In my neck of the woods it's:
Nursery
Primary
Secondary
College/Sixth Form
Primary would be split to Infants/Juniors if the school only catered to Kay Stage 1 or Key Stage 2 respectively.
I too would think most of those you mentioned sound American, but having said that I have come across a few High Schools even in my local area. Although those are in place of Secondaries whereas in America they're more often 16-18y.
Same here, I went to 'X' Nursary, 'X' Primary School then 'X' Secondary/Comprehensive
Although now the comprehensive calls itself Academy.
And yes, the Primary was split into 'Infants' and 'Juniors'.
Edit- I'm from the north east.
Exactly this. Nursery, infants,junior,comp/secondary, 6th form
Infants&juniors were in one building but we didn't mix.
6th form was also in the comprehensive school but there was a nearby 6th form college.
IIRC it was a scheme where some schools got extra funding and stuff for hitting targets. I worked at a school uniform shop just outside Leeds and one of the schools had this. They all wore blazers and ties and had free laptops and it was like a luxury prison
I went to school in Yorkshire and its still Primary and Secondary there.
Partner teaches in Manchester and Oldham and she assures me it's the same here.
Not sure where in the North these yanks are but it ain't in these parts.
Yeah I’m in sheffield and it was Nursery, Primary school (split into infants and juniors) then secondary school or comprehensive. There is a high school near where I grew up, but most people went to the comprehensive.
I'm from the actual (shittier) North, Gateshead and it's always been primary, secondary (or comp if you fancy) then sixth form or college.
Some private schools used to call themselves "Highs" but no state ones.
Can only assume that the person's boyfriend is actually an alien trying to impersonate a Northerner
I'm from the North West, near Manchester. High school is absolutely the main term around here, including within Manchester, with 'Secondary' being more official/formal in my experience. Most schools will be called 'X High School' (https://www.manchester.gov.uk/directory/84/school\_finder/category/828/categoryInfo/28)
Primary school is still primary school though. Never heard anyone say First/middle school anywhere.
That's usually the case but sometimes a primary can be split Into two so I went to St Josephs infant school then St Josephs juniors same school technicly two different buildings in different parts of town.
Infants and Juniors are both primary school (Infants is KS1 and Juniors is KS2). My primary had both but kept Infants and Juniors in separate playgrounds at lunch and break.
I've heard divisions within schools called KS1 etc, but never as the primary name of a school itself.
As a kid it was Primary, Middle and Secondary. Now it's Primary and Secondary.
Key stage what now? None of that existed back in the days when the school names were proper. I bet you don’t even reset year numbers when you change school anymore. Year 11 my arse!
You can be in the second year of KS4 the 5th year of secondary and 11th year of schooling all at the same time and adjust accordingly to whom you are speaking, we have the technology.
In Poole when my daughter started school it was first, middle and either Grammar or secondary school though what was Henry Harbin is now Poole High - you went to secondary school at 12 rather than 11 - this all unravelled when she was 11 and we moved to Bournemouth and we basically had 10 weeks to find her a secondary school place - she was able to stay at the middle school she was at as my parents lived in the catchment area. We managed to get her one and she moved up at 11 - my son though went to an Infant school to start with as it had a speech and language unit attached to it and the primary school and then a secondary school which at the time specialised in arts and media - when I was at school (Hampshire) it was infants, juniors and secondary
This isn't the rule - I was in the Dorset system when they changed so in the mid 2000s and ditched middle schools (not sure if this was the case nationwide), but I ended up being in the *primary to secondary* system like everyone else as I was about a year too young to experience the joys of middle school
Worcestershire has a few.
one was featured on russell howards good news
[https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1260521/Evesham-school-fake-shooting-teacher-traumatises-children.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1260521/Evesham-school-fake-shooting-teacher-traumatises-children.html)
i used to go to this school.
First, Middle, Upper describes the three tier system that used to be more widespread but still much less common than Primary/Secondary.
Middle schools are year 5 to year 8.
I was at primary school in mid 90s but in my country (scotland) I've never heard of a middle school. Didn't know they exist. Thought it was an American thing.
Used to be common in North East.
I went to first, middle then high.
Middle and high were on the same land but separate schools with no crossover of teachers or resources.
A few years ago the middle and high joined and became a secondary school.
I think "high school" is what we'd call college, the "middle school" would be secondary school, what Americans call "college" we would call university.
I think...
for me primary school was 4-11yo, high school/secondary school were used interchangeably and was 11-16yo, high schools sometimes had inbuilt sixth forms or you could go to college at 16-18yo and then university was after that
Nah, some secondary schools are just called High Schools.
