No Graduation in the UK?

[Geoff Bannister]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" <catlady at ...> wrote:

Steve: 
> << In the USA, you supposedly have to make the grade every single
> year in order to continue on, or advance. But in the UK and
> at Hogwarts, while on-going and yearly marks are given, they
> don't seem to carry any weight. >>

Catlady: 
> Alas, there is some canon that they do. In PS/SS, when Hermione nagged the boys to study for the end of year exams, she said they need to pass those exams to get into second year. I can't remember in which book the Trio hoped that Goyle would be held back a year.

Geoff:
To say that they carry no weight is misleading. At GCSE Level. main 
subjects such as Maths and English have various entry levels which 
depend on how a student has performed in Fourth Year/early Fifth 
Year (Years 10 and 11 in modern parlance). The entry levels have 
cut-offs as to the highest grade within the exam that you can get.

It is extremely unusual for students to be held back in an English 
or Welsh school. The interesting point arising out of Catlady's 
comment is what happens in Scotland because JKR currently lives 
there and her daughter must be attending school up there.

Friends over the pond may not know that, even before the Scottish 
Assembly was set up, the country had jurisdiction over its own 
education system (and also court system). so it may be a feature 
of Scottish schools.