Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education is considered the second and final phase of basic education, and level 3 upper secondary education or senior secondary education is the stage before tertiary education. Every country aims to provide basic education, but the systems and terminology remain unique to them. Secondary education typically takes place after six years of primary education and is followed by higher education, vocational education or employment. In most countries secondary education is compulsory, at least until the age of 16. Children typically enter the lower secondary phase around age 12. Compulsory education sometimes extends to age 20 and further.
Vocational education is education that prepares people for a skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self employed with requisite skill. Vocational education is known by a variety of names, depending on the country concerned, including career and technical education, or acronyms such as TVET and TAFE. TVE refers to all forms and levels of education which provide knowledge and skills related to occupations in various sectors of economic and social life through formal, non-formal and informal learning methods in both school-based and work-based learning contexts. To achieve its aims and purposes, TVE focuses on the learning and mastery of specialized techniques and the scientific principles underlying those techniques, as well as general knowledge, skills and values.
Gymnasium is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term preparatory high school or the British term grammar school. Before the 20th century, the gymnasium system was a widespread feature of educational systems throughout many European countries.
A state school, public school, or government school is a primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-funded schools are global with each country showcasing distinct structures and curricula. Government-funded education spans from primary to secondary levels, covering ages 4 to 18. Alternatives to this system include homeschooling, private schools, charter schools, and other educational options.
A secondary school or high school is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both lower secondary education and upper secondary education, i.e., both levels 2 and 3 of the ISCED scale, but these can also be provided in separate schools. There may be other variations in the provision: for example, children in Australia, Hong Kong, and Spain change from the primary to secondary systems a year later at the age of 12, with the ISCED's first year of lower secondary being the last year of primary provision.
A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis of selection criteria, usually academic performance. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced as state schools on an experimental basis in the 1940s and became more widespread from 1965.
Eleventh grade is the eleventh year of formal or compulsory education. It is typically the third year of high school. Students in eleventh grade are usually 16–17 years of age.
Education in Spain is compulsory and free for all children aged between 6 and 16 years and is supported by the national government together with the governments of each of the country's 17 autonomous communities.
Selectividad is the popular name given to the Spanish University Admission Tests, a non-compulsory exam taken by students after secondary school, necessary to get into University. Students must take six 90-minute written exams over three days in June or September, consisting of common and specific subjects taken in Spanish Baccalaureate or Bachillerato. Selectividad exams are set by the Public Universities of each autonomous community and allow students access to the Spanish university system.
Education in the Philippines is compulsory at the basic education level, composed of kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school. The educational system is managed by three government agencies by level of education: the Department of Education (DepEd) for basic education; the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for higher education; and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for technical and vocational education. Public education is funded by the national government.
Our Lady's Catholic College (OLCC) is a mixed sex secondary school for pupils aged 11–18. It is located in Skerton, just off the A6 road, north of the River Lune, Lancaster in the North West of England. Formerly Our Lady's Catholic High School, it changed its name after being awarded Specialist Sports College status in September 2003. The college teaches Key Stage 3, Key Stage 4, and Sixth Form.
St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy is a Roman Catholic secondary school located in Glossop in northern Derbyshire.
The British School of Barcelona (BSB) is a private coeducational bilingual international school located in the Barcelona metropolitan area, Catalonia, Spain.
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is a school performance indicator in England linked to the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results. It measures students' attainment by calculating an average score from specified subject grades. The EBacc includes subjects which are studied in many subsequent university programmes.
The University Orientation Course or COU was an academic level taught in Spain, its curriculum set by the Education Act 1970. It consisted of one single annual course, equivalent to the second year of the current bachillerato system. The previous completion of the three-year Bachillerato Unificado Polivalente (BUP) was an admission requirement. In order to be allowed to progress to the then-compulsory Spanish University Access Tests or Selectividad, an academic grade of 5/10 in each subject was needed.
Secondary education in Singapore is largely public, and is compulsory until a child has reached 16 years of age. At the end of public primary education, Singapore students take the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and are placed into the different streams and secondary schools based on their results. There are three main public secondary education streams: Express (E)(Currently known as G3), Normal (Academic), and Normal (Technical), with special and private education courses also being available. The Express stream has a more stringent cut-off than the Normal (Academic) stream, which is in turn more selective than the Normal (Technical) stream. Secondary students can move between streams based on their academic performance.
A high school diploma is a diploma awarded upon graduation of high school. A high school diploma is awarded after completion of courses of studies lasting four years, from grade 9 to grade 12. It is the school leaving qualification in the United States and Canada.
The Spanish education system is composed of five levels of education:
The history of education in Spain is marked by political struggles and the progress of modern societies. It began in the late Middle Ages, very close to the clergy and the nobility, and during the Renaissance it passed into the domain of a thriving bourgeois class that led an incipient enlightenment in the so-called Age of Enlightenment. The Constitution of 1812 and the drive of the liberals originated the contemporary education.