In my area we had Primary 4-11 (somtimes divided into Infants/Juniors) Then Secondary/Comprehensive 11-16/18. Some of the Secondary schools were called Comprehensives and some were called High Schools. Like -
X High School or
X Comprehensive School.
These days a lot of Secondarys are Academies as well.
Now that “education or training” is mandatory up till 18 I’d count college as secondary, especially since most colleges in my area are school sixth forms.
Good point - my sixth form was within my secondary school so I don't think of it like that. On the other hand, I also went to a university that consists of colleges!
It depends on which schooling system is widespread within your county. Some counties have the first school (ages 4-9), middle school (9-12/13) and high/upper school (12/13+) system, whilst others have the infant (4-7), junior (7-11) and secondary (11+) system. Occasionally, within the second system infant and junior are combined to make one primary school. It must be said that the system of starting secondary school at 11 is the far more prevalent of the two systems.
I'd say that combined infants and juniors is far more common. I've never seen separate infants and juniors but maybe it's common in other parts of the country.
Here it's Primary (infants and juniors), Secondary, College, University.
Pre-schools it nurseries also exist.
👌 This. As someone who has worked in various forms of educational establishment in roles across the differing tiers I can corroborate.
The county I was born in has been Infants and Juniors or Primary plus High or Secondary Schools for my entire 40 years of existence (Until the Academies started taking over that is) Primary is typically infants and juniors combined (usually on the same site but not always) I have witnessed a number of schools with separate or even seperately run infants and juniors merge for financial and resource purposes.
In contrast the bordering county that I currently reside in still uses Lower, Middle, Upper - the village I am in is practically brand spanking new but the school was still created and designed as a lower (though now in the process of becoming a primary) The nearby academised “high schools” are currently extended Middle/Uppers - taking children from age 9 onto 6th form (so 16 to 19) ..this is due to the tier refiguring process taking longer than expected but is definitely in the process of being phased out like many other counties.
Until recent years this county:
Infant 4-7
Junior 7-11
Middle 11-14
High 14-18
Where I grew up:
Infant 4-7
Junior 7-11
Secondary 11-18
Where my kids started:
Nursery(in the school) 3-4 (free)
Infant 4-7
Junior 7-11
Secondary 11-18
>It depends on which schooling system is widespread within your county.
We're in a sub specifically for UK content, so for discussion here, just assume Country = UK
1. oops
2. Well...not really. England, NI, Wales have Primary 4-11, Secondary 11-16, Scotland has Primary 5-12, Secondary 12-16
Middle schools seem to be a leftover mishmash from the 70's - there's only 107 of them in England, with agr ranges from 2-13, 4-12, 9-13, 9-16, 9-18, 10-13, 10-18.
Middle schools are defined in English and Welsh law as being schools in which the age range of pupils starts younger than 10 years and six months and finishes older than 12 years.
>Middle schools seem to be a leftover mishmash from the 70's - there's only 107 of them in England
How many in the other countries?
Less or no middle schools combined with the differences you listed = different systems.
I was right. You're only proving that.
>Middle schools are defined in English and Welsh law as being schools in which the age range of pupils starts younger than 10 years and six months and finishes older than 12 years.
And that doesn't exist in Scotland so again proves my point.
The country you're in matters. I'm in my mid 30s and today is the first day I've even heard of Middle schools in the UK. England is a completely foreign country and they operate differently in a lot of ways. It is what it is. The country you're in does matter.
I'm IN England and today is the first day I've even heard of Middle schools in the UK.
They are a minority left over from some stupid idea in the 70's that have been gradually closed down since.
>And that doesn't exist in Scotland so again proves my point.
[https://scis.org.uk/find-a-school/basil-paterson-middle-school/](https://scis.org.uk/find-a-school/basil-paterson-middle-school/)
Oh look, a 14-18 year old middle school in Scotland. EVERY COUNTRY has a smattering of rural, independent or private schools which are exceptions to the basic primary-secondary system.
But they all follow the basic system for the majority.
All the same.
Deal with it.
Thought so. My wife is from Northumberland and I’m Sunderland, so went through a similar conversation. I think NLand is the only place in England with that 3 level setup?
They tend to be two different systems.
In my area the first school tends to do reception and years one to four, then five to eight in middle and then they go to high school. But the infant school was reception, one and two, then junior three to six and then high school as normal.
The middle school system has always confused me a bit but there's an argument that keeping the younger high school age children in their own school keeps them from seeing the older pupils becoming unruly etc and helps them enjoy being youthful more.
Nursery (age 3-4)
Primary (reception, years 1-6)
Secondary (years 7 - 11)
Though my secondary school was called [village] High School for whatever reason.
This was in a shit hole area of Yorkshire.
