The UK Education System

by Sarah Vallis

Types of Schools
State Schools: Free to all children
Private/Public Schools: Necessary to pay
Grammar Schools: Normally single sex
schools where children must pass an
exam aged 11 to attend.

School Grades
Nursery (0-4)
Primary School (4-11: Reception
Year 6)
Secondary School (11-16: Year 7
11)
Sixth Form/College (16-18: Years
12 and 13)
Education is compulsory from the
age of 4 to 16.

The School Year

The school year runs from September to
July and is 39 weeks long.
The school holidays are:
October 1 week
Christmas 2 weeks
February 1 week
Easter 2 weeks
May 1 week
Summer 6 weeks

Exams
Year
Year
Year
Year
Year

2: Key Stage 1 exams

6: Key Stage 2 exams
11: GCSEs
12: AS Levels
13: A Levels

School Day
School lasts from 9am
until 3.20pm.
Lessons are 1 hour and
15 minutes long.
There is a break in the
morning at 11.40am
which lasts 20 minutes.
At break time, students
usually eat a snack.

Lunch
Lunch is at 1.15 until 2
pm. Students stay in
school and they either
bring their own lunch in
a lunch box
OR they can buy lunch
from the school
canteen.

Number of Pupils
In my primary
school there were
500 pupils.
In my secondary
school there were
1500 students.
There are on
average 30
students in every
class.

The Classroom
Teachers have their own
classrooms and it is the
students that change rooms
after every lesson.
Depending on your level in a
subject you will be put in
different sets. For example, if
you are good at Spanish you
will be in set one, but if you
are bad at English you will be
in set 5.

School Uniform
The school uniform varies from
school to school but most schools
have one.
On certain days you can wear what
you want. For example, to raise
money for charity.
It stops children worrying about
what to wear, and teachers believe
that it makes students more

Primary School

Secondary School

Shirt

Skirt

Tie

Trousers

Blazer