Wizarding Education (number of students at Hogwarts followed by long digress

[justcarol67]

catlady wrote:
> I believe that EVERY child in Britain and Ireland with ANY wizarding
> power is invited to attend a school of magic. (There may be other
> countries in which Muggle-born students are not invited, no matter 
> how powerful.) If all the students go to Hogwarts as JKR said, then
> Hogwarts has 1000 students as JKR said, that would be all the
> wizarding children, based on many previous threads about the size of
> wizarding population. 
> 
> I believe that Hogwarts has several campus, the Castle that we see 
> in canon is the main campus, has approx 280 students as shown in   
> canon, and the children of less aptitude (and/or less family       
> connections) are sent to other campus. Some listees believe that   
> Hogwarts has only one campus, 280 students as depicted, and is the 
> only School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but all the lesser students
> are sent to a School of Magic instead. <snip>

Carol responds:
Not to be obtuse, but I believe JKR's statements that Hogwarts is the
only school for magical children in the UK and that the names of all
the magical children in the UK are recorded at birth by the magical
quill, which not everyone in the WW knows about. Neville's name, like
Harry's, must have been in the book where the names are recorded from
his birth, but Gran and the family didn't know it or weren't sure.

I agree that Hogwarts has 280 students as indicated by evidence in the
first three books, and I think that the 1,000 students in the
interview was just an off-the-top-of-her-head error by an author we
know is not good at math.

Catlady wrote:
> For some jobs, such as conductor on the Knight Bus and dishwasher at
> the Leaky Cauldron, I bet the kid just out of Hogwarts has already
> learned everything he/she needs. For some other jobs, the kid just 
> out of Hogwarts would have to get hired into a trainee position    
> (which I imagine is the kind of job that Percy had with Mr Crouch),
> and I believe that there are other jobs for which a kid just out of
> Hogwarts would have to go through an apprenticeship before being   
> able to get an entry-level (journeyman) job. 

Carol responds:
I think it's more likely that neither Ernie Prang nor Stan Shunpike
finished school at Hogwarts. Probably they received zero O.W.L.S.
apiece and dropped out after their fifth year and consequently would
not even be considered for a "trainee position" like Percy's (a
junior-level position with chances for promotion to a higher level).
His twelve O.W.L.S. and (IIRC) five N.E.W.T.S. would be the equivalent
of graduating summa cum laude from a university or college in the RW,
a prerequisite or at least a real bonus for a very young man seeking
that type of employment. Stan can work his way up from conductor to
bus driver without even learning to use a steering wheel. Percy, in
other circumstances, might have worked his way up to Minister of Magic
in fifteen or twenty years through additional training and experience
as you said, but IMO he'd never have been hired in the first place
without high marks and excellent exam scores in both fifth and seventh
year. 

Carol