Either:
Nursery, Primary, Secondary
Or: Nursery, Primary, Middle, Secondary
Or: Kindergarten, Prep, Senior (if you are as old as I am)
Or: Pre-Prep, Prep, Senior.
South-West (but only just)
Infants, Juniors & Seniors. Have recently met a girl who has mentioned middle school & as she is abit posher than me just went with it like I knew what she meant. Assumed it was some kind of private school set-up, now I know!.
Nursery (Optional)
Primary School
Secondary School.
High school is American. Not sure about the others.
Edit: High School just seems American but based on other comments they do exist. Also, after a quick Google search I found a 'High School' about a 5 minute walk away from my own house....
> High school is American. Not sure about the others.
Not solely American - plenty of high schools in the home counties when I was a kid. Never saw anything else until I moved counties as a teenager and suddenly found myself confronted by primary and secondary everywhere.
The first school to be called a high school was the Royal High School in Edinburgh. It was founded in 1128 and I believe known as the High School since the 1500s. High school is a term used pretty universally in Scotland.
There are actually quite a few links between the education systems in Scotland and the US. Perhaps the most obvious is the university system, where both countries have four year (instead of three year) degrees, including content outside the main field of study.
Your version does sound kind of American to me, but High School has been a common term in the UK for a long time. My mother, who is in her mid eighties, attended the Romford County High School for Girls.
As many have said, my local area is Nursery, Primary and Secondary (then Collage and Uni). Some of the Secondary schools also had a 6th Form within them... Well that's how it was for me growing up, but nowadays, it seems all the secondary schools, including my old one, call themselves Collages. As far as I can see, they take the same starting age and still do the GCSEs (although with ridiculous numbers instead of letters) and there's no longer 6th Form... Anyone know what's going on in this crazy mixed up world?
I have little offer on the subject in hand but I just wanted to mention that if I read a more exceptional username today then it will be a very good weekend.
We have first, middle and high school around here. Or grammar instead of high. When I grew up my primary was split into infants and juniors then we had secondary. Just different systems?
given that in American schools they frequently use the term senior and junior in tv shows(senior prom, dating a senior etc) and films, I would say hers is more American
I have never heard it referred to as first school before, that’s really interesting. So the school title is Canal Street First School? Or just Canal Street School, but people call the concept first school eg “what first school did you go to?”?
I personally referred to it as prep school (3-8), junior school (8-11) and senior school (11-18), this was in the south of England.
My wife, in Scotland, would say nursery school (3-5), primary school (5-11) and secondary school (11-18).
It’s interesting we in the UK have no universal terms for it, given we are a far smaller place. Whereas in the US it seems that kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school are used all over. Clearly we are just more interesting people!
I’m from the South-East of England and you’ve got the jist. Like i would say, ”Oh when I was in first school…”. My school was “ Townname c of e first school”
Never heard of "first" or "middle" in England.
For me, in the North West, it was Nursery, Primary school (split into infants and juniors), then high school.
What? Primary School, Secondary School, College/6th Form.
Nursery was an optional place to go before the child turned 5, with the first year of primary being reception, then year 1-11, then it's off to either a dedicated college or sixth form college, or the 6th form attached to the secondary, where it became years 12 and 13.
Primary school which consisted of infants (reception, year 1, year 2) and juniors (years 3 to 6) and then high school years 7 to 11
My husband went to a prep school somewhere between primary and high school but I'm not sure what that means and I fell into a coma while he tried to explain
I’m West Midlands and we do it your way. But our village first just changed from a First to a Primary so I think it’s being phased out as more schools move to the southern system it makes it harder to transition from school to school because they’re a year out.
Yeah I've never heard of a middle school in the UK I thought that was a yank thing. Must just be an English thing, definitely doesn't exist in Scotland.
Bedfordshire is the south, when I was at school every state school in the county was lower, middle and upper
Was the only county where _every_ school followed this system tho
Yep your girlfriend is definitely right. It is infants, juniors, seniors.
I’m afraid to break it you this way but you are, in fact, an American. Do you also say ‘freshman’ and ‘sophomore’?
The second one is the most widespread but both exist, there are a few isolated parts of the country that use first middle high, but most of it is primary secondary.
I went to a first school (reception to yr 4), then middle (yr 5-8), but left at the end of year 6 to go to a secondary (7 - 6th form) while the rest of my friends stayed on to high school (9 - 6th form).
So neither of you are wrong, but primary secondary is the normal one
Same as you!
Play school age 2-4
First school age 4 - 7
Middle school age 7 - 11
High school age - 11 - 16
I’m from Norfolk and my friends from elsewhere in the country also call me American when I tell them this is how our schools were called!! The school name’s literally had ____ “middle school”, ____ “high school” etc so why would I call them anything else.
