This is my attempt to gather various bits of information in one place for easy reference.
Each country in the UK has its own system, but here I’m going to focus mostly on the English system, as this seems to be what Hogwarts is based on. England, Wales, and Northern Ireland follow the same general format but differ in some particulars and terminology. Scotland, as it so often does, marches to its own piper and is the most different from the English system. (I’ll try to note significant differences between countries where I can.)
I am no expert: I’ve never lived in the UK, and I’ve only visited the sceptred isle once and for a short time. I am certainly not going to try to tell you what is “British” and “not British.”
What I am attempting to do is alert you to things you might want to think about when you, a distinctly non-British person, are writing Harry Potter (or other Britain-based) fic.
These are things that have tripped me up as an American attempting to impersonate a Brit when I write. (And please take everything here with a large grain of salt—again, I am emphatically not an expert. If you are, and you think I’ve made an error, please give me a shout.)
The systems of education in each country have undergone significant changes over the years, especially from around the middle of the 20th century until now.
So, depending on which country, era, and socioeconomic class your characters inhabit, they will experience education differently.
If you’re going to mention British Muggle school in your fic, I recommend a deep dive into the following resources as jumping-off points:
If you’re loath to go down the rabbit hole, I’m going to provide a few bits of information here that may help prevent you from committing glaring Americanisms in your fic. Again, this is mostly specific to the English system and quite general, so if you want to be accurate, I highly recommend further research.
As in the US, the UK has free compulsory education for children. Children in the UK must attend school from age 5 through age 16. As of 2013, children in England must also attend what is known as “further education” through age 18. This can be an additional two years of academic school (“college”; more on this later), apprenticeship, or other vocational training.
Children in England generally attend one of two types of school. (See the Wikipedia articles for information on other UK countries.)
These are for students ages 3 to 18 and are government-funded and free to attend.
Subtypes of state school include:
These are fee-based schools, including religiously affiliated schools, that are independent of some of the regulations that apply to state schools. They may require exams for admittance. They are often governed by a board of governors and are usually very expensive. Many are boarding schools, which may also have day students.
(Smeltings, Dudley’s school, would likely have been an independent school, with or without a boarding option. It probably wouldn’t have required an entrance exam, if Harry’s take on Dudley’s brainpower is accurate.)
Private schools are generally divided by age group:
When Justin Finch-Fletchley says he was “down for Eton,” he’s telling us that his family is stinkin’ rich. Eton College is the most famous of English public schools and costs (as of this writing) around £53,000 per year. Justin likely spent his years before Hogwarts at one of Eton’s “feeder” prep schools, like Ludgrove or Westminster School. Our friend Justin would have been what is known—sometimes pejoratively—in the UK as a “public school boy.” This may be similar in spirit to an American “Chad,” but with the implication of old money and elevated social status. Just so you know.
Like the US, the UK countries divide pre-university education into stages. The official names for these stages differ, and in my (limited) experience most folks don’t describe school stages by the official names, but rather in a similar way to Americans. Here are the UK terms followed by the approximate US equivalents:
Rather than “grades,” the English, Welsh, and Northern Irish divide school years into … well … years. As in, Year 1, Year 2, etc. (The Scots use Primary 1 through Primary 7, then Secondary 1 through Secondary 6.)
Here, have a chart, courtesy of Wikipedia:
The term college in the UK means something different than it does in the US. In the England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, college refers to the (optional) final two years of secondary education—what Americans would think of as the final years of high school. This may take place in a different building within a secondary school.
In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, further academic education after age 16 is sometimes known as sixth form, which takes place at sixth form college. Students in the first year of sixth form are in the lower sixth (form), and students in the second year are in the upper sixth (form). These terms are somewhat archaic but are still in use in some private schools. (Our putative Etonian, Justin Finch-Fletchley, would likely have called his final two years of secondary school “sixth form.”)
(In the UK, they generally say “exams” not “tests,” Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests notwithstanding.)
