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For the non-Brits, "sixth-form" means years 12 and 13 of school - equivalent to junior and senior years of high school in the US. The first and second yearsof s
by choult 2y ago
For the non-Brits, "sixth-form" means years 12 and 13 of school - equivalent to junior and senior years of high school in the US. The first and second yearsof sixth form are referred to as "lower sixth" and "upper sixth" respectively.
It's a hold-over term from when secondary education (ages 11 and up) started in "first form" and worked up.
- NikkiA 2y agoAnd should be noted that 25 years ago, was still optional.
- imoreno 2y agoForm of what?
- swarnie 2y agoAm educational form, an antiquated word for a bench.
- brookst 2y agoThanks for the explanation but it shattered the narrative by mind was building about an alien intelligence that slipped up and posted about its memories of its sixth physical form, the result of its fifth metamorphosis.
- xvector 2y agoThis is pretty much exactly what was going through my mind as well. I was excited the aliens had started reading HN. Now I'm just sad.
- tommica 2y agoI was thinking the poster was a JRPG boss
- schwartzworld 2y agoOp is a Pak Protector
- genewitch 2y agoIs that like a pocket protector or a trapper keeper?
- thepunkoff 2y agoYeah, like in Zelazny's Lord of Light xD
- virtualwhys 2y agoIn the US, for schools that use this form of grading, it means your senior year; 3rd form is freshman year and so on. We tend not to have a 13th grade, and when that does exist, a PG (post grad) is generally there because they excel at a particular sport.
- kaladin-jasnah 2y agoI guess some people in the US call someone beyond their 12th grade in high school, or fourth year in an undergraduate program a "super senior."
- TylerE 2y agoI've literally never heard or read that. So I would say no.
- carb 2y agoIt's certainly a real term. The context is often student athletes that intentionally didn't play their sport for a season (called redshirting) to maintain their 4-year eligibility so that they can stay for a fifth year and compete in their sport.
- viciousvoxel 2y agoI'm American and I have heard "super senior" and seen it used in print. Go figure.
- kisonecat 2y agoI'm a college prof in the US and know that term.
- jonp888 2y agoIn Britain the first high school graduation happens after 11th grade; attending sixth form is optional and is primarily done by students intending to study at University. In these years you specialise in a couple of subjects relevant to your intended course of study, and for university you apply and are accepted for and study exclusively one subject from day 1. So arguably the US equalivalent is the freshman year of college.
- mgaunard 2y agoInterestingly enough, the French do it the other way around, and start counting from the final year (they also start at 0 so it's offset by one). That's arguably a better system since you can keep adding earlier and earlier years (mandatory school starting age has drifted from 11 to 6 to 3 over the years) while keeping everything consistent. Unfortunately they messed it up in 1959 by renaming 12th to 7th and giving matching names to the new 13th/14th.
- olivierduval 2y agoActually, it's more complex than this in France. There is 5 systems: - depending of the Ministry of Eduction : - for toddlers : maternelle (3-6 yo) - Primary : CP (6 yo, primary), CE1 (elementary 1), CE2, CM1 (middle 1), CM2 - Secondary : - College (not the US one!) : 6th (~11 yo), 5th, 4th, 3th (with exam at the end) - Lycée : 2nd (~15 yo), 1st, Terminal (with 'Baccalauréat' exam at the end) then depending of Ministry of Research : University or Post BAC schools However, I think that in some other french-talking countries (Belgium, Swissland) they did it simpler
- mgaunard 2y agoMaternelle years also have names: PSM, MSM, GSM. GSM, PS, CE1, CE2, CM1, CM2 used to be called 12th to 7th, as I said. Your primary classification is incorrect -- maternelle is part of primary. Non-maternelle primary is called elementary.
- eloisant 2y agoThe P in CP doesn't stand for "primary" but for "preparatory"
- makapuf 2y agoThat's for classic education (General, when you want to make longer studies), there are also professional or technical Lycée)
- Fnoord 2y agoFrench and Brits do a lot of things the other way around, like imperial system, ATON/NATO, driving on the other side of the road. Just mentioned the age bracket. Kids who are younger or older are outliers.
- smorrow 2y agoWhat do you mean "hold-over"? In NI we still say "first year" through "fifth year". Is that not done in Britain?
- esskay 2y agoTypically no. In secondary school its just said as "Year 7", "Year 8" etc to 11, then Sixth Form.
- Eavolution 2y agoI'm also from NI, our school officially used year 8 to year 14, but everyone knew both ways around and just switched between them. Edit: I should clarify I'm currently in uni so this was fairly recent.
- madaxe_again 2y agoSixth form is hardly the oddest name for a year, though. Shell, remove, fifth, 6b, 6a at my school, and quite a few others.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]