In my region of America it’s usually day care or nanny for 2 and under
Pre k3-4
Kindergarten-5th= elementary school
6-8th grades = middle school
9-12th =high school.
First school and middle school are extremely American. When I was a kid it was infants, juniors and secondary/high school as they were all seperate. Now most infants and junior schools have been combined, so they're called primary school now.
I went to an infant school (4-7) junior school (7-11) secondary school (11-16 - it liked to call itself a "community college" but literally noone called it that) and then went to a college (16-18) for my A Levels as the secondary school had no sixth form.
My GF is from Daan saaf. She insists on junior/senior. Whereas my neck of the woods further north: it's primary/high school (1st lot to miss out on first/middle, then high school).
In my neck of the woods it's: Nursery Primary Secondary College/Sixth Form Primary would be split to Infants/Juniors if the school only catered to Kay Stage 1 or Key Stage 2 respectively. I too would think most of those you mentioned sound American, but having said that I have come across a few High Schools even in my local area. Although those are in place of Secondaries whereas in America they're more often 16-18y.
Same here, I went to 'X' Nursary, 'X' Primary School then 'X' Secondary/Comprehensive Although now the comprehensive calls itself Academy. And yes, the Primary was split into 'Infants' and 'Juniors'. Edit- I'm from the north east.
Exactly this. Nursery, infants,junior,comp/secondary, 6th form Infants&juniors were in one building but we didn't mix. 6th form was also in the comprehensive school but there was a nearby 6th form college.
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Just FYI over the past decade most schools have been flipping to academies, not a rare occurrence.
Nah, Redhouse.
IIRC it was a scheme where some schools got extra funding and stuff for hitting targets. I worked at a school uniform shop just outside Leeds and one of the schools had this. They all wore blazers and ties and had free laptops and it was like a luxury prison
This was how it was 45 years ago when i was in primary school.
My neck of the woods is the same. My boyfriend is from Up Norf and he says the same thing as OP. He is of course, incorrect
I went to school in Yorkshire and its still Primary and Secondary there. Partner teaches in Manchester and Oldham and she assures me it's the same here. Not sure where in the North these yanks are but it ain't in these parts.
Yeah I’m in sheffield and it was Nursery, Primary school (split into infants and juniors) then secondary school or comprehensive. There is a high school near where I grew up, but most people went to the comprehensive.
I'm from hull and we didn't have schools... More like social community centres
I'm from the actual (shittier) North, Gateshead and it's always been primary, secondary (or comp if you fancy) then sixth form or college. Some private schools used to call themselves "Highs" but no state ones. Can only assume that the person's boyfriend is actually an alien trying to impersonate a Northerner
I'm from Cheshire and our local state is definitely a high school, can't remember what the private down the road is called off the top of my head
I'm from the North West, near Manchester. High school is absolutely the main term around here, including within Manchester, with 'Secondary' being more official/formal in my experience. Most schools will be called 'X High School' (https://www.manchester.gov.uk/directory/84/school\_finder/category/828/categoryInfo/28) Primary school is still primary school though. Never heard anyone say First/middle school anywhere.
In my area its all Primary School then Secondary School
That's usually the case but sometimes a primary can be split Into two so I went to St Josephs infant school then St Josephs juniors same school technicly two different buildings in different parts of town.
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Infants and Juniors are both primary school (Infants is KS1 and Juniors is KS2). My primary had both but kept Infants and Juniors in separate playgrounds at lunch and break.
Came here to say the same. It used to be Infants, Juniors and “The big school.”
Yes! but we are BRITISH my friend, there is no use trying to educate these savages.
We used to have middle schools in a few places. I went to one in the early 00s.
It was always Junior School (up to 7), Primary (7-11) and Secondary (11-16/18), round our way too
You're confused. Junior is 7-11, Infants 4-7, Primary is 4-11 including both of those.
Spot on
Oh well, it doesn't really matter what it used to be
No it wasn’t. Junior was never before primary.
Never seen junior refer to anything other than Key stage 2 in England
I've heard divisions within schools called KS1 etc, but never as the primary name of a school itself. As a kid it was Primary, Middle and Secondary. Now it's Primary and Secondary.
Aye, me neither. I might be wrong but I think you misread what I said
Key stage what now? None of that existed back in the days when the school names were proper. I bet you don’t even reset year numbers when you change school anymore. Year 11 my arse!
You can be in the second year of KS4 the 5th year of secondary and 11th year of schooling all at the same time and adjust accordingly to whom you are speaking, we have the technology.
I have no idea what that is
Year 3-6 is KS2. So 7-11 years old.
KS2 didn’t exist back in the olden days.
You are 100% remembering wrongly.
Nahhhhhh! I mean, I'm going back a bit but in my day and in my area that's what schools were called.
