Ask Lemmy

where I live we have two schools; elementary and middle school/gymnasyum.

The first 4 class of elementary is the "lower", the last 4 class are the "upper" classes.

after that, university or "main school" is where we go

Germany: 4 years elementary school, after that the kids are divided into 3 school categories based on their performance:

Hauptschule 5-9, after that you either start apprenticeship for 3 years and learn a profession, or you continue with Realschule

Realschule 5-10, after that you either start apprenticeship for 3 years and learn a profession or you continue with Gymnasium

Gymnasium 5-12, after that you may apply for university. You can only enroll in university if you have completed grade 12 final exams (called Abitur)

In Germany kids are required to be enrolled in school or in apprenticeship by law until they turn 18

Scotland:

Primary school P1-P7 (~5-11) Secondary school S1-S6 (~12-17)

From the US, there was some experimental stuff going on when I was in school and I was out in the boonies so k-8 schools with self contained classrooms was the norm and they were called elementary schools. I did kindergarten and first grade normally then there was a change and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades were combined into the same classroom and called primary school. I was in primary school for what would have been 2nd and 3rd grade. 4th through 8th were the normal self contained classrooms in elementary school.

I was in the last class for my elementary school then they combined it with another school that was k-6 and opened a jr highschool that was 7th and 8th. So I didn't go to a jr high or a secondary school but if I were a year younger I would have gone to a jr high. I did go to a primary, an elementary, and a high school.

Czech Republic, and it's pretty much the same as Slovakia (and perhaps other countries around here.)

Základní škola (elementary, ages ~6+), Střední škola (high school, ages ~15+), Vysoká škola (college, ages ~19+).

Střední škola is sometimes replaced with 4 or 8 years of Gymnázium starting after ZŠ (4-year G.) or after 5th grade (8-year G.) Střední škola is normally focused on a particular field, whereas Gymnázium is more generic and is normally followed by Vysoká škola.

Philippines (current overall)

• Kindergarten 1-2 (ages 4-5 (or 6, in some cases))
• Elementary (Grades 1-6)
• Junior High (Grades 7-10)
• Senior High (Grades 11-12) (generally 17-20)

Lithuania

1-8 progimnazija 9-12 gimnazija 11-13 profesinė (vocational)

1-10 pagrindinė (basic) and 1-12 vidurinė (middle) used to exist but almost none of these exist now.