As in the US, the standardized (state) exam requirements in the UK have changed over the years, and the history is too complicated for this post. But the main ones HP fic authors will want to understand are the current GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education) and A-levels, which students take in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. (Scotland has a different set of qualification exams known as the Nationals, Higher, and Advanced Higher.)
Before 1988, students took either the CSE (Certificate of Secondary Education) or the O-Levels at age 16, prior to leaving school or pursuing further academic education.
In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, CSEs (which started in 1965) were exams on specific subjects, either academic, vocational, or both. Passing grades went from 1 (highest) to 5, and a failing “U” for “ungraded.”
O-Levels, introduced in 1951, were also subject-specific exams taken by students in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and were considered more academically oriented than the CSEs. Students passing their O-Levels might be expected to take A-Levels in preparation for university at age 18. Initially, grades were simply pass or fail, but standardized letter grades (A for highest, B, C, D, E, and U, for failing) were introduced in 1975.
The equivalent exam in Scotland was the O-Grade.
These exams were both superseded by the General Certificate of Secondary Education exams (GCSEs) in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in 1988. (The Scots have changed exams several times, and if you want to know the history, you’ll just have to Google it. Sorry.)
All students in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland take GCSEs, which were introduced in 1988. (Scottish state schools use a different exam, the Scottish Qualifications Certificate). Students sit their GCSEs in Years 10 and 11, usually in May and June.
Requirements have changed a few times since their introduction, but there are several compulsory core subjects and several optional ones, and which options a student can take depends on what the school offers.
My research tells me that most students take between 9 and 11 subjects.
Most schools require a passing grade of “C” in at least five subjects before a student can move on to study for their A-Levels. Most universities in the UK require GCSEs (or equivalent) for admission.
Before 2017, the grades were (from best to worst): A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and U (“ungraded,” a failing grade).
The new system grades are numerical, going from 9 (best) to 1 (lowest passing), and U.
The rough U.S. equivalent would be the SAT exam. In HP world, these would probably be analogous to the OWL.
A-Levels are school leaving exams students in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland take at the end of Year 12 and were introduced in 1951 to replace the Higher School Certificate. In Scotland, the equivalent is the Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers, although some private schools in Scotland apparently offer A-Levels.
The exams cover specialized subjects and are considered advanced exams (hence, the A in A-Levels) and are used as entrance exams for many universities.
Most students take three or four A-Levels.
The rough US equivalent would be the Advanced Placement (AP) exams, and HP equivalent would be NEWTs.
As in the US, higher education in the UK is a degree-granting pursuit and largely starts at age 18 and older. It may include university and postgraduate education.
Most universities award a class of bachelor’s degree based on the marks from the assessed work.
In Scotland, the Ordinary Degree may be further classified as “pass,” “merit,” or “distinction.”
The most common honours degree appears to be the 2:1.
British schools like Hogwarts don’t have quarters, trimesters, or semesters, they have terms. Typically, these are the autumn, spring, and summer terms, bounded by the Christmas holiday, the Easter holiday, and the summer holiday, respectively.
Some private schools call their school terms by names from the traditional Christian calendar or other monikers. Justin Finch-Fletchley, for example, would have “gone up” (another British term; see below) to Eton in early September for Michaelmas term; in early January for Lent term; and around Easter for Summer term. Later, at Oxford, he would have attended Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity terms. Had he selected Cambridge, he would have attended Michaelmas, Lent, and Easter terms.
Most schools give students a “half term” holiday—a short (usually week-long) break halfway through the three terms.
In the UK the term study is reserved for the general academic exploration of a subject, as in “I study medieval history.” They revise for exams, as in “I’m revising for my exam on the Norman Conquest.”
At university level, one’s major area of study is what one “reads,” as in, “I went to Oxford to read ancient history.”
In the UK, rather than going to college or university, one “goes up” to university. This can refer to going to university in general or arriving for a specific term.
Similar, one can “go down” or “come down” from university.
If one does poorly, one is in danger of being “sent down” (e.g., expelled) from university. Perhaps not coincidentally, in the UK one is also sometimes “sent down” to prison for a crime. (In the US, we get “sent up” to prison. Or some of us do.)
Thus concludeth the lesson.
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