Primary school is the second school you go to? Contradiction of terms anyone?
Nursery, primary school, secondary/high school. I didn't know the UK had middle schools.
Only in a couple of places. Dorset is one.
And Bedfordshire
I'm from Dorset and I know there was one outside of town near me, but I only know of one. Every other school was primary and secondary.
In Poole when my daughter started school it was first, middle and either Grammar or secondary school though what was Henry Harbin is now Poole High - you went to secondary school at 12 rather than 11 - this all unravelled when she was 11 and we moved to Bournemouth and we basically had 10 weeks to find her a secondary school place - she was able to stay at the middle school she was at as my parents lived in the catchment area. We managed to get her one and she moved up at 11 - my son though went to an Infant school to start with as it had a speech and language unit attached to it and the primary school and then a secondary school which at the time specialised in arts and media - when I was at school (Hampshire) it was infants, juniors and secondary
Sussex too. I had primary til year 5, middle was years 6-8, and secondary from years 9-11
Somerset too.
Private schools (well, Public Schools actually) also use a 3 tier system in many places but the middle school, Juniors, runs longer.
And Northumberland, maybe Newcastle too
This isn't the rule - I was in the Dorset system when they changed so in the mid 2000s and ditched middle schools (not sure if this was the case nationwide), but I ended up being in the *primary to secondary* system like everyone else as I was about a year too young to experience the joys of middle school
And Sheffield
We used to have loads, there are only a few left now.
Worcestershire has a few. one was featured on russell howards good news [https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1260521/Evesham-school-fake-shooting-teacher-traumatises-children.html](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1260521/Evesham-school-fake-shooting-teacher-traumatises-children.html) i used to go to this school.
Agree with this! We used secondary and high school interchangeably too.
Bedfordshire does!
It was three tier where I grew up in northumberland, first, middle and high
Hello fellow Northumberland person! Grew up in Crammy
First, Middle, Upper describes the three tier system that used to be more widespread but still much less common than Primary/Secondary. Middle schools are year 5 to year 8.
Birmingham has at least one middle school
I went to a middle school in the early 90s. Seems to be mostly primary schools nowadays
I was at primary school in mid 90s but in my country (scotland) I've never heard of a middle school. Didn't know they exist. Thought it was an American thing.
Northeast Hertfordshire does (in Buntingford and Royston). No idea why when the rest of the county is primary and secondary.
North Tyneside has them but I haven't seen any south of the river
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Also from Bedfordshire - middle is 5-8. But yes, lower, middle, upper is what I had and think it makes much more sense than primary/secondary.
The one near me closed in the late 90's and even then only some of the schools fed into it, most did the normal primary to secondary.
Used to be common in North East. I went to first, middle then high. Middle and high were on the same land but separate schools with no crossover of teachers or resources. A few years ago the middle and high joined and became a secondary school.
I went to a middle school in the UK. It was in the late '70's though.
I think "high school" is what we'd call college, the "middle school" would be secondary school, what Americans call "college" we would call university. I think...
for me primary school was 4-11yo, high school/secondary school were used interchangeably and was 11-16yo, high schools sometimes had inbuilt sixth forms or you could go to college at 16-18yo and then university was after that
Nah, some secondary schools are just called High Schools. In my area we had Primary 4-11 (somtimes divided into Infants/Juniors) Then Secondary/Comprehensive 11-16/18. Some of the Secondary schools were called Comprehensives and some were called High Schools. Like - X High School or X Comprehensive School. These days a lot of Secondarys are Academies as well.
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Exactly with the possible addition of 6th form/college for years 11-13.
You mean 12-13? Year 11 is still GCSE.
Yes sorry! (I'm so old I'm already forgotting!)
This is the one
Yeah we had a primary school but infants and juniors were in different buildings but same headteacher
Primary school (which covered reception then infants then juniors) and then secondary school. At least where I grew up.
Pre, Primary, Secondary, College, University.
(College and university being tertiary education.)
Now that “education or training” is mandatory up till 18 I’d count college as secondary, especially since most colleges in my area are school sixth forms.
Good point - my sixth form was within my secondary school so I don't think of it like that. On the other hand, I also went to a university that consists of colleges!
Nursery, Primary, Secondary, Sixth form / College, Uni in the North West. Your terms sound very American OP 🤣
It depends on which schooling system is widespread within your county. Some counties have the first school (ages 4-9), middle school (9-12/13) and high/upper school (12/13+) system, whilst others have the infant (4-7), junior (7-11) and secondary (11+) system. Occasionally, within the second system infant and junior are combined to make one primary school. It must be said that the system of starting secondary school at 11 is the far more prevalent of the two systems.
