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The #UK school system confuses me and it seems y'all have way more tests than I did. When I was a kid, I had the SOL's, Standards of learning test every year until 10th grade in High school when i had the PSAT's and then in 11th grade, I had the SAT's. That was pretty much it. Y'all have all these crazy tests.
#uk
in reply to Nick's world

Sean Randall
Sean Randall
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When I was at school we had 2 sets of Standard assessment tests at the ages of 7 and 11 (just before high school).
Then at about 16 I took my GCSEs, which are I suppose analogous to your high school diploma. Next were A-Levels, which are our version of your advance placement or International Baccalaureate before we end up specialising in a single field at college level (what we'd consider university).
in reply to Sean Randall

Sean Randall
Sean Randall
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of course there were regular quizzes and in-class assessments, and you also tend to see people sitting mocks, practice exams. But I don't think, for all its problems, the UK education system had an unrealistic high number of assessment points when I went through it.
in reply to Sean Randall

Nick's world
Nick's world
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@cachondo I just like the differences, so I'm guessing to get into Oxford, you have to have the highest score possible on your A-levels?
@Sean Randall
in reply to Nick's world

Sean Randall
Sean Randall
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Oxford has its own entrance exam too, so there's that. :)
in reply to Nick's world

Sean Randall
Sean Randall
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oh sure, an undergraduate degree is the first level of all of that if you o down the typical path. Lots of our universities hand out certificates and diplomas and lower level or more focused qualifications too before you get to degree level.
in reply to Sean Randall

Nick's world
Nick's world
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@cachondo I see, so you don't leave your university to go to another higher degree school, You stay there to go get your PHD. I wonder, is there a separate school for law school or is that also done through the same university? Sorry for all these questions, I'm just interested.
@Sean Randall
in reply to Nick's world

Sean Randall
Sean Randall
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you can get higher degrees from different universities. People might combine them with a job, so studying someplace else is quite common.
Specific fields have specific requirements.
Most of them mean starting with one degree, then obtaining more whilst working in your field (trainee teachers in schools, junior doctors in health care, legal professionals in law chambers) that sort of thing.
in reply to Sean Randall

Nick's world
Nick's world
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@cachondo Oh, I see, so if you're a lawyer, you work at a firm and the firm has a school with it to teach you how to be a lawyer.
@Sean Randall
in reply to Nick's world

Sean Randall
Sean Randall
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crtainly with teaching, you're free to gain your teaching from a university of your choice. You need to have a placement for the practical work, so in essence you're limited by geography and practicality, although distance learning has changed things up quite a lot in the space.

For a great deal of jobs, the one degree, or even none, is fine. Many employers encourage you to learn as you go.
We had an apprentice join the IT helpdesk at my last worplace right after his A-levels, so he'd have been 18. and earning £6.40 an hour and doing a full workweek, with half a day set aside for his ongoing studies.

When he finishes and turns 21, his minimum wage on a full-time job hopped up to £11.44 per hour.

Not everyone gets a full time job, of course, shift work like cleaning or catering is very common.

in reply to Sean Randall

Nick's world
Nick's world
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@cachondo Oh, so GCSE's are like the PSAT and A-levels are SAT, except they mean more because they get you into a specific schools?
@Sean Randall
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