When applied to study abroad in England I knew the educations systems were different, but I did not realize how different they are until I started talking to people from England before I departed.

First, I will be a comparison of Europe and The United Sates then I will go into more detail about European universities.

In England full-time education is compulsory for all children aged between 5 and 16 (inclusive). Students then have the opportunity to continue their secondary studies for a further two years. They call these 2 years ‘college’ or ‘sixth form’. During this time they take higher level classes that are equivalent to America’s 12th grade.

In the States we define our level of education by ‘grades’ and they range from 1st to 12th with students between the ages of 5 and 18 years old. Then they are often categorized (terms vary within school districts) beginning with elementary school, middle school and finish with high school.  In Europe they refer to a ‘grade’ as a ‘year’. When they are approximately 5 years old they begin year 1 and around age 16 they finish their compulsory education in year 11. This would be similar to U.S. students ending their education after the 11th grade.

Location: University of Kent, Canterbury