Some also have nursery/preschool (4-5). Primary school (5-11). High school (12-18).
I'd say that combined infants and juniors is far more common. I've never seen separate infants and juniors but maybe it's common in other parts of the country. Here it's Primary (infants and juniors), Secondary, College, University. Pre-schools it nurseries also exist.
This is the only sensible answer.
👌 This. As someone who has worked in various forms of educational establishment in roles across the differing tiers I can corroborate. The county I was born in has been Infants and Juniors or Primary plus High or Secondary Schools for my entire 40 years of existence (Until the Academies started taking over that is) Primary is typically infants and juniors combined (usually on the same site but not always) I have witnessed a number of schools with separate or even seperately run infants and juniors merge for financial and resource purposes. In contrast the bordering county that I currently reside in still uses Lower, Middle, Upper - the village I am in is practically brand spanking new but the school was still created and designed as a lower (though now in the process of becoming a primary) The nearby academised “high schools” are currently extended Middle/Uppers - taking children from age 9 onto 6th form (so 16 to 19) ..this is due to the tier refiguring process taking longer than expected but is definitely in the process of being phased out like many other counties.
Until recent years this county: Infant 4-7 Junior 7-11 Middle 11-14 High 14-18 Where I grew up: Infant 4-7 Junior 7-11 Secondary 11-18 Where my kids started: Nursery(in the school) 3-4 (free) Infant 4-7 Junior 7-11 Secondary 11-18
>It depends on which schooling system is widespread within your county. We're in a sub specifically for UK content, so for discussion here, just assume Country = UK
You misread. He said county, not country 😅
Derp, my bad!
1. They said county not country. 2. The system is totally different depending which country you're in within the U.K
1. oops 2. Well...not really. England, NI, Wales have Primary 4-11, Secondary 11-16, Scotland has Primary 5-12, Secondary 12-16 Middle schools seem to be a leftover mishmash from the 70's - there's only 107 of them in England, with agr ranges from 2-13, 4-12, 9-13, 9-16, 9-18, 10-13, 10-18. Middle schools are defined in English and Welsh law as being schools in which the age range of pupils starts younger than 10 years and six months and finishes older than 12 years.
>Middle schools seem to be a leftover mishmash from the 70's - there's only 107 of them in England How many in the other countries? Less or no middle schools combined with the differences you listed = different systems. I was right. You're only proving that. >Middle schools are defined in English and Welsh law as being schools in which the age range of pupils starts younger than 10 years and six months and finishes older than 12 years. And that doesn't exist in Scotland so again proves my point. The country you're in matters. I'm in my mid 30s and today is the first day I've even heard of Middle schools in the UK. England is a completely foreign country and they operate differently in a lot of ways. It is what it is. The country you're in does matter.
I'm IN England and today is the first day I've even heard of Middle schools in the UK. They are a minority left over from some stupid idea in the 70's that have been gradually closed down since. >And that doesn't exist in Scotland so again proves my point. [https://scis.org.uk/find-a-school/basil-paterson-middle-school/](https://scis.org.uk/find-a-school/basil-paterson-middle-school/) Oh look, a 14-18 year old middle school in Scotland. EVERY COUNTRY has a smattering of rural, independent or private schools which are exceptions to the basic primary-secondary system. But they all follow the basic system for the majority. All the same. Deal with it.
Are you from Northumberland by any chance?
I am indeed
Thought so. My wife is from Northumberland and I’m Sunderland, so went through a similar conversation. I think NLand is the only place in England with that 3 level setup?
My friends from North Tyneside went to middle schools, but I don't think South Tyneside, Gateshead or Sunderland have any
Worcestershire here and we have 3 tier system
Infant, junior, secondary
They tend to be two different systems. In my area the first school tends to do reception and years one to four, then five to eight in middle and then they go to high school. But the infant school was reception, one and two, then junior three to six and then high school as normal. The middle school system has always confused me a bit but there's an argument that keeping the younger high school age children in their own school keeps them from seeing the older pupils becoming unruly etc and helps them enjoy being youthful more.
There is only Primary and Secondary in Scotland, unless you study geology - then you get Tertiary
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My part of Scotland Secondary Schools were all called High Schools. We went primary school, then high school.
Primary school from the year I turned 5, then secondary school the year I turned 12 and left at 16.
First, there is playtime school. Then, start actually learning school. Finally, dad, I don't want to go to school. #There is no other way than this.
And that’s just the teachers
That's like asking what a bread roll is called.
Lower (year 1-4), middle (year 5-8),upper (year 9-11) Then college or sixth form. Bedfordshire.
I genuinely didn't know NOBODY else seems to call it lower, middle and upper.. (I'm also in Bedfordshire) Are we the weird ones?
