The 
American and Canadian systems are fairly similar, so some of this 
will apply to my Yankee neighbours. In Canada, we have Junior and 
Senior Kindergarten, for ages four and five. These are not 
mandatory, but it is rare for children not to attend. Students are 
aged by January first, thus some start JK when they are only three! 
Grade 1 would seem to be equivalent to your Year 2. And while math 
is not my strong suit, this means Year 11 would be Grade 10. North 
American schools run to grade 12. It seems these two years would be 
similar to A level, however, generally more than 3 subjects are 
taken. Students are at this point "streaming" (ie picking courses 
that will be needed for their future careers). After Grade 12, 
students attend either university or college. "University" in Canada 
refers to four year Bachelor (or higher) degrees. "College" refers 
to two year diploma courses, taken at what were once considered more 
practical, but lesser institutions. Similar to universities in other 
countries, the departments within universities are refered to as 
colleges (eg College of Arts, or College of Veterinary Medicine), 
but they offer degree programs, not diplomas. In the States, I think 
the words College and University are used interchangeably. From my 
own experience, a Bachelor degree in the UK is the same as a 
Bachelor degree here, and is not a Masters! Of course, quality of 
education and the value of the degree depends on the "uni" one 
attends. In the States, grades 9 to 12 are often called Freshman, 
Sophmore, Junior and Senior. These are the same terms they use for 
the four years of college. 
   Could someone help me with the terms and holidays in UK school 
system? I'm always perplexed by when breaks and exams occur. In 
particular, it seems odd that classes continue after final exams! I 
also have the impression that the HHR were in school until July. 
Here most schools (and universities...and colleges) run on a 
semester system. The school year runs from Sept to June. The first 
semester runs from Sept to mid Jan, then students write final 
exams.  The second semester then runs from end January to June. 
Exams are written, and summer holidays begin immediately upon their 
completion. High school students (ie Grade 9 to 12) take four course 
per semester. There are three breaks in the school year: two weeks 
at Christmas, three to seven days between semesters, and (right now) 
one week March break. (Americans call this spring break, but I can 
assure you it's not spring here. There's three feet of snow.) Easter 
holiday consists only of Good Friday and Easter Monday off. 
Universities do not have March break. Their first semester ends at 
Christmas, and the second begins in January and ends in May. Should 
one choose not to take summer holidays (or not need to work and earn 
money!), many university programs run a summer semester. 
  As this is my first post, I hope the mods will accept it. It is 
quite OT, but hopefully in line with the previous discussions.

MMCK. who would ask Brits and Euros to refrain from calling all of 
us across the water "Americans". That would be like calling 
Seamus "English"!