No Graduation in the UK?

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at ...> wrote:
>
> ---  "Geoff Bannister" <gbannister10@> wrote:
> >
> > Geoff:
> > I thought the best way to answer the questions which have 
> > arisen in this thread would be to give a general overview of 
> > school exam development since the 1950s.
> > 
> > I feel qualified to do this having gone through the system at
> > that time and also having been the Examinations Secretary for
> > fifteen years at the school where I taught. .

Steve: 
> Thanks, I've got the general understanding of the system, but
> still unclear what a students options are. 
> 
> In the USA, the way it is /suppose/ to be, is that the state
> sets educational standards that are reflected in local community
> grade schools, junior high schools, and high school. To pass to 
> the next grade level, your performance has to be up to certain
> standards, but these standards are verified by the school, not
> by standardized tests. 

Geoff:
Answering very briefly. Obviously exam curricula dictate programmes 
of learning to an extent and nowadays, there are Standardised 
Assessments Tests (SATs) at regular intervals in English and Welsh 
schools although this has been scaled back a little recently.

What is different to your structure is that a pupil does not repeat a 
year other than in **very** exceptional circumstances. they progress 
steadily through the system regardless of their qualifications so that 
they all arrive at the GCSEs at the same age and time.