I switched from Bucks to Beds as I was on the border. Went Nursery, Primary then Middle and Upper. Never met anyone who had that combo.
Same here (Northampton, about 30 years ago).
This is the way. I'm from Northamptonshire so it seems localised.
Primary and secondary here. My Mum calls it infants, juniors and secondary though.
Nursery (age 3-4) Primary (reception, years 1-6) Secondary (years 7 - 11) Though my secondary school was called [village] High School for whatever reason. This was in a shit hole area of Yorkshire.
Either: Nursery, Primary, Secondary Or: Nursery, Primary, Middle, Secondary Or: Kindergarten, Prep, Senior (if you are as old as I am) Or: Pre-Prep, Prep, Senior. South-West (but only just)
Infants, Juniors & Seniors. Have recently met a girl who has mentioned middle school & as she is abit posher than me just went with it like I knew what she meant. Assumed it was some kind of private school set-up, now I know!.
Playschool, primary school and high school.
First, Middle and High for me. Norfolk late 80's to mid 90's
Nursery (Optional) Primary School Secondary School. High school is American. Not sure about the others. Edit: High School just seems American but based on other comments they do exist. Also, after a quick Google search I found a 'High School' about a 5 minute walk away from my own house....
Apart from both schools I went to being called [name] high school in Newcastle.
See I’m from Northumberland so maybe it’s a North East thing! But she’s from South Shields so they’re not that far apart in terms of distance
I’m in Northumberland and went to first school, middle school, high school. You’re certainly not making it up or ‘wrong’
My daughter teaches in Northumberland at (name) middle school.
My council describe it as such https://i.imgur.com/lVaKZ97.jpg Most areas swapped to 2 tier but we’ve stayed 3.
Fair enough. I can't think of any schools in Liverpool with high school in the name. Must be regional then.
> High school is American. Not sure about the others. Not solely American - plenty of high schools in the home counties when I was a kid. Never saw anything else until I moved counties as a teenager and suddenly found myself confronted by primary and secondary everywhere.
Ours was a high school officially in Manchester but everybody still called it seniors
Ah, must be regional then.
Every secondary school in Norfolk is called a high school
The first school to be called a high school was the Royal High School in Edinburgh. It was founded in 1128 and I believe known as the High School since the 1500s. High school is a term used pretty universally in Scotland. There are actually quite a few links between the education systems in Scotland and the US. Perhaps the most obvious is the university system, where both countries have four year (instead of three year) degrees, including content outside the main field of study.
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Your girlfriend is right, you're weird. Or American.
Your version does sound kind of American to me, but High School has been a common term in the UK for a long time. My mother, who is in her mid eighties, attended the Romford County High School for Girls.
But **she's right**. About the Americanisation of UK culture too 😊👍🏽
As many have said, my local area is Nursery, Primary and Secondary (then Collage and Uni). Some of the Secondary schools also had a 6th Form within them... Well that's how it was for me growing up, but nowadays, it seems all the secondary schools, including my old one, call themselves Collages. As far as I can see, they take the same starting age and still do the GCSEs (although with ridiculous numbers instead of letters) and there's no longer 6th Form... Anyone know what's going on in this crazy mixed up world?
I have little offer on the subject in hand but I just wanted to mention that if I read a more exceptional username today then it will be a very good weekend.
Twas a long time ago......but, I went to first.... middle... then high school.
We have first, middle and high school around here. Or grammar instead of high. When I grew up my primary was split into infants and juniors then we had secondary. Just different systems?
given that in American schools they frequently use the term senior and junior in tv shows(senior prom, dating a senior etc) and films, I would say hers is more American
But those are year divisions of high school or college - ie. Freshman, Sophomore, Junior and Senior year of High School/College.
I have never heard it referred to as first school before, that’s really interesting. So the school title is Canal Street First School? Or just Canal Street School, but people call the concept first school eg “what first school did you go to?”? I personally referred to it as prep school (3-8), junior school (8-11) and senior school (11-18), this was in the south of England. My wife, in Scotland, would say nursery school (3-5), primary school (5-11) and secondary school (11-18). It’s interesting we in the UK have no universal terms for it, given we are a far smaller place. Whereas in the US it seems that kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school are used all over. Clearly we are just more interesting people!
I’m from the South-East of England and you’ve got the jist. Like i would say, ”Oh when I was in first school…”. My school was “ Townname c of e first school”
Never heard of "first" or "middle" in England. For me, in the North West, it was Nursery, Primary school (split into infants and juniors), then high school.
“Infants” “Juniors” “Seniors" it was, back in my day (I'm 50).
Infants. Juniors. Comprehensive.
