Quote:
Originally Posted by DMB
One difference between England and America is that if a pupil does the full course in England (normally to A-level) s/he will finish in 13th grade. My younger children went to an international school in Switzerland and did the International Baccalaureate instead of A-levels. They still finished at the end of 13th grade. A good IB score will normally allow a student to take a shorter degree course at an American university. English bachelor degree courses normally take only three years. |
There are other significant educational differences. In the UK, children specialise in typically three subjects from the age of 16, for a 2 year A-level course, and then, as mentioned, may go on to university for a 3-year bachelor's degree. This means that subjects are studied in much more depth at an earlier age. For example, in mathematics, you learn such topics as calculus and trigonometry to quite an advanced level for A-level maths, whereas my understanding is that these are normally considered to be "college" subjects in the US. In terms of level of knowledge of the subject being studied, a British bachelor's degree is roughly the equivalent to a US master's degree.