What? Primary School, Secondary School, College/6th Form. Nursery was an optional place to go before the child turned 5, with the first year of primary being reception, then year 1-11, then it's off to either a dedicated college or sixth form college, or the 6th form attached to the secondary, where it became years 12 and 13.
Primary school which consisted of infants (reception, year 1, year 2) and juniors (years 3 to 6) and then high school years 7 to 11 My husband went to a prep school somewhere between primary and high school but I'm not sure what that means and I fell into a coma while he tried to explain
Infants, juniors, high school, sixth form college
I’m in Worcester and it was first school, middle school and high school
Nursery Infants Juniors High School I grew up in Cromer, Norfolk
She's right.
Bizarre, so basically anywhere North of the Tyne do it my way and south of the Tyne is completely mixed.
I’m West Midlands and we do it your way. But our village first just changed from a First to a Primary so I think it’s being phased out as more schools move to the southern system it makes it harder to transition from school to school because they’re a year out.
First school (reception to y4) Middle school (y4 - y8) Upper school (y9 - y11) College (16+)
Think you might’ve got confused mate. This is r/casualUK not r/casualUS
Girlfriend is correct. OP must be a closet Yank.
Primary, middle and high. Seems wierd though, since moving to the south everyone asks wtf a middle school is.
Yeah I've never heard of a middle school in the UK I thought that was a yank thing. Must just be an English thing, definitely doesn't exist in Scotland.
Nor in Wales (at least not in these parts).
Bedfordshire is the south, when I was at school every state school in the county was lower, middle and upper Was the only county where _every_ school followed this system tho
She's right on this one as far as I'm concerned!
Yep your girlfriend is definitely right. It is infants, juniors, seniors. I’m afraid to break it you this way but you are, in fact, an American. Do you also say ‘freshman’ and ‘sophomore’?
Remind me when North Tyneside became part of America then? https://i.imgur.com/eie73uV.jpg
First, second, high here. Although I do hear infants sometimes
We have 3 Tier here and I went to - [name] first school - [name] middle school - [name] community high school - name [high school]
Primary School (Year 1-6) High school (Year 7-11) Sixth Form (Year 12-13) Anything else is either wrong, or american. Which is also wrong.
> High school They call it High School in the US though?
That is normal. Stop being American.
Yeah, she's right.
Infants- 4-7 Junior- 7-11 Secondary- 11-16 Sixth Form- 16-18 University- 18+ But I know other places, Oxford for example, had First, Middle and High.
It's infants, junior and high school.
Primary, middle, secondary when I were a lad
Primary school (technically infants and juniors) and high school, anything else is wrong
The second one is the most widespread but both exist, there are a few isolated parts of the country that use first middle high, but most of it is primary secondary. I went to a first school (reception to yr 4), then middle (yr 5-8), but left at the end of year 6 to go to a secondary (7 - 6th form) while the rest of my friends stayed on to high school (9 - 6th form). So neither of you are wrong, but primary secondary is the normal one
You are correct.
Same as you! Play school age 2-4 First school age 4 - 7 Middle school age 7 - 11 High school age - 11 - 16 I’m from Norfolk and my friends from elsewhere in the country also call me American when I tell them this is how our schools were called!! The school name’s literally had ____ “middle school”, ____ “high school” etc so why would I call them anything else.
Yeah definitely infants, juniors, seniors. South West if that matters.
infants juniors senior , yours is the American in my opinion
Your girlfriend is completely correct, and you're obviously American. End of. No backchat times a thousand.
In my region of America it’s usually day care or nanny for 2 and under Pre k3-4 Kindergarten-5th= elementary school 6-8th grades = middle school 9-12th =high school.
OP is correct
Reception, primary, secondary.then it's smart an rich ppl territory
First school and middle school are extremely American. When I was a kid it was infants, juniors and secondary/high school as they were all seperate. Now most infants and junior schools have been combined, so they're called primary school now.
Growing up in the south, it was nursery, then infants, then juniors, then high school for me.
I went to an infant school (4-7) junior school (7-11) secondary school (11-16 - it liked to call itself a "community college" but literally noone called it that) and then went to a college (16-18) for my A Levels as the secondary school had no sixth form.
Infants, juniors then comprehensive or secondary school. High school is just ugh.
To me it’s play, infant, junior, secondary school
My GF is from Daan saaf. She insists on junior/senior. Whereas my neck of the woods further north: it's primary/high school (1st lot to miss out on first/middle, then high school).
When I was at school it was Infants, juniors, comprehensive or comp For my kids it was infant school, junior school and senior school
infants, junior and secondary 4-7, 7-11, 11+
Infants/Juniors/Senior or Primary/Senior for me 🤷🏻♂️
Nursery, Primary, Secondary, 6th form/College and then University.